Philosophical Perspective of the Self PDF

# Philosophical Perspective of the Self - Contemporary Philosophy - Reductive Physicalism - Our 'Self' and our body are believed to be two interconnected systems where everything about you and me can be explained in terms of our bodies, brains, hormones, and neurotransmitters. ## 1. Paul Churchl...

# Philosophical Perspective of the Self - Contemporary Philosophy - Reductive Physicalism - Our 'Self' and our body are believed to be two interconnected systems where everything about you and me can be explained in terms of our bodies, brains, hormones, and neurotransmitters. ## 1. Paul Churchland - Eliminative Materialisms - Only "matters" exist - "We do have an organ that for understanding and recognizing facts which is the brain" - The Self is the workings of the brain or what we could call as the physiological state of the mind. - He believes that as we learn more about the brain, we'll understand the "self" as part of the body's physical processes, rather than something separate from them. ## 2. Maurice Merleau-Ponty - "You first need to have a physical body and brain before you can create an Essence or self" - In his book "Phenomenology of Perception", he argues that our body is the primary way we connect with reality. - The Body, the Self, and Experiences are intertwined. - His key idea is that the body is not just a physical object we "have", but an essential part of how we experience and understand the world. - He emphasized that we are always in the world through our bodies, and this shapes how we think, feel, and act. # Sociological Perspective of the Self - The Self and the Society - Base on its idea, society is linked to the individual as they are inherently connected and dependent on each other. - It makes us who we are by structuring our interactions and lay out an orderly world before us. ## Sociological Imagination - He argued that when we use sociological imagination, we move beyond our personal perspective and recognize how our private lives are shaped by historical, cultural, and structural factors. - In short, sociological imagination helps us see the connection between our individual lives and the bigger social world, helping us understand that personal problems are often linked to public issues. # The Looking Glass Self - He asserted that individuals develop their concept of self by looking at how others perceive them. - 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. - Thus, not all judgments or view of other people to one's self may affect how he/she measure his/her worth, values and behavior. ## Main Steps | How we appear to others | How others judge us | Develop feeling's based on these judgements | | ---------------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | We think about how we look, act, and behave in front of others. | whether they see us as smart, funny, awkward, etc. | Depending on how we think others view us | - We imagine how we appear to other people. - We imagine how other people judge the appearance that we think we present. - If we think the evaluation is favorable, our self-concept is enhanced. - If we think the evaluation is unfavorable, our self-concept is diminished. ## The Social Self - He believed that the self is not something we are born with but develops through interaction with others. - For instance, we put ourselves into someone else's shoes and look at the world through that someone's perspective. ### Mead's Social Self - **The "I" Self** - This represents the spontaneous, active part of the self that responds to situations. - **The "Me" Self** - This is the socialized aspect of the self. It's shaped by how we think others view us and the expectations society has for us. ## Stages of Self Development | Preparatory Stage | Play Stage | Game Stage | | ------------------ | ---------- | ----------- | | Children in this stage are only capable of imitating actions of others | begin to try to take on the role of other person by acting out grown up | Understands complex interactions involving different people with variety of purpose. |