Understanding The Self

**PHILOSOPHY** is the rational attempt to understand reality. **ABILITY TO ASK** is the greatest component that separates human to animal. **NAME** is only a signifier. **SELF** is thought to be something that a person personally molds, shapes, and develops. 1. **[PRESOCRATICS]** - Thales, P...

**PHILOSOPHY** is the rational attempt to understand reality. **ABILITY TO ASK** is the greatest component that separates human to animal. **NAME** is only a signifier. **SELF** is thought to be something that a person personally molds, shapes, and develops. 1. **[PRESOCRATICS]** - Thales, Phytagoras, Parmenides, Heraditus, Empedodes - They were preoccupied about the world. They wanted to explain the multiplicity of things in the world. - Philosophers propose the ways of how people think about thinking. - They are called the great thinkers. 2. **[SOCRATES]** - Concerned with the problem of the self. - The first philosopher engaged in the systematic questioning of the self. - The true task of a philosopher is to know oneself. - "Unexamined life is not worth living." - Worst that could happen is to live but die inside. - Every man has body and soul. 3. **[PLATO]** - He is a student of Socrates. - 3 components of the soul: - Rational - thinking - Spiritual - emotions - Appetitive -- bodily desires 4. **[ST. AUGUSTINE]** - His views are deeply-rooted from Plato and in fusing Christianity. - "Man is a bifurcated nature." - There is an aspect of the man which dwells in the world, imperfect and continuously yearns to be with the divine while the other is capable of reaching immortality. - Man created religion in search of God, but God created relationship in search of man. 5. **[ST. THOMAS AQUINAS]** - The most eminent 13^th^ century scholar and stalwart of medieval philosophy. - Ideas are rooted from Aristotle. - Man is composed of two parts: - Matter (*Greek:* hyle) -- physical - Form (*Greek:* morphe) -- soul 6. **[RENE DESCARTES]** - Father of modern philosophy. - Human have body and mind. - There is so much that we should doubt. - One should believe the test of doubt is existence of the self. - "Cogito ergo sum." I think therefore I am. 7. **[DAVID HUMES]** - Scottish philosopher - Self is not entity over beyond and the physical body. - Empiricism means knowledge can only be possible if it is sensed or experienced. - Categories of experiences: - Impressions - Ideas 8. **[EMMANUEL KANT]** - Everything starts with perception and sensation of impression. - However, things that men perceive around them are not just randomly inferred into the person without organizing principle that regulates the relationship of all these impressions. - Apparatus of the mind - Self actively engaged intelligence in man that synthesizes all knowledge and experience. 9. **[GILBERT RYLE]** - Behavior is a manifestation of yourself every day. - Behavior is the physical manifestation of character. - Self is the entirety of the parts. 10. **[MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY]** - Mind and body are so intertwined that they cannot be separated from one another. - One's body is his opening towards his existence to the world. - Dismissed the Cartesian dualism. 11. **[PAUL CHURCHLAND]** - Self and the brain - Materialism says that nothing but matter exists. Body is the physical, soul is immaterial, and the spirit connects to a divine entity. THE SELF ACCORDING TO MARK STEVENS (1996) Self in contemporary literature and even in common sense is commonly defined by the ff. characteristics: separate, self-contained and independent, consistent, unitary, and private, and multifaceted. 1. **[Self as SEPARATE]** - Means that the self is distinct from other selves. - The self is always unique and has its own identity. - One cannot be another person. 2. **[Self as CONTAINED AND INDEPENDENT]** - It can exist on its own, in itself. - It has its own thoughts, characteristics, and violation originally from your own ideas. - Does not require any other self for it to exist. - You choose what you share and what you do not share to others. 3. **[Self as COSISTENT ]** - It has a personality that us enduring and therefore can be expected to persist for quite some time. - Its consistency allows it to be studied, described, and measured. (introvert, extrovert, ambivert) - Means that a particular self's traits, characteristics, tendencies, and potentialities are more or less, the same. 4. **[Self as UNITARY]** - The center of all experiences and thoughts that run through a certain person. - We are the ones who process and analyze our experiences. 5. **[Self as PRIVATE]** - Each person sorts out information, feelings and emotions, and thought processes within the self. - The self is isolated from external world. - Lives within its own world. - This potential dash between the self and external reality is what spells from the self what it might be, what it can be, what it will be. - Always at the mercy of external circumstances. - It is ever changing and dynamic, allowing external influences to take part of/in its shaping. 