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UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Understanding the Self (1st Term, AY 2020-

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THE SELF FROM VARIOUS

PERSPECTIVES

PHILOSOPHY

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

SOCIOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY ANTHROPOLOGY ORIENTAL/

EASTERN

THOUGHT

PHILOSOPHY

The self in a philosophical paradigm

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HOW DO YOU ANSWER THE QUESTION:

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

IN WHAT WAYS DO I GET

TO KNOW MYSELF?

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UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

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The Ancient Triumvirate

Socrates Plato Aristotle

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

• “Know thy self ”

• “An unexamined life is not worth

living.”

• Dualistic Reality: Body and Soul

• “Our soul strives for wisdom and

perfection”

• 3-Part Soul/self (Psyche) =

Reason, Physical Appetite &

Spirit/Passion

• The mind (self) is a tabula rasa (a

blank tablet).

• Self is composed of matter and

form

• The Process of Completion is

through experiences

Ancient Philosophy

1000 BC to 500 AD

Stoicism

• Apathy or indifference to

pleasure

• Embracing Adversity

• It’s a philosophy designed

to make us more resilient,

happier, more virtuous

and more wise–and as a

result, better people, better

parents and better

professionals.

Hedonism

• “Eat, drink, and be happy.

For tomorrow, you will

die.”

• They believe that pleasure

is the only good in life, and

pain is the only evil, and

our life's goal should be to

maximize pleasure and

minimize pain.

Epicureanism

• Moderate pleasure

• Being content with the

simple things in life

ensures that you will

never be disappointed.

The Post-Aristotelians

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Is the self related to a supreme being/god?

Who am I in relation to a supreme being/god?

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Medieval Philosophy

Theo-centric

 From the scientific investigation on

nature and search for happiness to the

question of life and salvation in another

realm, in a better world (i.e., the afterlife)

 There was an aim to merge philosophy

and religion

(Christian, Jewish, Muslim)

500 AD to 1350 AD

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St. Augustine

 Integrates Platonic ideas with the tenets of Christianity

 The self strives to achieve union with God through faith and reason

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

St. Thomas Aquinas

• Self-knowledge is dependent on our experience of the world

around us (objects in our environment)

• The labels we attribute to ourselves are taken from the things we

encounter in our environment

• “The things that we love tell us what we are”

Medieval Philosophy

500 AD to 1350 AD

Does this mean that we get to know

everything simply by experiencing it?

If St. Thomas tells us that our knowledge is based on our encounter of things,

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Experiencing that something exists

doesn’t tell us what it is

Knowing and learning about a thing

requires a long process of

understanding; same with the mind and

the self – with experience and reason

St. Thomas Aquinas

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How can I be sure that the self exists?

What are the proofs that the self

exists?

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UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

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Modern Philosophy

14th Century to the early 20th Century

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Anthropocentric

 Thinkers began to reject the scholastics’

(medieval thinkers) excessive reliance on

authority

 Period of radical, social, political and

intellectual developments

Rene Descartes

John Locke

David Hume

Immanuel Kant

The self is a thinking thing, distinct

from the body

Personal identity is made possible by

self-consciousness

There is no “self,” only a bundle of

constantly changing perceptions

passing through the theater of our

minds.

The self is a unifying subject, an

organizing consciousness that

makes intelligible experience

possible.

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Modern Philosophy

14th Century to the early 20th Century

Gilbert Ryle

The self is the way people behave

Paul & Patricia Churchland

The self is the brain. Mental states

will be superseded by brain states.

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Describe what happens to you when you

fall in love.

(physically, emotionally, mentally)

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Edmund Husserl

We experience our self as a

unity which the in mental and

physical are seamlessly woven

together

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Conscio

Contemporary Philosophy

Late 19th Century

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Embodied Subjectivity:

• Both Husserl and Merleau-Ponty

agree that our living body is a natural

synthesis of mind and biology.

Phenomenological approach:

• describe the phenomena of the lived

experience (reducing biases) by

describing what your immediate

responses are— physically,

emotionally, cognitively.

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Which among these philosophies can you

relate with?

How do they affect the way you see yourself ?

