Understanding the Self ; Mid-Term

Frederick Copleston (Famous history of Philosophy)

- Socrates refers to soul as a thinking and willing subject
Philosophical View of the Self
- It is the intellectual and moral personality of humans.
- The soul (Self) is a responsible agent in knowing ethics.
Philosophy
- Sought to answer life’s difficult questions “Take care of your soul to attain a good life.” -Socrates
- Has relentlessly pursued answers to these no matter how
seemingly futile the quest may be. State if the soul refers to the person’s inner being which
✓ “Who Am I?” determines the quality of one’s life.
✓ What exactly are we?
✓ What do we mean by the “Self”? “True self is the Virtuous Life”
- Aimed at unraveling who man is.
Plato
Self Concept. An idea of the self-constructed from the beliefs one - The experience of examining oneself eventually better
holds about oneself. understand the core of the self which he called Psyche.
Self Knowledge. Understanding of oneself. Parts of Human Soul:
Self-Esteem. Confidence in one’s own worth or abilities. The Rational: Reason
Social Self. One’s identity or self concept that are important to or The Spirited: Honor
influenced by interpersonal relationships. The Appetite: Desire
Psyche is composed of 3 elements:
Great Minds From Our History (Summary) - Appetitive. One’s desires and pleasures.
- Will or Spirited. Excited when given challenges.
Socrates, Plato, St. Augustine - The self is an immortal soul that - Mind. Superior of all elements
exists over time. - Nouns. Conscious awareness of the self.
Descartes - The self is a thinking being, distinct from the body. St. Augustine
John Locke - Personal identity is made possible by - The development of the self is achieved through
self-consciousness. self-presentation & self-realization.
David Hume - There is no self, only a bundle of constantly - Realization of the wasted self is achieved through conversion
changing perceptions passing through the theater of our minds to the faith.
(temporary impression). - Man’s end goal is happiness.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty - The self is embodied subjectivity, his
concept is more on movements and expressions. A MODERN PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF
Paul Churchland - The self is the brain, Mental states will be
superseded by brain states. Rene Descartes (Father of Modern Philosophy)
Gilbert Ryle - The self is the way people behave. - Claimed that we cannot really rely on our senses as sense
Sigmund Freud - The self is multi-layered. perception can deceive us.
Immanuel Kant - The self is a unifying subject, an organizing - He doubts everything.
consciousness that makes intelligible experience possible. Four Rules:
Only accept clear and distinct ideas.
Philosophy (Continuation) Divide each problem.
- Love of Wisdom, philo-sophia Order your thoughts.
- KNOW THYSELF (self-control), ancient greeting of the highly Always check for oversights.
civilized Greeks. - “Cogito ergo sum”, I think therefore I am or I doubt therefore I
- About quantifiable facts exist.
- Philosophers insisted it is more than just basic facts. - Self is a thinking being.
- Imperative and Requirement John Locke (British Philosopher and a Politician)
- Imperative to know the limits of the self. - He opposed the idea of Descartes.
- Requirement for self-moderation, prudence, good - Self is comparable to an empty space.
judgement, and excellence of the soul. - Experience contributes to the pile of knowledge.
- Experience is needed to have sense data, through the
Ancient Greeks - The soul is the essence of the person. process of reflection and analysis.
- Primary qualities: quantitative facts.
Socrates (Forerunner of Western Philosophy) - Secondary qualities: elements that are distinguishable
- A scholar, teacher, and Philosopher by the subjective individual.
- Known as the MARKET PHILOSOPHER David Hume (Scottish Philosopher and Historian)
- He was accused of corrupting the minds of the youth of - There is no self
Athens and was sentenced to death, he then chose death - All ideas are derived from expressions
instead of to be exiled. - Humans are just bundles of temporary impressions.
- Emmanuel Kant
“Face the adversities of life calmly & squarely rather than feeling - We construct the self.
like chickens when faced with storms in life.” - Self is always prussian metaphysicist transcendental.
- Man is a free agent capable of making decisions for himself.
- Philosophy must obtain practical results for the greater Sigmund Freud
well-being of society. - There are two selves, one conscious and one unconscious.
∟ Acquisition of wisdom through knowing one’s self. - Man is a combination of biological structure (ID) and the
influence of his socio-cultural environment (SUPEREGO). It
“Ultimate wisdom comes from knowing oneself” manifests the ego, in which is being the self.
 - Topological Model: a person may both know and do not know The self becomes delocalized with modernization, which seeks its
certain things at the same time. own identity.
Gilbert Ryle (British Philosopher)
- The self is how you behave. Inauthentic Self. an increasing trend for society to dictate proper
- The mind is never separate from the body. cultural norms and values, the self becomes dependent on it,
- Physical actions or behaviors are dispositions of the self. resulting in losing its independent form.
- Mind is nothing but a disposition of the self. Android Self. society becomes like a big marketplace wherein one
- “I act therefore I am” or “You are what you do” chooses what to conform to.
Paul and Patricia Churchland * Stability of one’s self-identity is no longer based on a pre-given
- The self is the brain. traditional broad definition of the self.
- Eliminative materialism * The world is socially constructed; learned meanings and behavior
- Mind is unreal and the brain is real. are the most direct cause of human behavior.
- Mind, moods, emotions, actions, and consciousness are
deeply affected by the state of the brain. Social Construction of the Self
- A new conceptual framework should be based on - Self is not discovered; it is made through the socialization
neuroscience. process.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (French Philosopher) - Self is acquired socially based on our social roles.
- The self is embodied subjectivity. Authenticity
- There is unity in our mental, physical, and emotional - One of the constructs most emphasized in every generation
disposition. is being real.
- The virtue of movement and expression. - It is being real to others and to one’s own feelings and
thoughts.
- It is congruence of one’s own experience and awareness as
Socio and Anthro Perspectives
well as truthfulness in behavior and communication.
- It has been shown to increase well-being and self-esteem.
Sociology. the scientific study of human life, social groups, whole - Being authentic has become a focal point in which
societies and the human world whose subject matter is our own psychologists try to emphasize as a basic strength among
behavior as social beings in relationship with many other people. humans.

