Understanding the Self - Comprehensive Notes

PHILOSOPHY

Etymology

  • Derived from the Greek words "philo" (loving) and "sophia" (knowledge/wisdom).

Definition

  • Philosophy means "loving knowledge" or "loving wisdom".
  • Originally used by the Greeks to mean "the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake".
  • A set of ideals, standards, or beliefs used to describe behavior and thought (e.g., Western Philosophy, Eastern Philosophy).
  • Investigates the legitimacy of concepts through rational argument concerning their implications, relationships, and reality, knowledge, moral judgment, etc.

SOCRATES

  • The Greeks were the first to seriously question myths and seek understanding of reality through reason.
  • Famous quote: "The unexamined life is not worth living".
    • Meaning: Self-knowledge and examination of one's life are essential for improvement.
  • People should consciously contemplate their nature and values.

PLATO

  • Student of Socrates.
  • Believed the "soul" is the most divine aspect of a human being.
    • His concept of the divine is intellectual.

Three Components of the Soul

  • The Appetitive (sensual): Enjoys sensual experiences like food, drink, and sex.
  • The Rational (reasoning): Conscious awareness; the part that thinks and analyzes.
  • The Spirited (feeling): Embodies power and emotions.
  • Attainment of these components leads to a just and virtuous soul.

ST. AUGUSTINE

  • Deeply influenced by Plato's ideas, but incorporates Christianity.
  • Man is of a bifurcated nature (divided into two parts):
    • Part 1: Dwells in the world and yearns to be with the Divine (body).
      • Body - dies on earth.
    • Part 2: Capable of reaching immortality (soul).
      • Soul - lives eternally in spiritual bliss with God.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

  • Man = matter + form
    • Matter: Common stuff that makes up everything in the universe.
    • Form: Essence of a substance or thing (what makes it what it is).
  • The human body is similar to animals/objects, but what makes a human is their essence.
  • The soul is what makes us human.

RENE DESCARTES

  • Father of Modern Philosophy.
  • Emphasized doubt as a method for attaining certainty.
  • "Cogito ergo sum" - I think, therefore I am.
  • Sensory perceptions cannot be used as proof of existence because the senses can be fooled.
  • The only thing one can't doubt is the existence of the self.
    • He was skeptical about the truth to determine which beliefs could be ascertained as true.

DAVID HUME

  • Disagrees with previous philosophers.
  • All knowledge is derived from human senses.
  • Empiricist: Believes that knowledge comes from experiences and senses.
  • The self is not an entity beyond the physical body.
  • We know others are human through our senses (seeing, hearing, feeling).

IMMANUEL KANT

  • Agrees with Hume that everything starts with perception/sensation of impressions.
  • There is a "mind" that regulates these impressions. The human mind creates the structure of human experience.
  • Time, space, etc. are ideas built into our minds.

GILBERT RYLE

  • What truly matters is the behavior that a person manifests in their day-to-day life.
  • Sense of self is derived from our behaviors and actions.
  • Actions define our concept of "Self".

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY

  • Mind-body bifurcation is an invalid problem.
  • Mind and body are inseparable; they need each other.
  • One's body is their opening toward their existence in the world.
  • The living body, thoughts, emotions, and experiences are all one.

SOCIOLOGY

  • Focuses on two or more people.
  • Sociologists study the role of society in shaping human behavior.
  • Sociologists tend to look outward (social institutions, cultural norms, interactions with others).

PSYCHOLOGY

  • Focus is on the individual, what makes them unique.
  • Psychologists are focused on how the mind influences human behavior.
  • Psychologists tend to look inward (mental health, emotional processes).

THEORIES OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT

  • We have hereditary and genetic traits when we are born.
  • Who we are as human beings progresses through social interaction, both in the fields of psychology and in sociology.

CHARLES HORTON COOLEY

  • Developed the "looking-glass self" theory (1902).
  • A person's self grows out of society's interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others.
  • People are shaping themselves based on other people's perception

Three Components of the "Looking-glass self"

  • First, we imagine how we must appear to others.
  • Second, we imagine the judgment of that appearance.
  • Finally, we develop our self through the judgments of others.

GEORGE HERBERT MEAD

  • Regarded as one of the founders of social psychology.
  • Developed the "Theory of the Social Self".
  • Explains how social experience develops an individual's personality.
  • The self is not there at birth; it is developed through social experience.
  • No self interaction = no self

Two Sides of Self: "I" and "Me"

  • A person undergoes an active process, not just a mere reflection of society. The "I" and "me" have a didactic relationship (one teaches the other).
  • "Me": The product of what the person has learned while interacting with others and with the environment (learned behaviors, attitudes, expectations).
  • "I": The part of the self that is unsocialized and spontaneous. It is the person's response to the community's attitude (impulses, drives).

KOHLBERG'S THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG

  • How do people learn to decide what is right (good) and what is wrong (bad)?
  • Developed a theory of moral development with three levels:
    • Pre-conventional: Young children experience the world through their senses.
    • Conventional: Develops during teen years; youngsters become aware of others' feelings and consider them when determining what's "good" and "bad".
    • Post-conventional: People begin to think of morality in abstract terms (e.g., rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).

SIGMUND FREUD

  • Founding father of psychoanalysis.
    • A method for treating mental illness and a theory explaining human behavior.
  • Believed childhood events greatly influence adult lives and shape personality.
  • A person matures through a series of psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.

Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development

  • Each stage represents the fixation of libido (sexual drives or instincts) on a different area of the body.
  • As a person grows physically, certain areas of their body become important as sources of potential frustration (erogenous zones), pleasure, or both.
    1. Oral Stage (Birth to 1 year): Libido is centered in a baby's mouth.
    2. Anal Stage (1 to 3 years): Libido is focused on the anus, and the child derives great pleasure from defecating.
    3. Phallic Stage (3 to 6 years): Sensitivity is concentrated in the genitals.
    4. Latency Stage (6 years to puberty): The libido is dormant. Child's energy is directed towards school, friendships, hobbies.
    5. Genital Stage (puberty to adult): Last stage of personality development; a time of adolescent sexual experimentation.

ERIK ERIKSON

  • Created a theory of psychosocial development based on Freud's work.
  • His theory included eight stages of personality development beginning with birth and ending with death.
  • Self-development gives credit to social aspects, unlike Freud's focus on basic human urges.
  • Freud's Theory centered on psychosexual development whereas Erikson's focused on psychosocial development

Stages of Psychosocial Development

  • Infant: Trust vs. Mistrust
  • Toddler: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
  • Pre-schooler: Initiative vs. Guilt
  • Grade-schooler: Industry vs. Inferiority
  • Teenager: Identity vs. Role Confusion
  • Young Adult:
  • Middle-age Adult: Generativity vs .
  • Older Adult: Integrity vs. Despair