Understanding The Self - PDF

Understanding the Self SANNY L. TANGENTE JR. Understanding oneself is essential to understand behaviors and beliefs that affects ourselves and others specifically in becoming effective and successful person in life, work, and relationship. Self-understanding provides a sense of purpose, lead...

Understanding the Self SANNY L. TANGENTE JR. Understanding oneself is essential to understand behaviors and beliefs that affects ourselves and others specifically in becoming effective and successful person in life, work, and relationship. Self-understanding provides a sense of purpose, leads to healthier relationships, helps harness your natural strength, and promotes confidence.  Activity 1: Self-Examination 1. How can you describe yourself based on your own perspectives or point of view? 2. What aspect of yourself do you feel good about? Why? 3. What aspect of yourself do you believe you have to improve? Why? 4. What are the biggest and most important things you have learned in life so far? Understanding of who you are as a person is called SELF-CONCEPT. Understanding what your motives are when you act is called SELF- UNDERSTANDING. Self-concept is generally thought of as our individual perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and unique characteristics - a mental picture of who you are as a person. THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES PART 1  Philosophical Chapter 1 Perspective Of The Self “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates Socrates, the famed philosopher, pondered deeply on what constitutes a GOOD LIFE. He proposed that living a virtuous and examined life is key to true happiness, prioritizing knowledge and ethical understanding. Socrates famously claimed that "the unexamined life is not worth living." He believed you must reflect on your actions and beliefs to live a meaningful life. By examining your life, you gain self- knowledge, which Socrates equated with wisdom. The path to a good life, therefore, involves a continuous process of self-reflection and personal scrutiny. For Socrates, knowledge is a form of moral understanding essential to living a good life. He suggested that wisdom starts when you acknowledge your own ignorance. This realization that you do not know everything is a powerful motivator for continuous learning and striving for truth. Virtue was synonymous with knowledge and was considered the highest good. By understanding what is ethical, you naturally do what is right, because knowing the good leads directly to doing the good. Thus, a life of virtue is a life well-lived.  SOCRATES Orientation Philosophy Description Philosophical Perspective Of The Self Idealism Socratic ▪ Knowledge is the The unexamined Philosophy personification of good life is not worth while ignorance is that of evil. living. ▪ Self-knowledge is the ultimate virtue. As the ultimate virtue, it will lead to ultimate happiness.  PLATO Orientation Philosophy Description Philosophical Perspective Of The Self Idealism Dualism and ▪ Moral virtue is The self is an Idealism rooted in the immortal soul. intellect and leads to happiness. ▪ Wisdom and knowledge lead to virtue which will lead to happiness.  ARISTOTLE Orientation Philosophy Description Philosophical Perspective Of The Self Empiricist Aristotelian ▪ Ideals are ESSENCE The soul is the Philosophy and Phenomena is essence of the MATTER. self. ▪ Matter has no form. Essence has no mass. ▪ Matter and essence need each other.  ST. AUGUSTINE Orientation Philosophy Description Philosophical Perspective Of The Self Platonism Neoplatonism ▪ All knowledge leads The self has an to God. immortal soul. ▪ Only the pure in heart can see God. ▪ Love of God, faith in Him, and understanding of His gospel will ultimately  RENE DESCARTES Orientation Philosophy Description Philosophical Perspective Of The Self Rationalist Mind-Body ▪ The mind and soul I think, therefore I Dualism can exist without the am. body. ▪ Establishing the distinction of soul from the body can make people believe in the afterlife and  JOHN LOCKE Orientation Philosophy Description Philosophical Perspective Of The Self Empiricist Theory of ▪ It is in consciousness The self is Personal alone that identity consciousness. Identity exists, not in the body and soul. ▪ The soul may change, but consciousness remains intact.  Rationalism Empiricism The primary and most superior The only source of genuine source of knowledge about reality is knowledge about the world is sense reason. experience. Sense experience is an unreliable Reason is an unreliable and and inadequate route to inadequate route to knowledge knowledge. unless it is grounded in the solid bedrock of sense experience. The fundamental truths about the There is no such thing as innate world can be known a priori: either knowledge because knowledge is innate or self-evident to our minds. derived from experience. The mind before experience is a tabula rasa, a blank slate.  DAVID HUME Orientation Philosophy Description Philosophical Perspective Of The Self Empiricist Skeptical ▪ All knowledge passes There is no self. Philosophy through the senses. ▪ Separate ideas can be joined in the mind. ▪ There is no self, only a bundle of perceptions.  IMMANUEL KANT Orientation Philosophy Description Philosophical Perspective Of The Self Rationalist/ Metaphysics of ▪ Reason is the final We construct the authority of morality. Empiricist the Self ▪ There is inner self and self. outer self. ▪ The inner self includes rational reasoning and psychological state. ▪ The outer self includes the body and physical mind, where representation  GILBERT RYLE Orientation Philosophy Description Philosophical Perspective Of The Self Empiricist The concept ▪ The mind is not the seat The self is the way of the mind of self. It is not separate, people behave. parallel thing to our physical body. ▪ The mind is a category mistake, brought about by habitual use. The only way it can affect the other is through the  MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY Orientation Philosophy Description Philosophical Perspective Of The Self Existentialist Phenomenolo ▪ “We are our The self is Empiricist gy of bodies.” embodied Perception ▪ Our bodily subjectivity. experiences do not detach the subject/object, mind/body, rational/irrational.  