Understanding The Self Lesson Notes PDF

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE  Unexamined Life is no better off SELF than animal life.  Examined Life protects human...

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE  Unexamined Life is no better off SELF than animal life.  Examined Life protects human beings from the shallowness of The SELF is more than the MEASUREABLE living. FACTS that pertain to YOU  Duality: Man is both body and soul  One’s true self is the “soul”, To know thyself is IMPORTANT: contrary to and beyond just being So that one knows the limits of the self  identified with possessions, social - what one is capable of doing and what status, reputation or body. one is not. So that one can practice self- moderation, prudence, and excellence 2. Plato of the soul. For Ancient Greeks, the soul  student of Socrates, founded the is the essence of the person. “Academy” PERSONAL IDENTITY Three kinds of Soul: ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES (across time and changes) 1. “Appetitive Soul” - bodily state Philosophy - basic desires, needs, comfort, satisfaction (e.g. eating, drinking, Philos- love Sophia – wisdom (love of rest, sleeping) wisdom)  Philosophy provides ultimate 2. “Spirited Soul” answers to questions. - affective or emotional state  Philosophy is being studied - excited with challenges, fights for justice, hot-blooded element through the use of logic and reason. 3. “Rational Soul”  Philosophy opens the minds of - cognitive state people and encourages - directs and rules the three individuals to ask questions and - decides, analyses, thinks ahead, to seek answers for themselves. proposes what is best - rationally controls both 1. Socrates appetitive and spirited elements  philosopher and teacher who lived in Athens, Greece, Father of In order to have a good life, one has to Western Philosophy fill it with theunderstanding of the limits  “Self-Knowledge is the ultimate of the self, and the correct ethical virtue.” standards.  having the wisdom to distinguish what is right from wrong 3. Aristotle  “The unexamined life is not  student of Plato worth living.” 1 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES  body and soul are one, without  experience is needed in forming the body the soul can’t exist (vice thoughts, opinion and attitudes versa)  people are powerfully shaped by  soul dies along with the body the world but is also free in some  anything with life has a soul degree Three Parts (Soul/Self): 8. David Hume 1. Vegetative – physical body that  Scottish philosopher and historian grows  Bundle Theory of Self (bundle or 2. Sentient – sensual desires, collection of different feelings and emotions perceptions, which succeed each 3. Rational – the divine essence other in an inconceivable that lets us think deeply, make rapidity, and are in perpetual flux wise choices, and achieve a true and movement) understanding of eternal truths. 9. Immanuel Kant 4. Saint Augustine  Prussian metaphysicist How do humans achieve happiness?  “There is nothing higher than Only in God can man attain true and reason.” eternal happiness, made possible in his  Self is not just personality but contemplation of the Truth and the also the seat of knowledge Divine Wisdom, i.e., God Himself. acquisition  Man is the only creature who 5. René Descartes governs and directs himself and his actions  His principle state that “Cogito,  A person should not be used as a ergo sum” which is “I think, tool, instrument, or device to therefore I am” accomplish another's private end.  Descartes believe a person is a thinking thing to be ethical. And 11. Gilbert Ryle it is the ability to think and  British philosopher reason is seen as a core aspect of  The self is not independent; it is being human. nothing more than a predictable reaction to environmental conditions 6. John Locke  the self has an objective  British philosopher and politician evidence which can be measured  Rejected the idea of a person  strongly opposed Descartes being born with “innate ideas”  The mind comes into the world as a blank slate or “tabula rasa”  Conscious awareness and memory of previous experiences are the keys to understanding the self, 2 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES 12. Paul Churchland This process involves the  Neuroscientist following steps:  He proposed that the mind/self 1. An individual in a social is the brain. Self originates in situation imagines how they the physical brain, not an appear to others. invented mind. 2. That individual imagines others’ judgment of that 13. Maurice Merleau-Ponty appearance.  French philosopher 3. The individual develops  Physical body is an important feelings (of pride or shame) and part of what makes the responds to those perceived subjective self judgments. 