Philosophical and Sociological Perspectives of the Self

Comprehensive flashcards covering philosophical thinkers from Pre-Socratics to Post-Modernists, Freud's layers of the consciousness, Mead's social self, and Freud's psychosexual stages of development.

Philosophy

The study of basic fundamental principles of life, knowledge, reality, existence, morality, human, nature, etc. through knowledge/logic.

Philos

Love

Sophia

Wisdom

Thales

Water

Anaximander

Apeiron

Democritus

Air

Heraclitus

Atoms

Anaxagoras

Fire

Pythagoras

Numbers

Socrates

The philosopher who stated "Know thyself" and "An unexamined life is not worth living."

Dualistic reality

The Socratic concept that a human consists of a body and an immortal soul.

Physical World

A state of reality described as changeable and imperfect; the world of senses.

Spiritual World

A state of reality described as unchanging, eternal, and perfect; the world of ideas.

Reason

According to Plato, the divine essence that lets us think deeply (wisdom).

Physical Appetite

According to Plato, the part of the soul responsible for basic biological needs.

Spirit/Passion

According to Plato, the part of the soul responsible for basic emotion.

Emotions vs. Feelings

Emotions are defined as long-term, while feelings are defined as short-term.

Id

The region of the mind based on the pleasure-seeking principle.

Ego

The region of the mind based on the realistic principle.

Super Ego

The region of the mind based on the moralistic principle.

Tabula rasa

Aristotle's concept of the mind (self) as a blank state.

St. Augustine

The philosopher who believed the self strives for union with GOD through faith and reason.

Rene Descartes

A rationalist famous for the phrase "Cogito Ergo Sum" (I think, Therefore, I am).

Empiricism

The view shared by Locke and Hume that knowledge originates in direct sense experience.

Impressions

Hume's term for the basic sensation of experiences.

Ideas

Hume's term for copies of our impressions.

Immanuel Kant

The philosopher who proposed that "We construct the self."

Preconscious

A layer of the self where we are aware but do not mind it, such as involuntary actions like breathing or heart beating.

Subconscious

The layer that stores information that is readily retrievable when needed.

Unconscious

The layer containing information we are not aware of, which can resurface through dreams.

Dreams

According to Sigmund Freud, these are the "royal road to the unconscious" (wish fulfillment).

Repression vs. Suppression

Repression is involuntarily forgetting, while suppression is voluntarily forgetting.

Parapraxes

Slips of the tongue or slips of the pen.

Latent content

The hidden meanings in dreams.

Manifest content

The appearance of dreams as they are.

Hypnagogic Myoclonic Jerk

Also known as Sleep Myoclonus; a sudden body twitch while sleeping.

Paul Churchland

The philosopher who asserted that the mind/self is the BRAIN.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

The philosopher who argued that the mind and body are so intertwined they cannot be separated.

Clifford Geertz

A sociologist who studied the struggle for individuality in modern society amidst impersonal associations.

Necessary Fiction

Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of ideas that cannot be proven true but are necessary to sustain life and avoid chaos.

Postmodern View of the Self

The idea that the self is a narrative or text, and can be "digitalized" in cyberspace (Nicola Green).

Zygmunt Bauman

Argued the postmodern problem of identity is how to avoid fixation and keep options open.

George Herbert Mead

Proposed that the social self is a product of social interaction and arises through social experience.

Language (Mead)

One of the three activities for self-development; allows individuals to take on the "role of the other."

Play (Mead)

Allows individuals to pretend to be others to express the expectations of significant others.

Game (Mead)

Requires an individual to internalize the roles of all others involved and comprehend the rules.

The "Me"

The side of the self representing the expectations and attitudes of others (the generalized other).

The "I"

The presentable future phase of the self; the response to the "me."

Oral Stage

Age $0-1$; focus is the mouth; activities include thumb sucking and breast feeding.

Anal Stage

Age $2-3$; focus is the anus; activities include toilet training.

Phallic Stage

Age $3-4$; focus is genital fondling; involves the Oedipus and Electra complexes.

Latency Stage

Age $4-5$; the EZ is dormant (subtle, neutral).

Genital Stage

Age $6\text{-now}$; focus is the sex organ; involves intimate relationships with others.