Self-Concept. the content of self-awareness. George Herbet Mead (1934)

- An integrated set of vital ideas and feelings about self, - The Social Life
including self-esteem. - Wrote Mind, Self and Society from the Standpoint of a Social
- The mental image one had of oneself. Behaviorist
- The idea that you have about the kind of person you are. - Introduced symbolic interaction which is the idea that
Self-Esteem. the evaluation of the self. verbal communication contains symbols/meanings.
- The degree to which it is seen as positive or negative. - Looking glass self (self-concept) grows out from relationships
- The resulting feelings about oneself. to others through the process of role taking.
- A confidence and satisfaction in oneself. - Role taking is imagining oneself in the place of the other.
- A feeling of having respect for yourself and your abilities. - One learned to see themself as if through the eyes of others:
Significant/Particular Others. A person who influences one with
The Self as Products of Modern Society AMong Other Construct emotional bond: Parents.
Generalized Others. Expected responses of a corrected and
Generation. a subculture of people who experience similar social personified community.
phenomena at a certain period of time.
- They share common themes with regard to values, Three Stage of Social Development
norms, behaviors, and cognition (how they think). ● Preparatory Stage (Birth to Age 3). Interactions lack meaning
Cohorts. a group of people used in a study who have something in - Children largely imitate people
common. - Preparing for role taking
Baby Boomers (Born after World War II). They are characterized as: ● Play Stage (Age 3 to 5). Learn to use language and other
independent, conservative,and traditional. symbols.
Generation X (Born between 1970-1980). They are characterized as: - Pretend to take on and roles and focused on role
cynical, untrusting, individualistic, competent, technical, and playing
diverse. - Become skillful users of symbolic interaction
- Called xennials ● Game Stage (Begins at Age 5). Understand your own social
- Experienced an analogue childhood and a digital adulthood. position and others positions.
Generation Y (Born between). Deemed as the most controversial - Learn to take on multiple roles
of the generational cohorts, they are characterized as: responsible,
independent, fast-thinker, entrepreneurial, achievement-oriented, *Mead conceptualized the idea of “I” and “Me” as distinct parts of
confident with technology. They are also: self-entitled, fast-paced, the social self.
bossy, narcissistic, and lazy. - I is egocentric, impulsive, and subjective; contains one’s
- Also known as millennials motive and wants.
- They are products of modern society - Me is objective and born within the social context; making
- They set the trends most specially on internet platforms and the wants of the I.
media and are affected by this. - Similar to Freud's Notion of the ID, EGO, SUPEREGO
Generation Z (Post Millennial). They are characterized as: * Self-esteem can be seen as inherent in the ‘I’ and learned by
technologically savvy, sophisticated, educated, more on gadgets, the ‘Me’.
smarter, connected.
Charles Horton Cooley
- Author of Human Nature and the Social Order
 - Introduced the concept of the looking glass self that E.B. Taylor. Culture is that complex whole which includes
influenced Mead. knowledge, belief, art, moral, law, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
Three Parts of Looking Glass Self: - Include all socially standardized ways of seeing, thinking
- What we imagine of how others see us about the world, establishing preferences and goals.
- How we think others judge us - One must learn to behave.
- What we feel about those judgements Leslie A. White. Culture is an organization of phenomena which
* These perceptions develop feelings such as pride or shame. It include acts, objects, ideas, and sentiments.
influences others to change their self-concept to fit other’s - It means the entire way of life.
opinions. Anthropologists. Culture is based on the premise that all learned
* Looking at glass self can be a distorted view of ourselves. behavior is a product of how people think about things. Known as
* Self-image is shaped by society cognitions.