2. George Herbert Mead (The SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE Social Self) SELF The selves, minds, and roles carried by The self from the Sociological individuals enable a society to exist. Perspective He argues that the self does not exist Self gradually expands and relates as a result of psychological drives but with others. because society needs it to exist. No man is an island. Relationship with others comes from the ground By stages, Mead states that self that human person is a social develops through social interaction. animal. He/she will always seek others for commercial or personal 1. Preparatory Stage reasons. Children in this stage are only capable of imitating actions of others (Ex. Sociological Theories of the people they particularly in contact with Self such as their family members). They have no ability to imagine yet how 1. The Looking Glass by Charles others see things. Cooley 2. Play Stage: At this stage, children Through social interaction, one’s sense begin to try to take on the role of other of self is mirrored from the judgments person by acting outgrown up they receive from others to measure behaviors, dressing like adults, etc. their own worth, values, and behavior, THEREFORE our self-image comes from 3. Game Stage: While children learn our own self-reflection and from what about several roles of others, they others think of us understand how these roles interact with each other in this stage. 3 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES 3. Erving Goffman’s Presentation of ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON Self in Everyday Life THE SELF In this theory, he posited the idea that ANTHROPOLOGY - the study of as people interact with one another humankind in all times and places. they are constantly engaged in CULTURAL IDENTITY impression management- a process in which people regulate and control CULTURE is derived from the Lat information in social interaction. This in word "cultura" or "cultus" meaning model of social life assumes that care of cultivation. personalities are not static because they change to suit the situation. CULTURE is analogous to caring for an infant. Like in the imagery of theater, everyday interactions happen in three engrained in the patterns and systems of regions, each with different impact on one’s life. a person’s individual performance. can be adaptive and maladaptive The front stage is the region where actors perform and act in Adaptive culture shall continue to conformity with the expectations of manifest the key central values that the the audience. individual and the community want to The backstage is the region where demonstrate. actors behave differently. Actors act Maladaptive-Communities may also try in their natural selves. to get rid of the cultural practices that The off stage is where actors meet will only extinguish the identity and members of the audience good will of the community independently. Communities shall continue to assess AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION whether the practices, rituals and customary actions are still relevant and 1. RELIGION still beneficial to the development of 2. FAMILY the community. 3. SCHOOL 4. MEDIA 5. PEERS ENCULTURATION  The transmission of culture from one generation to the next.  Unlike biological hereditary transmission, cultural transmission is done through observation, use of language, adaptation to environment, 4 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES rituals, and formal and informal temporal orientation and education. normative orientation. THE SELF EMBEDDED IN CULTURE  Object Orientation Object The complexity of cultural identities of Orientation positions the self in peoples, things, and events shall be relation to the surrounding objects. recognized and respected by the self. The self should be able to act The self must remain reflexive of the responsively to the cultural objects similarities and unique differences of around. everything around it. The self should not maintain the individualistic,  Spatial Orientation independent, and autonomous entity Spatial Orientation provides the self but that the self should be able to with personal space in relation to other maintain his or her solid culturally people or things. In our earlier reflexive identity in relation to example, the individualistic society everything and everyone else. where independence is outmost importance, personal space is also emphasized. Cultural Degradation  Temporal Orientation  The loss of a particular culture Temporal orientation endows the self due to assimilation or loss of with the sense of time. Time is truly interest. relevant to cultural communities. In Examples: Indigenous Peoples (IP) Filipino philosophy, time is seen as enrolled in universities who do not spherical (unlike the western concept want to be recognized as IP; Ilocano of time as linear) where life-events are culture overshadowing the inferior repeated but may not be necessarily culture the same. Routinary activities are not considered a repetition of previous  Loss of culture because of activity because these activities will be continued violence, genocide, done at the "feel of time." inability to respect traditions, religions, beliefs, and the  Normative Orientation cultural community’s