The self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness. The self has been studied extensively by philosophers and psychologists and is central to many world religions.

Philosophy [link]

The philosophy of self seeks to describe essential qualities that constitute a person's uniqueness or essential being. There have been various approaches to defining these qualities. The self can be considered that being which is the source of consciousness; the agent responsible for an individual's thoughts and actions; and/or the substantial nature of a person which endures and unifies consciousness over time.

The philosophy of a disordered self, such as in schizophrenia, is described in terms of what the psychiatrist understands are actual events in terms of neuron excitation but are delusions nonetheless, and the schizo-affective or schizophrenic person also believes are actual events in terms of essential being. PET scans have shown that auditory stimulation relates to certain areas of the brain and imagined similar events occur in adjacent areas but hallucinations occur in the same areas. In such cases, external influences may be the source of consciousness and the person may or may not be responsible for "sharing" in the mind's process; and/or the events which occur, such as visions and auditory stimuli, may endure and be repeated often over hours, days, months or years -- and the afflicted person may believe themselves to be in a state of rapture and/or possession, which their artistic expression may tend to confirm. Whether art has moral responsibility is difficult to relate to the idea of a unique source of consciousness and rapid thinking may lead to an insubstantial nature of the enduring person's consciousness over time; it can be said in view of these two exigencies that the person is vulnerable.

Psychology [link]

The psychology of self is the study of either the cognitive and affective representation of one's identity or the subject of experience. The earliest formulation of the self in modern psychology form the distinction between the self as I, the subjective knower, and the self as Me, the object that is known.^[1] Current views of the self in psychology position the self as playing an integral part in human motivation, cognition, affect, and social identity.^[2] Self following from John Locke has been seen as a product of episodic memory^[3] but research upon those with amnesia find they have a coherent sense of self based upon preserved conceptual autobiographical knowledge.^[4] It is increasingly possible to correlate cognitive and affective experience of self with neural processes. A goal of this ongoing research is to provide grounding and insight into the elements of which the complex multiply situated selves of human identity are composed. The 'Disorders of the Self' have also been extensively studied by psychiatrists.^[5]

For example, facial and pattern recognition take large amounts of brain processing capacity but pareidolia cannot explain many constructs of self for cases of disorder, such as schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder.

Religion [link]

Religious views on the self vary widely. The self is a complex and core subject in many forms of spirituality. Two types of self are commonly considered - the self that is the ego, also called the learned, superficial self of mind and body, an egoic creation, and the Self which is sometimes called the "True Self", the "Observing Self", or the "Witness".^[6]

Human beings have a self—that is, they are able to look back on themselves as both subjects and objects in the universe. Ultimately, this brings questions about who we are and the nature of our own importance.^[7] Traditions such as Buddhism see the apparent self (our identification as souls, minds, bodies and egos) as a "grasping-after" self—i.e., inasmuch as one has a "self," one has it only through a deluded attempt to shore it up. Christianity makes a distinction between the true self and the false self, and sees the false self negatively, distorted through sin: 'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?' (Jeremiah 17:9)

According to Marcia, identity comes from both political and religious views. He also identified exploration and commitment as interactive parts of identity formation, which includes religious identity. Erik Erikson compared faith with doubt and found that healthy adults take heed to their spiritual side.^[8]

One description of spirituality is the self's search for "ultimate meaning" through an independent comprehension of the sacred. Spiritual identity appears when the symbolic religious and spiritual value of a culture is found by individuals in the setting of their own life. There can be different types of spiritual self because it is determined on one's life and experiences. Another definition of spiritual identity is " a persistent sense of self that addresses ultimate questions about the nature, purpose, and meaning of life, resulting in behaviors that are consonant with the individual’s core values." ^[8]

The direct experience of God is usually reserved for prophets, saints and martyrs but many schizophrenics have claimed to hear, see or know God and have been dismissed as delusional. All too often these same mentally challenged individuals are beset by demons, who act to push them towards God by a variety of antagonistic means. Also, people on drugs have claimed to be witness to God but they have similarly been dismissed as hallucinatory. Then again, people in native cultures imbibe or ingest plants or concoctions that lead them to see holy visions. PET scans have shown that the areas of the brain that are excited by hearing actual events are adjacent to the ones imagining the same event, but the same as ones hallucinating the event.

It is this connection by perception that is of interest to the self, and once made, people will often return to make it again. Think of the painting in the Sistine Chapel -- is Adam's finger outstretched pointing to God in a relaxed, accepting way? As if it is in our self's nature to seek God, and more over, to accept Him when found? As if a circle of spirit were made complete? To whom should we go when our mind or soul is broken in such a way that others cannot fix it? Deep within each of us is the act of creation and the Creator ... deep within our self. Artists mirror culture and nature, and is that not worship? Is that not faith, by a different name? What is "new meaning" if not revelation? Such can also be found in the etymological thinking of the "word salad" of schizophrenics and the idiomatic logic of schizo-affectives; it is its own form of poetry, albeit under-appreciated. It may be an attempt to express the inexpressible, such as the mother's and father's voices heard while still in the womb, whose morphemes were incomprehensible at the time, and forming layers upon layers of early memories while the embryo or fetus was still wholly dependent and raw perception of the unknowable and ineffable was being laid as the basis of communication.

See also [link]

• Ego
• Individual
• Individuation
• Outline of self

Further reading [link]

Please expand this article. Some suggested sources are given hereafter. More information might be found in a section of the talk page. (February 2012)

• Thomas M. Brinthaupt, Richard P. Lipka, The Self: definitional and methodological issues
• Jean Dalby Clift, Core Images of the Self: A Symbolic Approach to Healing and Wholeness
• Anthony Elliott, Concepts of the Self
• Anthony Giddens, Modernity and self-identity: self and society in the late modern age
• Robert Kegan, The evolving self: problem and process in human development
• Clark Moustakas, The self: explorations in personal growth
• Richard Sorabji, Self: ancient and modern insights about individuality, life, and death
• Charles Taylor, Sources of the self: the making of the modern identity

References [link]