Understanding The Self PDF

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF REVIEWER EUNICO ERNEST MARTIN BABR 1-1D CHAPTER 1: DEFINING THE SELF: PERSONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL...

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF REVIEWER EUNICO ERNEST MARTIN BABR 1-1D CHAPTER 1: DEFINING THE SELF: PERSONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVES ON SELF AND IDENTITY LESSON 1: The Self from unit with the ability to make rational choices and deliberate decisions. Various Philosophical Perspective SOCRATES “Father of Western HOW CAN I MAKE MYSELF “HAPPY”? Philosophy” Self-understanding is essential Socrates as the First Philosopher of the Self: 1. Provides a sense of purpose 2. Leads to healthier relationships Engaged in systematic questioning 3. Helps harness your natural strength about the self. 4. Promotes confidence Believed the true task of a philosopher is to “know oneself.” PHILOSOPHY OF THE SELF Socrates’ View on Human Composition: Philosophy is often regarded as the “mother of all disciplines,” as it covers a vast Every person is composed of two range of inquiries about human existence and the aspects: body and soul. universe we live in. ○ Body: Imperfect and impermanent. Self as a Unified Being: The self is a ○ Soul: Perfect and permanent. whole and interconnected entity, closely linked to consciousness, awareness, and agency. It is “Knowledge is the personification of good the center of one’s experiences, guiding how while ignorance is that of evil.” - Socrates individuals perceive and interact with the world. According to Socrates, self-knowledge This concept emphasizes the idea that the self is is the ultimate virtue, serving as the foundation not fragmented but rather operates as a cohesive for a moral and fulfilling life. By understanding oneself—one's strengths, weaknesses, values, St. Augustine’s Philosophy: and motivations—an individual gains clarity in making choices that align with what is good. The body is bound to die on Earth. The soul is to anticipate living eternally in a reality of spiritual bliss in “An unexamined life is not worth living” - communion with God. Socrates Love of God, faith in Him, and understanding of His Gospel will PLATO ultimately lead to happiness. Socrates’ apprentice Saint Augustine's Twofold Process of Self-Understanding: Self-presentation leads to “Moral Virtue is rooted in the intellect self-realization. and leads to happiness.” - Plato ○ This involves how individuals present themselves to the world “Wisdom and knowledge lead to virtue and how they come to which will lead to Happiness.” - Plato understand their true nature. The formation of identity and Plato’s Three Components of Soul: self-understanding is achieved through introspection or self-analysis. Rational: The rational part of the soul, ST. THOMAS AQUINAS responsible for thinking, wisdom, and decision-making. Spirited: The emotional part, associated with courage, ambition, and willpower. Composition of Man: Matter and Form: Appetitive: The desires and basic urges, including hunger, pleasure, and Matter (Hyle): ○ The basic material or “common material needs. stuff” that makes up everything in the universe. Plato emphasizes that justice in a person Form (Morphe): is achieved when the three parts of the soul work ○ The essence or defining nature together in harmony. of a substance or thing. Matter and form come together to create ST. AUGUSTINE formed matter, or Christian philosopher and bishop substances—everything we observe in of Hippo in South Africa the universe.  RENE DESCARTES experiences, such as pain, French philosopher pleasure, heat, cold, happiness, considered the founder of grief, and fear. Impressions are modern philosophy vivid and lively. ○ Ideas: These are copies of Descartes’ Concept of the Self: impressions and are therefore less vivid and lively. Ideas According to René Descartes, the include thoughts and images essence of the self is being a “thinking that are formed from our thing”—a dynamic identity capable of primary impressions through various mental activities that define various mental relationships. human existence. The Thinking Self (or Soul): For David Hume, the self is simply “a ○ Non-material, immortal, and bundle or collection of different perceptions” conscious. that succeed one another with inconceivable ○ Independent of the physical rapidity, constantly in perpetual flux and laws of the universe. movement. He likens the self to a theatre, The Physical Body: where various perceptions appear, pass by, fade ○ Material, mortal, and away, and intermingle in an endless variety of non-thinking. situations and forms. ○ Fully governed by the physical laws of nature. IMMANUEL