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SOCIOLOGY

The self as a product of modern society among other constructions

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UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

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The Self in the Sociological Perspective

Classical sociological perspective:

the self is a relatively stable set of

perceptions of who we are in

relation to ourselves, others, and

to social systems

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

 The self is socially constructed in the

sense that it is shaped through

interaction with other people

 As with socialization in general, the

individual is not a passive participant in

this process and have a powerful

influence over how this process and its

consequences develop

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The Self in the Sociological Perspective

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The Looking Glass Self

(Charles Horton Cooley) A person’s self grows out of

a person´s social

interactions with others

The view of ourselves

comes from the

contemplation of personal

qualities and impressions of

how others perceive us

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

 Actually, how we see ourselves does not come from who we really

are, but rather from how we believe others see us

HOW MY

PARENTS

SEE ME

HOW MY

GIRLFRIEND

SEES ME

HOW MY EXGIRLFRIEND

SEES ME

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

The Looking Glass Self

(Charles Horton Cooley)

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Not Known to the self known to the self

Known to Open/Arena Blindspot

others

Not known Hidden/Facade Unknown

to others

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Johari Window

(Joseph Luft & Harrington Ingham)

Technique used to

enhance the

individual's

perception on self

and others.

Symbolic Interactionism

(George Herbert Mead)

Symbolic Interactionism - the self is

created and developed through human

interaction

“I and the Me” self

 Two aspects of self awareness:

 The “me” is the socialized aspect of the

person

 The “I” is the active aspect of the person

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Sociologist George Herbert Mead argued that self-identity is

formed from two parts: the I and the me. Social expectations—

the generalized other—inform the development of the me part.

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PSYCHOLOGY

The self based on psychoanalytic approach and cognitive construction

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

THE SELF BASED ON

PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH

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Sigmund Freud

 The self is multi-tiered/multi-layered:

• Conscious – refers to those thoughts

and feelings that we are aware of

• Preconscious – experiences that are

unconscious but could become

conscious with little effort

• Unconscious – contains all drives, urges

or instincts that are beyond our

awareness but motivate our feelings,

thoughts and behavior

Father of Psychoanalysis

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Structure of the Self

(Sigmund Freud)

ID EGO SUPEREGO

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 Natural part of the self

 Animalistic nature of man

 Pleasure seeking part of the personality

 Determined by the genetic code

 Providing the raw materials

 Setting the boundary conditions for development

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

ID (Biological Self)

Pleasure Principle

or

The id represents the basic need of man.

If it is not satisfied, it could result to stress and tension.

If satisfied, it could give you comfort and joy.

If the id is angered or provoked,

it could destroy not only himself

but also his surrounding

If the id is properly

controlled, it could bring

warmth and comfort

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SUPEREGO (Social Self)

Idealistic Principle

The superego incorporates

the values and morals of

society which are learned

from one's parents and

others

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

 The only region of the mind that is in contact

with reality; it operates to fulfil the reality

principle

 The ego constantly tries to reconciles the

irrational wants of the id and the superego

with the realistic demands of the world

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

EGO (Psychological Self)

Reality Principle

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Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

 When the scale is out of

balance, it is the

responsibility of the EGO to

mediate the conflict between

the ID and SUPEREGO

 Weak ego will lead to

ANXIETY

 To protect the ego from

anxiety, we use DEFENSE

MECHANISMS

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Ego Defense Mechanisms

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Denial

 refusing to

accept

reality

Reaction Formation

 unconsciously

replacing an

unwanted or anxietyprovoking

impulse

with its opposite,

often expressed in an

exaggerated or showy

way.

THE SELF AS A COGNITIVE

CONSTRUCTION

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Imaginary Audience

 Adolescents are thought to believe that others are always watching

and evaluating them, and that they are special and unique

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Self-Concept

 Mental representation

 What we look like

 How we feel in different types of situation

 How we behave towards others

 What do we do at work

 What are the roles we have in the family or society

 The self-concept is a knowledge representation

that contains knowledge about us, including our

beliefs about our personality traits, physical

characteristics, abilities, values, goals, and roles,

as well as the knowledge that we exist as

individuals (Harter, 1999).