6. **[Self as MULTIFACETED]** - We are constantly changing and adjusting. - We are not fixed, we are very flexible. - We play different roles, act on different ways depending on our circumstance. - Identity is influenced by different factors. - The self is capable of morphing and fitting itself into any circumstance that it finds itself in. - We adjust to the kind of role we portray. - We adapt to the social construct we have. SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF **SOCIETY** is a group of people fulfilling a role. Stems from the principle of a social being. **CULTURE** is shared, the way we live, the way of life and how we view or see life. From body and soul to body and mind. The self is dependent on the external reality/world. Our growth and development are products of our interactions with external reality. The greatest measurement of intelligence is kindness. **[SELF AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL WORLD ]** - **Language** - The world we make depends on the language we use. - Both publicly shared and privately utilized symbol system is the site where individuals and the social make and remake each other. (Schwartz, White, Lutz, 1993) **Mead and Vygotsky** 1. Humans develop with the use of language acquisition and interaction with others. 2. The way we process information is normally form of an internal dialogue in our head. 3. Cognitive and emotional development of a child is always mimicry. 4. Notice how children eventually become what they watch. - **Self in families** 1. Family is the greatest influence of how we understand external reality. 2. Humans are born virtually helpless and depending period of human baby to its parents for nurturing is longer than most animals. 3. Learning, therefore, is crucial in our capacity to actualize our potential of becoming humans. 4. Becoming fully realized human, a child enters a system of relationship, most important of which is family. - **Gender and the self** 1. Gender is a social construct, it is subject to alternation, change, and development. 2. Sex is a biological identity. 3. The gendered self is then shaped within a particular context of time and space. 4. Gender has to personally be discovered and asserted, and not dictated by culture and society. PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF **PSYCHOLOGY** is the study of how human mind interacts with another. **PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE** is how the mind operates with relationship with others. How we understand ourselves. **ACCORDING TO PSYCHOLOGY** 1. **Jhaniani and Torry (2014)** - The sense of personal identity and of who we are as individuals. 2. **William James (1890)** The self has two aspects: - The "I", which is the formal self, it is what we see; and - the "ME", which is the informal self, the private self, the intimate one. 3. **Gleitman, Gross, Reisberg (2011)** "I", being the thinking, acting, and feeling. 4. **Carl Rogers (1959)** "I" is the who acts and decided; while me "ME" is what you think or feel about yourself. 5. **Hogg and Vaughan (2010)** "ME", being the physical and psychological self. - Conversation of yourself with yourself. - Thinking what you're going to say/tell. 6. **Elmore, Osyman, Smith (2012)** Identity is composed of one's personal character, social roles and responsibilities as well as affiliation that defines who one is. **3 REASONS AS SELF AND IDENTITY AS SOCIAL PRODUCTS:** 1. We do not create ourselves out of nothing. 2. We need others to affirm and reinforce who we think we are. 3. What we think is as important to us may also have been influenced by what is important in our social and historical context. - Value the most that affect social/historical context. - Love is not a feeling, it is an act of will. **SELF-AWARENESS (Carver, Scheier, 1981)** 1. **The Private Self** - Internal standards and private thoughts and feelings. - Own consumption. 2. **The Public Self** - Public image commonly geared towards having a good representation of yourself to others, good image. **SELF-AWARENESS SCHEMA** 1. **Actual Self** - Who you are at the moment. - e.g. student 2. **Ideal Self** - Who you like to be. - e.g. to be a teacher 3. **Ought Self** - Who you think you should be. "Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstance and your next course of action. **SELF-EVALUATION MAINTENANCE THEORY** If we feel threatened when someone outperforms us, especially when the person is close to us, we react in 3 ways: 1. We distance ourselves from that person or redefines our relationship with them. 2. Reconsider the importance of the aspect or skills in which you were outperformed. 3. Strengthen our resolve to improve that certain aspect of our skills. **NARCISSISM (self-centeredness)** 1. Attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem, some people become narcissistic. 2. They are often charismatic because of how they care of their image. 3. Taking care of the image includes their interpersonal relationships thus they will try to look better partners, as well as people who will appreciate them a lot. SELF IN WESTERN AND EASTERN THOUGHTS **[WESTERN THINKING]** - Dualism is the separation of self-and-others, body and mind, the physical and mental. - Individualism - The self is based on the "soul". - The soul is fixed and given at conception. **[WESTERN PERSPECTIVE]** 1. **Individualism** - Individual as the primary unit of analysis. - Self is viewed as an autonomous entity with rights, desires, and responsibilities. - Concepts like personal identity, self-expression, and self-actualization are central. 2. **Rationalism/Empiricism** - I came to know myself because I reason, and I experienced it. - Influenced by thinkers like Descartes's "I think, therefore I am." - The western self often involves rational and self-reflection. - The self is seen as a conscious thinker from the distinct world. 