Johari Window. Defines four areas of the self: Cognitive Models of Culture of Schema
- Known to self and others (Open or Known) - Views culture as a mental map
- Known to others but not to self (Blind) - Guides people in their relation to their surroundings
- Known to self but not to others (Private) T.S. Eliot. Culture as the ways of life of a particular people living in
- Known to neither self no others (Unknown) one place.
- Includes man’s material inventions and
Anthropology. The study of the human race, its culture and accomplishments.
society, and its physical development. - Artifacts. Material aspects of culture. Tell about the
things people value and the processes with which
The self refers to a set of implicit cultural values that we try to solutions are formulated to cope with biological and
adhere to and use them to guide our lives. cultural needs.
Individualist. Grows up to look after himself and immediate family
- Archeology. The study of how people lived in the past. only.
- Physical Anthropology. The study of human biology - Focus on “I”
(human evolution) and non-human primates. - Individual ownership of resources
- Linguistic Anthropology. The study how people speak - People are autonomous
and how their language developed and evolved. Collectivist/Interdependent. Born into extended families or in
- Cultural Anthropology. The study of how people live other groups that continue protecting them in exchange for
their lives in the present and how they may have lived in loyalty.
the past. It is related to sociology and social psychology. - Focus on “We”
- Resources should be shared
The Self and Person in Contemporary Anthropology - An integral part of the communal group
- The very foundation of the self in light of its cultural Teachings of Confucianism (Fabric of Social Relationship)
context. - The self as reflected in the collectivist teachings of
- The self is one interpretation of being human among confucius.
others. The Self as a Social Construct
- Self development is influenced by family’s history. - Integrates man as a member and a product of society
- Self is embedded in the culture
The Self as Embedded in Culture
- Edward B. Taylor. Culture is that complex which
Psychological Perspective
includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs,
and any other capabilities and habits acquired as a
member of society. Questioning who we are or engaging in self-reflection to figure out
Components of Culture and understand why we behave in a certain way is normal and is
- Material Culture. Consists of human technology of all actually beneficial in increasing self-awareness.
the things that people make and use. Introspection. Both an informal and a formal experimental
- Non-material Culture. Inclusive of the intangible approach, but either process can be undertaken by anyone with
human creations that include beliefs, values, norms, and curiosity and determination.
symbols. It could also manifest in the material culture of - Originally developed by Wilhelm Wundt in the 1800s.
people. - Focused on three areas of mental functioning: thoughts,
images, and feelings.
Conservatism. Social value that can manifest in what people wear. - He led to the current work on perceptual processes and
the establishment of the field of cognitive psychology.
Catherine Raeff (2010) (A developmental psychologist)
- Culture can influence how you, your peers, and families Informal Reflection Process. Examining our own internal
view: thoughts and feelings and reflecting on what they mean.
- Relationships. Culture is an influential factor - Can be focused on one’s current ongoing mental
in how you enter and maintain a relationship. experience or very recent past mental experiences.
- Personality Traits. Whether you value and
how you value traits like: humility, politeness, The Psychology of the Self
assertiveness, sympathy and self esteem. May - Focuses on the representation of an individual based on
also influence how you perceive hardships. his/her experiences.
- Achievement. Influences how you define - Experiences may come from: home, school, organizations.
success. - Self is one of the most heavily researched areas in social and
- Expressing Emotions. Influence how feelings personality psychology.
are expressed.
Self/Self-Concept - These perspectives asset the overall dignity and worth of
- Organized, consistent set of perceptions of and beliefs about human beings and their capacity for self-realization.
oneself.
- These perceptions and believes that comprise our Karen Horney
self-concept are called self schemas - Feminine psychology
- Established that a person has a/an: Ideal Self, Actual Self,
Self-Schemas and Real Self
- Formed by numerous factors that we may be aware or - Believed that everyone experiences the basic anxiety
unaware of, which are: through which we experience conflict and strive to cope
- Past experiences and employ tension reduction approaches.
- Personality traits - Believed people develop a number of strategies to cope
- Abilities with basic anxiety because people feel inferior
- Physical features
- Values Idealized Self-Image. An imaginary picture of the self as the
- Goals possessor of unlimited powers and superlative qualities is
- Social developed.
- Roles
- Own observations Actual Self. The person in every life, often despised because it fails
- Feedback from the others to fulfill the requirement of the idealized image.