KANT German philosopher considered by many to be the greatest “I think, therefore I am (Cogito ergo thinker of the 18th century. sum)” - Rene Descartes Immanuel Kant asserted that the human “I think, therefore I am (Cogito Ergo mind is responsible for creating experiences. He Sum)” is the foundational principle of emphasized that individuals should “do the Descartes’ theory of knowledge. Descartes right thing because it is right,” highlighting the importance of moral duty. believed that no rational person could doubt their own existence as a conscious, thinking being, especially since we are always aware of “Do the right thing because it is right” - our thoughts about ourselves. Immanuel Kant DAVID HUME Kant also believed that "reason is the Scottish philosopher whose final authority of morality," meaning that rational thought should guide our understanding skeptical examinations of of what is morally right. religion, ethics, and history David Hume on Knowledge and Experience: “Reason is the final authority of morality” - Immanuel Kant According to David Hume, knowledge is gained through experience. Immanuel Kant's Philosophy on the Inner When we closely examine the content of and Outer Self: our experiences, we can distinguish between two types of mental entities: 1. Inner Self (Noumenal self): Kant ○ Impressions: These are the believed that the inner self is the true basic, raw sensations of our  essence of a person, which is beyond human perception. It is guided by “A fully matured neuroscience will reason and moral principles, shaping eliminate the need for the beliefs since how we act according to duty and ethics. they are not real.” - Patricia Churchland Includes rational reasoning and psychological state. “To understand the mind, we must 2. Outer Self (Phenomenal Self): The understand the brain.” - Patricia outer self is the version of ourselves Churchland that others perceive. It is shaped by the external world and is subject to sensory “The physical brain gives us a sense of experiences. While the inner self is self.” - Patricia Churchland constant, the outer self changes depending on external influences. Patricia Churchland is a prominent Includes the body and physical aspect philosopher known for her work in where representation occurs. neurophilosophy and the philosophy of mind. She focuses on how neuroscience and the study of the brain can help us understand the nature of GILBERT RYLE consciousness, the self, and our mental A British philosopher who wrote experiences. Churchland argues that to the book “The Concept of understand the mind, we need to look at the Mind” brain and its processes, rather than relying solely on abstract philosophical theories. Her work bridges the gap between philosophy and “The self is how you behave.” - Gilbert science, particularly by exploring how neural Ryle mechanisms contribute to our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. He thought of his approach as a logical behaviorism, focused on creating conceptual clarity, not on developing techniques to JOHN LOCKE condition and manipulate human behavior. an English philosopher and physician known the “Father of Gilbert Ryle stated that a person lives Liberalism through two parallel histories: He is considered the “Father of 1. Public – Refers to what happens to and in a person’s body, including Liberalism” for his groundbreaking theory of external actions and interactions. mind, which contributed significantly to modern 2. Private – Refers to what happens in understandings of identity and the self. He and to a person’s mind, including posited that the self is found in consciousness, thoughts, feelings, and internal identifying the brain as the source of experiences. consciousness and, ultimately, one’s identity. MAURICE PATRICIA CHURCHLAND MERLEAU-PONTY a Canadian-American analytic The leading exponent of philosopher (neurophilosophy Phenomenology in France and the philosophy of mind)  Primacy of Perception: He argued that 1. TWO FACES OF SELF (MARCEL there is a harmony between our intentions and MAUSS) actions, where what we aim for aligns with what is given. Marcel Mauss, a French sociologist and anthropologist, introduced the concept of Maurice Merleau-Ponty asserted that the two faces of self in his work on the self and consciousness is not just about “I think that,” identity. He proposed that the self has two but more fundamentally about “I aspects: can—emphasizing action and embodied experience. 