sense of Normative Orientation provides the self pride, which are largely the with the grasp of accepted norms in the result of globalization. community. Being on time is generally  Excessive exposure to media accepted norm in communal activities. Likewise, normative orientation is at SELF AND BEHAVIORAL ENVIRONMENT the same time providing the self an The four environmental idea of behaviors which are not orientations are: object acceptable in the community. orientation, spatial orientation, 5 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT SELF 1. Sensorimotor stage: Birth to 2 years Psychology is the scientific study of *Piaget believed that developing object human behavior and mental processes. permanence, the understanding that Four goals of psychology: objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, was an important Describe - what the person is doing. element at this point of development. Explain - why is s/he doing that? Predict - what is he going to do? 2. Preoperational stage: Ages 2 to 7 Modify - how can we change the At this stage, kids learn through behavior? pretend play but still struggle with logic and taking the point of view of other Jean Piaget- observed how children people. They also often struggle with processed and made sense of the world understanding the idea of constancy. around them and eventually developed a four-stage model of how the mind EGOCENTRISM-Piaget believed that processes the information children in this stage have encountered. difficulty taking perspective of another person. Three basic components of Piaget's theory ANIMISTIC THINKING- believing that inanimate objects are real. 1. Schema - the building blocks of knowledge; mental organizations that 3. Concrete operational stage: Ages 7 individuals use to understand their to 11 environments. Begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the amount of liquid 2 Adaptation - how a child's learning in a short, wide cup is equal to that in process meets the situational demands. a tall, skinny glass. a. Assimilation is the application of previous concepts to new concepts. Conservation -Recognition that when Some properties (such as shape) of an b. Accommodation is the altering of object change, other properties previous concepts in the face of new (such as volume) remain constant. information 4. Formal operational stage: Ages 12 and up 3. Stages of Cognitive Dev't - reflects Begins to think more about moral, the increasing philosophical, ethical, social, and sophistication of the child's thought political issues that require theoretical processes. and abstract reasoning 6 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES Real and Ideal Self Concepts realization. CARL ROGERS’ IDEAL AND REAL SELF William James The subjective experience of a I – self as knower; pure ego and person contributes to the consciousness development of the self. Me – self as known; one of the many things that the “I” may be conscious of IDEAL SELF The person’s conception of what Components: one should be or what one aspires Material Self: things that belong to us or that to be which includes one’s goals and we belong to. ambitions in life Social Self: who we are in a given social How we want to be situation. Idealized image based on our Spiritual Self: who we are at our core; subjective and most intimate self. experience REAL SELF Global versus Differentiated Models Consist of all the ideas, including the awareness of what one is and Global Self-esteem (Trait self-esteem) what one can do. A personality variable that represents the Who we are actually, how we think way people generally feel about themselves. look and act It is relatively enduring across time and The closer the ideal self to the real situations. It is a decision people make about self is the more fulfilled and their worth as a person. happier. If real self is away from ideal it is more likely unhappy and State Self-esteem (a.k.a. Feelings of Self- dissatisfied and results in the worth) neurotic tendency Refers to temporary feelings or momentary * Ideal self should be congruent emotional reactions to positive and negative with the real self, for optimal events where we feel good or bad about development ourselves during these situations or experiences. KAREN HORNEY Domain Specific Self-Esteem (a.k.a Self- Idealized Self Image – an imaginary evaluations) picture of the self as the processor of Focused on how people evaluate their unlimited powers and superlative various abilities and attributes. This is qualities. making distinctions or differentiation on how Actual Self – the person one is in good or bad people are in specific physical everyday life, often despised because it attributes, abilities, and personal fails to fulfill the requirement of the characteristics. idealized image. Real Self – revealed when a person begins to shed the various techniques developed to deal with basic anxiety and to find ways of resolving conflicts. It is a force that impels growth and self- 7 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES Multiple