The Self as a Cognitive Construct * Underlying both the idealized and actual self is the
- Cognitive Construction. A cognitive approach that
focuses on the mental processes rather than the Real Self. revealed only as a person begins to shed the various
observable behavior. techniques developed to deal with basic anxiety and find ways of
resolving conflicts.
William James. Introduced classic distinction between the self as - Not an entity but a force that impels growth and
knower (pure ego) and the self as the known (empirical self) realization.
provides a useful scheme within which to view the multitudinous
aspects of self-functioning. Carl Rogers (Client-Centered Therapy)
- Among the first to coin the term Self-Esteem. - 1902-1987
- Referred I as pure ego and suggested that this component of - Rather than patient
the self is consciousness in itself. - A humanistic American psychologist who focused on
- Referred Me as one of the many things that the I may be the therapeutic relationship and developed a new
conscious of, and it consists of three components: method of client-centered therapy.
- One of the first to use the term client
Physical/Material Self. consists of the things that belong to us or
that make us belong to (Familya, Clothes, Body). - Real self includes aspects of one’s being and
experiences that are perceived in awareness by the
Social Self. Who we are in a given social situation. individual.

Spiritual Self. Who we are at our core (more concrete or Ideal Self. revolves around goals and ambitions in life (dynamic).
permanent as well as subjective and most intimate self). - Idealized image that we have developed over time.

Global Versus DIfferentiated Models Rogers asserted that we have 2 selves:

Global Self-Esteem Ideal Self: person we want to be, idealized version of yourself, how
- Also known as Trait Self-Esteem I should be.
- A personality variable that represents the way people - It is essential in guiding and motivating us to behave in a way
generally feel about themselves. that would lead us to the best version of who we want to be.
- A decision people make about their worth as a person Real Self: who we actually are, how I see me, also called “actual
self”
State Self-Esteem Possible Selves. Developed from past experiences, current
- Also known as Feelings of Self-Worth behavior, and future expectations.
- Refers to temporary feelings or momentary emotional - One’s conceptions about the kind of person one might
reactions to positive and negative events where we feel good become in the near future.
or bad about ourselves during situations or experiences - Sometimes it is negative and represents what you fear
you might become.
Domain Specific Self-Esteem Real and Ideal Selves
- Also known as self-evaluation In achieving the ideal self or any goal, numerous studies
- Focused on how people evaluate their various abilities and emphasize the importance of visual imagining exercises.
attributes
- Making distinctions or differentiation on how good or bad How aligned are your ideal and real selves?
people are in specific physical attributes, abilities and Congruence. Self-concept meshes well with actual experience
personal characteristics. (some incongruence is probably unavoidable).
Incongruence. Self-concept does not mesh well with actual
Real and Ideal Self-Concepts experience.
- Contemporary psychology and the understanding of the - It may happen from time to time, most especially in
internal processes of man cases or contexts that are new and extreme.
- A group of psychologists called for renewed attention to
inner experience, internal processes and self-constructs.
 According to Rogers, the congruence (health personality) or
incongruence (unhealthy personality) between the ideal and real Self As Proactive and Agentic Self (Gordon Allport)
self has effects on our self-esteem.
“It has been documented that there is a relationship between Agent Self. known as the executive function that allows for
low self-esteem and violence, school dropout rates, teenage actions.
pregnancy, suicide, and low academic achievement.." (Misetich & - This is how we make choices and utilize our control in
Delis-Abrams, 2003, para. 5). situations and actively responding.
Self-Esteem. Refers to one’s overall assessment of one’s worth as a - It resides over everything that involves decision making,
person (one’s self-worth). self-control, taking charge in situations and actively
Self-Efficacy. How one performs responding.
- Directly correlated with self-esteem. Human Agency. An active process of exploring, manipulating and
To increase self-esteem and self-efficacy, we have to learn to give influencing the environment in order to attain desired outcomes.
unconditional positive regard to each other. Albert Bandura. The core features of human agency are:
- Intentionality - acts a person performs intentionally
Rogers presented the idea of a fully functioning person: - Forethought - setting goals, anticipation of outcomes of
- “this means that the person is in touch with the here actions, selection of behaviors to produces desired outcomes
and now, his or her subjective experiences and feelings, and avoiding undesirable ones
continually growing and changing” (McLeod, 2014, para. - Self-Reactiveness - monitoring progress toward fulfilling
9). choices.
Key Characteristics of a Fully-Functioning Person: - Self-Reflectiveness - examination of own functioning,
- Openness to experience evaluation of the effect of other people’s action on them.
- Flexible self-concept
- Unconditional [positive] regard for the self All of which lead to self-efficacy, the belief that they are capable of
- Ability to live in harmony with others performing actions that will produce a desired result.

“If there’s one "program" we could all start that would do wonders Self-Efficacy. Lies in the center of Bandura’s Social Cognitive
for our self-esteem, it’s abolishing needless self-criticism and Theory.
punitive self-talk—and that program is free!” (Winch, 2014, para. 13) - Measure of one’s ability to complete goals.

Self-Awareness. The ability to improve ourselves. With high self-efficacy often are eager to accept challenges
because they believe they can overcome them
Kenneth Gergen (Multiple vs Unified Selves)
- Post-modern society contends that man has an identity With low self-efficacy may avoid challenges, or believe experiences
that shifts and morphs in different social situations and are more challenging than they actually are
in response to different stimuli.
- He argues that having a flexible sense of self in different “When you invest your time in developing yourself personally and
contexts is more socially adaptable than forcing oneself professionally, you are role-playing as a catalyst for self-growth.
to stick to one self-concept There are myriad skill investment avenues. For instance — read the
Multiple Selves. Capacities we carry within us from multiple news and books, expose your brain to creative ideas, meet [good]
relationships. people” (Nathan, 2018, para. 5).
- Not discovered but rather created in our relationships
with other people.

Unified Selves. Well-being comes when our personality dynamics

are congruent, cohesive and consistent. It is understood that a
person is essentially connected with selfhood and identity.

True vs False Selves

Donald Winnicot
- Distinguished the ‘true self’ from the ‘false self’ in the human
personality, considering the TRUE SELF as based on a sense
of being in the experiencing body.

False Self. a necessary defensive organization, a survival kit, a

caretaker of the true self, the means by which a threatened person
has managed to survive.
- Used when the person has to comply with external rules.
- Constantly seeks to anticipate demands of others in order to
maintain the relationship.
- Healthy False Self is functional, can be compliant but without
the feeling that it has betrayed its true self.
- Unhealthy False Self fits in but through a feeling of forced
compliance rather than loving adaptation.

True Self. a sense of integrity, connected wholeness.

Heinz Kohut. Can lead towards ‘narcissistic personality; which
identifies with external factors at the cost of one’s own
autonomous creativity.