UTS

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF (UTS)
COMPLETE & CONCISE REVIEWER

Lessons 1–3 • Key words highlighted

LESSON 1 — THE SELF FROM VARIOUS

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES

Philosophy — study of fundamental questions about knowledge, reality, existence, meaning, and moral judgment.

Pre-Socratics — early Greek thinkers who questioned what the world is made of, why it is the way it is, and what explains change.

ARCHE = ORIGIN / SOURCE / PRIMAL MATTER

Ancient Views

Socrates — human person consists of body and soul; soul is the perfect and permanent aspect.

Plato — body and soul are distinct; soul has rational, spirited, and appetitive parts. Rational soul = true self.

Aristotle — body and soul are ONE unified whole; goal is Eudaimonia—living fully, doing well, and flourishing through reason and virtue.

PLATO:

Rational = reason | Spirited = emotions | Appetitive = desires

ARISTOTLE: BODY + SOUL = ONE WHOLE

Medieval & Early Modern Views

St. Augustine — self is the soul created by God; purpose is union with the Creator; truth through faith and reason.

Thomas Aquinas — human person consists of matter (hyle) and form (morphe); form is what makes a thing what it is.

René Descartes — mind-body dualism: material body + non-material mind. “I think, therefore I am.”

John Locke — self is based on consciousness and memory; memory connects present awareness with past actions.

David Hume — self is a bundle of impressions and ideas; knowledge comes from senses and experiences.

DESCARTES = THINKING SELF | LOCKE = MEMORY + CONSCIOUSNESS | HUME = BUNDLE OF EXPERIENCES

Modern & Contemporary Views

Immanuel Kant — self actively organizes experiences and unifies knowledge.

G.W.F. Hegel — self develops through relationships, struggle, conflict/resolution, and mutual recognition.

Jean-Paul Sartre — “existence before essence”; people create themselves through choices and actions.

Gilbert Ryle — focuses on observable behavior; rejects a hidden non-physical self behind behavior.

Merleau-Ponty — mind and body are inseparable; experience occurs through the living body.

BIG PICTURE: Ancient = rational soul | Medieval = spiritual being | Early Modern = mind/memory | Contemporary = freedom, behavior, embodiment, social connection

LESSON 2 — THE SELF, SOCIETY, AND CULTURE

Self — commonly described as separate, self-contained, independent, consistent, unitary, and private.

Social Constructionist View — self is not fixed; it changes through interaction with society and is multifaceted.

Marcel Mauss — Personne — social self shaped by family, religion, nationality, and social expectations.

Marcel Mauss — Moi — basic/natural identity: body, sense of being oneself, and what one is born with.

PERSONNE = SOCIAL / SHAPED SELF | MOI = BASIC / NATURAL SELF

Mead & Vygotsky — language, conversations, role-playing, and social interaction help people understand and internalize the self.

Family — first and biggest influence; teaches language, values, habits, and ways of living.

Gender and Self — gender influences identity and expectations, but individuals can define their own identity.

CULTURE SHAPES SELF: Western settings often emphasize uniqueness; Filipino/Asian culture often emphasizes modesty and fitting in.

KEY IDEA: SELF ↔ SOCIETY ↔ CULTURE influence one another.

LESSON 3 — THE SELF AS COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT

Cognitive Construct — the self and identity are mental constructs created and recreated through memory, experience, and thought.

Sigmund Freud — mental processes and behavior result from interaction among the Id, Ego, and Superego.

Freud's Three Parts of the Mind

Id — unconscious instinctual drives; seeks pleasure and immediate satisfaction.

Ego — deals with reality; balances Id and Superego and decides how urges can be expressed realistically.

Superego — conscience and moral standards learned from parents, society, and religion; associated with guilt and moral perfection.

ID = PLEASURE | EGO = REALITY / BALANCE | SUPEREGO = MORALS

Self-Awareness & Self-Schema

Self-awareness — understanding one's emotions, characteristics, needs, motivations, thoughts, and behavior.

Private Self — internal standards and private thoughts/feelings.

Public Self — public image or how one represents oneself to others.

Actual Self — who you are at the moment.

Ideal Self — who you would like to be.

Ought Self — who you think you should be.

Self-consciousness — excessive concern about being observed or criticized.

Deindividuation — loss of individual accountability in groups; anonymity can reduce self-control.

Self-esteem — positive or negative perception/evaluation of oneself.

ACTUAL = WHO I AM | IDEAL = WHO I WANT TO BE | OUGHT = WHO I SHOULD BE

Social Comparison & Self-Evaluation

Social Comparison Theory — we learn about ourselves, behavior, and social status by comparing ourselves with others.

Downward Comparison — comparing with people perceived as worse off; may raise self-esteem.

Upward Comparison — comparing with people perceived as better off; may highlight weaknesses and lower self-esteem.

Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory — feeling threatened when someone close outperforms you may lead to distancing, reducing the importance of the area, or working harder to improve.

Narcissism — trait characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration, and self-centeredness.

Factors shaping the self — family, culture, personal experiences, peers, school, and community.

Symbolic Interactionism — G.H. Mead — self is created and developed through human interaction.

SOCIAL COMPARISON: DOWNWARD → often boosts self-esteem | UPWARD → may lower self-esteem

⭐ MUST-MEMORIZE

• Plato → three parts of soul; rational soul = true self.

• Aristotle → body and soul are unified; Eudaimonia = flourishing.

• Descartes → mind-body dualism; “I think, therefore I am.”

• Locke → identity through consciousness and memory.

• Hume → self = bundle of impressions and ideas.

• Kant → self organizes experience.

• Hegel → self develops through relationships and recognition.

• Sartre → existence before essence; choices create the self.

• Ryle → self understood through behavior.

• Merleau-Ponty → mind and body are inseparable.

• Personne = socially shaped self; Moi = basic/natural self.

• Family, culture, experiences, and others shape the self.

• Freud: Id = pleasure; Ego = reality; Superego = morals.

• Actual = now; Ideal = want; Ought = should.

• Downward comparison = perceived worse off; Upward = perceived better off.

• Self-esteem = positive/negative evaluation of oneself.