Sociological Perspective: Chapter 2 The Self as a Product of Society Philosophical View: Self is considered as having two components of the body and soul (or the body and mind).  To re-examine the true nature of the self, the focus shifted on the relationship of the self with its external world. With its constant interaction with the external reality, the self is shaped by external forces that constitute society, community, and family among others.  Self is emphasized as social by nature. Beginning from birth, it continuously interacts with its external world that determines what it might be, what it can be and what it will be.  Self as a Social Construct The self as a social construct is derived from the idea that society takes part in its shaping through social interaction and active understanding of the social reality.  This creates a pattern that shapes and influences who they are, how they behave and think.  The Self and Society Sociology asserts that humans cannot be understood apart from its social context. Society is linked to the individual as they are inherently connected and dependent on each other.  An individual is capable of seeing through his/her experiences and the larger society called sociological imagination in which society creates opportunities for him/her to think and act as well as limiting his/her thoughts and actions.  The Looking Glass Self Sociological Theories of the Theory of the Self- development Self  The Looking Glass Self by Charles Cooley Charles Cooley pioneered one of the most prominent Sociological perspectives of the self. “The Looking Glass Self”: Individuals develop their concept of self by looking at how others perceive them.  The Looking Glass Self by Charles Cooley Using the view of others, understanding of self is socially constructed. Through social interaction, one’s sense of self is mirrored from the judgments they receive from others to measure their own worth, values, and behavior. This process involves the following steps: 1. An individual in a social situation imagines how they appear to others. 2. That individual imagines others’ judgment of that appearance. 3. The individual develops feelings (of pride or shame) and responds to those perceived judgments.  Feedback for one plays an important role in the process. People constantly seek to create consistency between their internal and external worlds and, therefore, continue to perceive, adjust, and strive for equilibrium throughout their lives.  Theory of the Self-Development by George Herbert Mead George Herbert Mead gave emphasis to other’s perspective in view of one’s self. As a prerequisite of being able to understand the self, one has to develop self-awareness. This can be derived from looking at ourselves from the perspective of others.  Theory of the Self-Development by George Herbert Mead This process is only made possible by social interaction. If social interaction is absent particularly in one’s early experiences, he/she will find difficulty in developing an ability to see him/herself as others would see him/her.  Mead states that self develops through social interaction. 1. Preparatory Stage: Children in this stage are only capable of imitating actions of others. They have no ability to imagine yet how others see things.  2. Play Stage: At this stage, children begin to try to take on the role of other person by acting out grown up behaviors, dressing like adults, etc.  3. Game Stage: While children learn about several roles of others, they understand how these roles interact with each other in this stage. They learn to understand complex interactions involving different people with variety of purpose.  4. Generalized other: In this stage, children develop, understand and learn the idea of the common behavioral expectations of the general society. They are able to imagine how they are viewed by one or many. Mead pointed out that “self” in this stage is being developed.  The Self and Culture Being active participant in its social world, the self, through interaction, is made and remade. As it continuously interacts with others, society is continually changing and dynamic, so thus self.  The Moi and Personne Self Marcel Mauss, anthropologist and sociologist, asserted that self adapts to its everyday social condition. The behavior of human groups and the way they perceive themselves in daily life are influenced by their environmental and seasonal variations.  Every self has two faces--the personne and moi. MOI refers to a person’s sense of who he is, his body and his basic identity, his biological givenness. It is a person’s basic identity.  PERSONNE is composed of the social concepts of what it means, to be who he is. It has much to do with what it means to live in a particular institution, a particular family, a particular religion, a particular nationality, and how to behave given expectations and influences from others. Personne therefore shifts from time to time to adapt to his social situation (Alata et al., 2018).  The “I” and the “Me” Self One's behavior when he or she is alone differs from his or her behavior when he or she is with others. Different situations trigger particular behaviors because of differing social expectations. Herbert Mead (1934) posited in his theory of the social self that the self is divided into two parts: "I" which is known as the unsocialized self (Who am I?) "Me" which is known as the "socialized" self (What do others think about me?) According to Mead: The "I" is who an individual really is. It is one's opinion of himself or herself as a whole. The "I" is manifested when one acts naturally for his or her own motivations and not because of others.  The "Me" is the awareness of how others expect one to behave. This is also known as the social self. This part of the self is the careful and the conscious.  Based on Mead's model, the state of the actual self is achieved when the "I" and "Me" become congruent. “ Individual differences should always be considered and respect should always be fostered among one another. ”