versus Unified Selves ABRAHAM MASLOW’s SELF-ACTUALIZATION Multiple Selves - are the capacities we carry within us from multiple  Fulfilling one’s own potentials, the relationships. These are not ‘discovered’ highest need but ‘ created ’ in our relationships with  Tendency to satisfy the demands of the other people. self-concept Unified Selves – emphasizes that well- being comes when our personality dynamics are congruent, cohesive, and consistent. True versus False Selves Donald W. Winnicott True Self – based on a sense of being in the experiencing body and the false self as a necessary defensive organization. False Self – the person has to comply with external rules, such as being polite or otherwise following social codes. It constantly seeks to anticipate demands of others in order to maintain the relationship. The Self as Proactive and Agentic Human agency is an active process of exploring, manipulating and influencing the environment in order to attain desired outcomes. ALBERT BADURA’s SELF EFFICACY The measure of one’s ability to complete goals. High SE: eager to accept challenges because they believe they can overcome them Low SE: avoid challenges or believe experiences are more challenging than they actually are. 8 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES WESTERN AND EASTERN PERSPECTIVE transformation of inner OF THE SELF consciousness. ▪ Confucian philosophy (China) – WESTERN emphasized the relational self and ▪ Preoccupied by the duality of the the social understanding of the self. body and soul. The ideal (moral) self is always able ▪ The self is very much anchored on to forego individual interest in view the individuality of the psyche. of prioritizing the social interest. ▪ The individual self is always in a The individual self is subsumed in the struggle to reconcile the connection interest of the social self. The between the ideal self (perfect soul) individual self and the social self are and the limited self (sinful body). not mutually exclusive but are metaphysically and profoundly related. The self is constructively connected with the pursuit of the social self. EASTERN ▪ The self in the eastern perspective ▪ Middle Eastern traditions – very wants to attain perfection in much associated with the communal meditation and enlightenment; self. there has never been an issue of dualism. ▪ Judeo-Christian philosophies – ▪ Easterners do not have the notion emphasizes the unity of a nation – of the separation of the body and the chosen people of God. The soul (one self). biblical prophets would always find themselves reminding the people, as ▪ Atman (Indian philosophy) – the a community of believers, to be seat of consciousness; may have different levels of consciousness but faithful to the loving compassion of there is always one self. Even death God. is considered to be just another level of consciousness but the atman Individualism Collectivism continues to exist because it is not WESTERN EASTERN dependent on the body. ▪ Buddhism – the self is considered as “I” identity; “We” identity; Each nothing but an evolution and Promote person is encouraged individual goals, to be an active initiative, and player in society, to achievement do what is best for society as a whole rather than themselves 9 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF LESSON NOTES Individual rights The rights of ▪ Pursue what is the best for the are seen as being families, self, the self is able to fulfill the the most communities, and life goals set for and by the self important the collective B. Self –sufficiency supersede those of ▪ The self must be able to supply the individual one’s needs without external assistance. Rules attempt to Rules promote unity, ▪ Confidence in one’s capacity to ensure self- brotherhood, and provide what the self needs from importance and selflessness one’s own resources and individualism authority. Independence is C. Rational Self valued; there is ▪ The self should not be weak and much less of a emotional drive to help ▪ The self must not waste resources other citizens or on meditation and other communities than metaphysical cognitions but to be in collectivism constantly rational and Working with others reasonable Relying or being ▪ Everything must be explained by and cooperating is dependent on logic and reason. the norm; everyone others is supports each other frequently seen as The Filipino Self (Sta. Maria, 1999) shameful A Filipino is mostly: ▪ Friendly People are ▪ Unassuming encouraged to do ▪ Helpful things on their ▪ Quiet own; to rely on ▪ Persistent themselves 3 Main Character Types of a People strive for Success of the Filipino: their own community, family, successes or nation more than Type 1 – Simple, Masayahin, May as an individual Malasakit, Matapat Type II – Sumpungin, Mainitin ang Ulo, Hayag ang Kalooban, SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE Mahirap Pakisamahan SELF IN WESTERN THOUGHT Type III – Masipag, Maagap, Maikli A. Individualistic Self ang Pasensiya, Mapagsumikap ▪ Conceived as autonomous, independent 10