1. Personne (The Social Self): This aspect is shaped by society and external influences, including culture, norms, and relationships. It reflects how LESSON 2: The Self, Society, individuals are seen and defined by others. and Culture 2. Moi (The Individual Self): This is the personal, internal aspect of the self, shaped by individual experiences, inner WHAT IS SELF? thoughts, and feelings. Self according to Stevens (1996) is: Mauss suggested that both faces of the self are intertwined, and one’s identity is formed 1. SEPARATE: self is distinct from through the interaction of these two others, always unique with its own dimensions—how a person perceives themselves identity. A person cannot be someone and how they are perceived by society. else. 2. SELF-CONTAINED: It can exist 2. THE THEORY OF THE SOCIAL SELF independently because of its distinct (LEV VYGOTSKY) nature. Its uniqueness allows it to be self-contained, with its own thoughts, Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, characteristics, and volition. emphasized the social nature of human 3. INDEPENDENT: It does not require development in his theory of the self. any other self for it to exist. According to Vygotsky, the self is primarily 4. CONSISTENT: Means that a shaped through social interactions. He argued particular self’s traits, characteristics, that learning is deeply influenced by cultural and tendencies, and potentialities are more social contexts, and that language plays a or less the same. central role in the development of the self. 5. UNITARY: It serves as the core of all experiences and thoughts that flow Vygotsky proposed that children through an individual, functioning like a internalize knowledge and behaviors from central command post where their interactions with others, particularly processes, emotions, and thoughts through guided participation with more converge. knowledgeable individuals (like parents or 6. PRIVATE: Each person sorts out teachers). Over time, these external social information and is isolated from the influences become internalized, forming the external world. It lives within its own individual’s sense of self. In essence, the social world. self emerges through socialization and the use of language as a tool for thinking and self-regulation. 3. SELF-SYTEM (HARRY STACK 4.2. PERSONIFICATION - People acquire SULLIVAN) (Built-in Warning Device) certain images of themselves and others Harry Stack Sullivan, an American GOOD ME: Personification involves psychiatrist, developed the concept of the experiences that are rewarded, leading self-system as part of his theory on interpersonal the child to feel a noticeable decrease in relationships and personality development. anxiety. According to Sullivan, the self-system is a set of BAD ME: Personification involves behaviors, attitudes, and defenses that an experiences that are punished, resulting individual develops in response to social in increased anxiety for the child. interactions and experiences, especially in early life. It functions to protect the person from 4.3. SIGNIFICANT OTHERS - They are the anxiety and to maintain a sense of social individuals to whom a person is intimate with acceptance and security. immediate family members, relatives, peer group, and friends. 4. ACQUIRING THE SELF, THE PROCESS OF SELF-CONSTITUTION (GEORGE 4.4. GENERALIZED OTHERS - The HERBERT MEAD) attitude of generalized others is the attitude of the community. The self is a product of socialization. According to George Herbert Mead, an 4.5. TWO SIDES OF SELF: ME & I American sociologist and the father of symbolic interactionism, our concept of the self “ME” represents the socialized aspect is developed through the use of symbolic of the individual, encompassing learned gestures in social interactions. behaviors, attitudes, and societal expectations. It reflects the past phase 4.1. DEVELOPMENT OF SELF of the self. “I” represents the unsocialized self. It LANGUAGE: develops the self by responds moment to moment to the enabling individuals to communicate “me” and the ever-changing with others through symbols, circumstances in which social gestures, words, and sounds. It interactions unfold. The “I” represents conveys others’ attitudes and opinions the present and future phase of the about a subject or person, shaping how self. we perceive ourselves in relation to others. PLAY: develops the self by allowing individuals to take on different roles, CULTURE: According to Edward Tylor pretend, and express expectations of (1871), culture is a complex system that others. Through role-playing, play includes knowledge, beliefs, laws, art, morals, fosters self-consciousness and helps customs, and other skills and behaviors individuals understand different acquired by individuals as members of perspectives. society. GAMES: develop the self by teaching individuals to understand and follow LANGUAGE: According to Schwartz, the rules of the activity. The self is White, and Lutz (1993), “Language as both shaped by the realization that success in a publicly shared and privately utilized system games or activities depends on adhering in the site where the individual and the social to these rules. make and remake each other.” 5. DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL 6. THEORIES OF IDENTITY FORMATION WORLD (MEAD & VYGOTSKY): 6.1. PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES OF Human Persona Develop with the Use of DEVELOPMENT: IDENTITY VS. ROLE Language Acquisition and Interactions with CONFUSION (ERIK ERIKSON) Others This stage, occurring during SELF IN FAMILIES: Human beings adolescence, involves a deep exploration of develop their sense of self through personal values, beliefs, and goals. Teenagers their experiences within a family. It is seek to establish a strong sense of self and within the family that individuals learn identity, experimenting with different roles and how to live, and these early experiences ideologies. Successful resolution of this stage lay the foundation for personal growth leads to a clear and stable sense of who they are, and progress. while failure can result in role confusion—a GENDER AND THE SELF: Gender struggle to define one's place in society and form is a key aspect of the self that a cohesive identity. undergoes change and development. It is something to be personally discovered 6.2. FOUR STATUSES OF IDENTITY and asserted, rather than being imposed (JAMES MARCIA) by culture or society. 1. IDENTITY FORECLOSURE: 6. A SOCIO-CULTURAL VIEW OF Adolescents have accepted and KNOWING ONESELF (KAREN HORNEY) committed to the values and beliefs passed down by family, community, or Karen Horney believed that social and significant others without exploring cultural conditions, particularly early childhood alternatives. They do not question the experiences, play a major role in shaping one’s beliefs they were taught. personality. Horney describes two views of the 2. IDENTITY DIFFUSION: Adolescents self: have not yet made an effort to explore their identity and lack a clear sense of REAL SELF: refers to a person’s who they are. They have no defined actual and current state, encompassing goals or direction for themselves. their strategies, aspirations, strengths, 3. IDENTITY ACHIEVEMENT: and weaknesses. Following a period of active IDEAL SELF: is an imagined vision exploration, adolescents have made a that represents an idealized version of strong and confident commitment to a oneself, often promising a sense of well-defined set of beliefs and values. positive identity. This is why it is 4. IDENTITY MORATORIUM: sometimes referred to as the Adolescents are undergoing an identity “impossible self.” crisis, leading them to explore different values and beliefs. They have not yet made a commitment, opting instead to experiment and explore. IDENTITY FORMATION: is something that moves and grows throughout life as people confront new challenges and tackle different experiences in the family, circle of friends, community and society.  6.3. LOOKING-GLASS SELF (CHARLES 6.6. POSITIONING THEORY (ROM COOLEY) HARRE AND LANGENHOVE) The Looking Glass Self, introduced by Identity is shaped by one’s positioning Charles Cooley in 1902, is a social within a discourse. psychological concept that suggests a person’s self-concept is shaped by their interactions with Positioning refers to the discursive others and how they think others perceive them. process where individuals are positioned According to this idea, individuals form their within conversations, becoming coherent identity based on three main components: how participants in jointly created narratives. This they imagine they appear to others, how they process helps define how people understand think others judge that appearance, and the themselves and others in social contexts. feelings they develop in response to these perceived judgments. In essence, a person’s The act of positioning involves sense of self grows through social feedback and assigning fluid roles or parts to speakers in the interpersonal experiences. construction of personal stories. This allows their actions to be seen as meaningful and 6.4. TAKING THE ROLE OF OTHER recognizable social acts, making sense of their PEOPLE (GEORGE MEAD) behavior in relation to others. This concept involves the ability to see the world from another person’s perspective—to truly walk in someone else’s LESSON 3: The Physical Self: shoes and understand their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It’s about developing empathy The Self as Impacted by the Body and the capacity to imagine life from another’s point of view. This skill is a more mature UNPACKING THE SELF: extension of childhood habits, like having imaginary friends or engaging in 1. Physical Self conversations with oneself, which help build a deeper understanding of emotions and 2. Sexual Life perspectives. 