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UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

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Self-Esteem

 Used to describe a person's overall

sense of self-worth or personal

value

 In other words, it refers to how

much you appreciate and like

yourself

 Self-esteem is often seen as a

personality trait, which means that it

tends to be stable and enduring

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Real and Ideal Self

(Carl Rogers)

 A person's ideal self may not be

consistent with what actually happens

in life and experiences of the person

 Hence, a difference may exist between a

person's ideal self and actual experience

 Carl Rogers believed that for a person to

achieve self-actualization they must be

in a state of congruence

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Self as defined by Social Comparison

(Leon Festinger)

TEMPORAL COMPARISON

 Considering your present

condition in relation to

how you were in the past

SOCIAL COMPARISON

 Evaluating yourself in

comparison to others –

using others as a basis for

evaluating your attributes

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

How does the social comparison process work?

 Depending on the level of

someone’s motivation, he/she

may have the tendency to

compare himself/herself with

others either in an UPWARD or

DOWNWARD kind of

comparison

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Two Modes of Social Comparison

1. Upward social comparison

 When we compare ourselves with those who we believe are better than

us

 Often focus on the desire to improve our current level of ability

 A highly motivated person tends to engage in upward comparisons, and

usually assume himself/herself as better or equal to the “best person”

 Studies have shown that if given a chance, people choose to make

upward comparisons instead of downward ones

2. Downward social comparison

 When we compare themselves to others who are worse off than

ourselves

 Often centered on making ourselves feel better about our abilities

 A person who is unhappy or is unmotivated usually engages in this to

feel better about himself/herself

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

1. Passive downward comparison

 Happens when a person takes into consideration the previous condition in

making comparison

 Example: A low performing student comparing himself/herself with a worse

off student

2. Active downward comparison

 Happens when a person compares himself/herself with others by demeaning

or causing harm to them

 By derogating the target or causing harm to him/her, this person generates a

situation in which the target is worse off than him/her, therefore giving

him/her the chance to make a downward comparison

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Two Modes of Downward Social Comparison

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Self-Evaluation and Self-Enhancement

 Motivation plays a role in this model and is manifested by selfevaluation

and self-enhancement

1. Self-evaluation occurs when someone looks for positive traits in

himself/herself based on the best person he/she compares

himself/herself with

2. Self-enhancement, on the other hand, occurs when the person

questions which aspects of himself/herself need to be improved to

reach the level of goodness of the person he/she is comparing

himself/herself with

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Reference Group

 A group to which an individual

or another group is compared

 According to sociologists, a

reference group is any group

that individuals use as a

standard for evaluating

themselves and their own

behavior.

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The Creation of Identities

 One’s identity must balance the need to be

similar to one’s reference group with the

need to be a unique individual

• Children become aware of the need for a group

identity and are often afraid or acting

differently

• Teens often seem torn between the need to

assert their own individual identity and the

need to conform to their reference group

• New identities are forged in relation to work,

parenthood, economic status, and ageing

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

ANTHROPOLOGY

The self and person in contemporary anthropology

& the self being embedded in culture

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Western Self vs. non-western Self

Wolter (2013)

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Western Self Non-western/Eastern self

 identity shared with others and

derived from a culture instead of

a “self”

 autonomous and egocentric

Individualism-Collectivism Model

Markus & Kitayama (1991)

Individualism

 A human being has an

individualistic nature and is an

independent part of the

universe and the society

Collectivism

 A human being is an integral

part of the universe and the

society

 People are fundamentally

connected

 Duty towards all others is a very

important matter

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Individualism

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Collectivism

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THE SELF IN ORIENTAL/EASTERN THOUGHT

The self as embedded in relationships and through spiritual development in

Confucian thought

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Asian Schools of Thought

Understanding the Self UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Hindus believe that

an individual’s action

(karma) – the bad or

good actions that the

individual performed

in a previous life

determines his or her

caste

The self is the source of all

sufferings. It is our quest to

forget about the self, forget the

cravings of the self, break the

attachments you have with the

world, and to renounce the self

in order to attain the state of

Nirvana.

Self does not exist

without the existence of

the other.

Self as a separate

identity is supported by

the equal and opposite

sensation of otherness

Filial piety is a foundational

concept in the thought of

Confucius. It teaches how

one should properly act

according to their

relationship with other

people; focused on having a

harmonious social life.

Buddhism

(Siddhartha Gautama)

Hinduism

(Fusion of various Indian

cultures and traditions)

Taoism

(Lao-Tzu)

Confucianism

(Confucius)

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