3. **Psychology** (straightforwardness) - Explores the self in terms of personality, ego, and self-esteem. - Freud's "to know yourself is through thinking." - Knowing yourself is from what you're thinking, from your thinking. **[EATERN THINKING]** - Non-duality means interconnectedness, oneness of self-and-others, body and mind, physical and mental. - African: "I exist because of others." - Sense of interconnectedness - Buddhism rejects the concept of soul and teaches the non-fixed self. - Oneself is created by one's actions or karma, and it is always changing. - Private and public self: regulations and control. **[EASTERN PERSPECTIVE ]** 1. **Collectivism** - The self is often viewed in relation to the community, family, and society. - Belongingness - Concepts like harmony, interdependence, and social roles are emphasized. 2. **Non-dualism** - Body and mind is only one. - Understanding comes from realizing interconnectedness of all beings (Buddhism, Hinduism) - The concept of "Anatta" in Buddhism denies a permanent self, suggesting that identity is fluid and contingent. 3. **Spiritual and Holistic view** - Everything is spiritual - Self is part of a larger spiritual reality. - Uniting yourself to the universe. - Self is considered a part of divine. **KEY DIFFERENCES** 1. **Nature of the Self** West: stable self, individual self, permanent, fixed. East: transient, interconnected, temporary, it changes, it is not fixed. 2. **Focus** West: personal achievement and individual rights. East: harmony, community, and spiritual enlightenment. 3. **Approach Identity** West: self-identity is often linked to personal achievements and psychological constructs. East: identity is fluid and shaped by social and spiritual contexts. "Differing perspectives on the self reflect broader cultural values and philosophical traditions." "Understanding these differences can enhance cross-cultural communication and appreciation of diverse world views. PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL SELF **[PHYSICAL SELF]** - Refers to your physical identity - Physical health - Abilities - Appearance - Your relationship with your body - Understanding this is crucial for the overall wellbeing and development. - **BODY IMAGE** - How individuals perceive and feel about their own bodies. - Involves our perceptions, imagination, and emotions, and physical sensations of and about our bodies. - Not static/not based on fact. - **Positive Body Image and High Self-esteem** - Self-acceptance - Confidence - Emotional wellbeing - **Negative Body Image and Low Self-esteem** - Self-criticism - Comparison - Avoidance and isolation - Mental health issues (depression and anxiety) - **Promoting a Positive Body Image for Higher Self-esteem** - Focusing on inner qualities - Seeking support from family and friends. - **What shapes our Body Image?** - Media-magazine, distort - Environmental - Relationships - Emotions - Culture **[SEXUAL SELF ]** **SEXUALITY** is the quality or state of being sexual. It is also physical and emotional. - For intertwining strands of sexuality: - **Sexual desire or attraction** - To whom or some cases someone is attracted, physically and emotionally. - **Sexual activity or behavior** - What a person does or likes to do sexually. - **Sexual identity** - How someone describe their sense of self as a sexual being. - **Sexual experience** - Observation of their sexuality, education or training related to sexuality, experiences that may not have been consensual. **SEX VS. GENDER** - **Sex** is the biological and physical attributes that distinguish male and female. - **Gender** is a complex interplay of roles, rules, behaviors, expectations, and identities that societies considers appropriate for men and women. It encompasses the social and cultural associated with being masculine and feminine. **SEX** **GENDER** ------------ ------------ Biological Societal Fixed Fluid Assignment Identity **GENDER IDENTITY** - A deeply-held sense of being male, female, or another gender. - It is how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. - Might not align to their biological aspect. 1. Personal and intrinsic 2. Non-binary (gender queer/fluid) 3. Development and discovery 4. Expression and presentation **SEXUAL ORIENTATION** - An individual's enduring emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to other. - Diversity of sexual orientation: - **Heterosexuality** - Most commonly recognized - Opposite gender (male/female) - **Homosexuality** - Same gender - Natural variety - **Bisexuality** - Attracted to both male and female - **Pansexuality** - Goes beyond the binary concept of gender - Attracted to anyone regardless of their gender - **Asexual** - No or little sexual attraction - **Queer** - Non-heteronormative sexual orientation and gender identities **4 STAGES OF SEXUAL RESPONSE** (William H. Masters & Virginia E. Johnson, 1960s) 1. **Excitement Phase** - Initial stage - Arousal & anticipation 2. **Plateau Phase** - Continuation of the changes that began in the excitement phase. 3. **Organic Phase** - Climax - Involves intense physical and psychological release - Most pleasurable 4. **Resolution** - Return to the normal phase "This varies depending in age, health, and psychological factors." **MASTURBATION** - Feared as cause mental and physical problems - Currently viewed promote healthy sexuality \+