3. Material/Economic Self 6.5. IDENTITY AS ONE OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS (ERICH 4. Spiritual Self FROMM) 5. Political Self This concept highlights the need to develop one’s individuality and unique 6. Digital Self characteristics. Humans have an inherent desire for a sense of identity, which involves being PHYSICAL SELF: the concrete dimension, aware of oneself as a distinct and separate entity. the tangible aspect of the person that can be This self-awareness allows individuals to directly observed and examined. recognize their own thoughts, feelings, and experiences as uniquely their own. It is this “Physical Self/Body is an initial source of clear sense of identity that enables a person to sensation and necessary for the origin and confidently say, “I,” affirming their existence as maintenance of personality” - William James an independent and unique individual, separate from others. “The physical body is the core of human experience.” - Sigmund Freud  According to Erik Erikson, bodily the material objects we own. Our desire to organs play a crucial role in the early stages of possess things is tied to an important aspect of development. As individuals grow older, their the self: the material self, reflecting how our physical and intellectual skills become key possessions can shape and express our identity. factors in determining whether they will: In the late nineteenth century, Harvard Develop a sense of competence, psychologist William James explored the Take on challenging roles within a concept of the self in his influential book, The complex society. Principles of Psychology (1890). He suggested that the self can be understood through its 3 Ways Physical Appearance Impacts different components: Self-Worth: CONSTITUENTS OF THE SELF: 1. SELF-PERCEPTION: How we James identified the self as consisting of perceive our own appearance four key elements: the material self, the influences our overall self-esteem and social self, the spiritual self, and the confidence. pure ego (Trentmann, 2016; Green, 2. PERCEPTION OF OTHERS: Our 1997). physical appearance can shape how we SELF-FEELINGS: These are the view others, often influencing emotions and feelings that arise from the judgments and interactions. self’s interaction with the world and its 3. PERCEIVED JUDGMENT FROM components. OTHERS: How we think others SELF-SEEKING AND perceive us based on our appearance SELF-PRESERVATION: These can impact our sense of worth and actions refer to the behaviors prompted self-acceptance. by the self in order to seek fulfillment and protect its existence. BULIMIA NERVOSA: characterized by episodes of recurrent binge eating, often According to William James primarily followed by compensatory behaviors, such as Material Self is about our bodies, clothes, vomiting, to prevent weight gain. immediate family, and home: ANOREXIA NERVOSA: characterized by A. BODY (The innermost part of the severe weight loss resulting from an intense self): We are deeply connected to our fear of gaining weight, coupled with a refusal bodies, considering them essential to our to eat and a distorted body image. existence. We put significant effort into ensuring our bodies function well and stay healthy. Additionally, we often People with Bodily Dysmorphic develop a special attachment or intimate Disorder will not believe the compliments they connection to certain body parts, valuing receive, instead they try to convince others of them for their importance or personal their ugliness. significance to us. B. CLOTHING: serves as a form of self-expression, with the garments we choose reflecting our identity and LESSON 3: Material Self personal style (Watson, 2014). The fabric and style of the clothes we wear Belk (1988) stated, “We regard our also influence our physical sensations, possessions as parts of ourselves. We are what which can, in turn, affect our attitudes we have and what we possess.” This highlights and behavior. the strong connection between self-identity and C. FAMILY: Our parents and siblings play a significant role in shaping our sense of self. When they experience success, we often share in their victories, feeling as though we are the ones holding the trophy. Conversely, when an immediate family member passes away, we feel as though part of ourselves is lost as well. D. HOME: It is where our heart lies—it is the first foundation of our selfhood. Our early experiences within the home are deeply imprinted on specific places and objects around us, shaping our sense of identity and belonging.