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The Material Self

William James explored the concept of the self in his 1880 book The Principles of Psychology. He described the material self as being composed of our body, clothes, immediate family, and home. These material aspects are deeply tied to our sense of self because we invest so much of our identity into them. For example, people like Mariah Carey take out insurance on aspects of their material self like their vocal cords and legs. Our home is also an important part of our material self as the earliest nest of our identity and place where many of our early experiences were recorded.

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Chris Alfonse
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633 views2 pages

The Material Self

William James explored the concept of the self in his 1880 book The Principles of Psychology. He described the material self as being composed of our body, clothes, immediate family, and home. These material aspects are deeply tied to our sense of self because we invest so much of our identity into them. For example, people like Mariah Carey take out insurance on aspects of their material self like their vocal cords and legs. Our home is also an important part of our material self as the earliest nest of our identity and place where many of our early experiences were recorded.

Uploaded by

Chris Alfonse
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Material Self

 William James wrote the book “The Principles of Psychology” in 1980


that understanding the self can be examined through its different
components.
1. The constituents
2. The feelings and emotions they arouse – self - feelings
3. The actions to which they prompt – self-seeking and self-
preservation
 The constituent’s self is composed of (material self, the social and
spiritual self and the pure ego)
 The material according to James are (bodies, clothes, immediate
family and home). We are deeply affected by these things because we
have put much investment f our self to them.
 The inner most part of material self is our body.
 Examples: Mariah Carey insurance in vocal cords and legs
 Next to our body are the clothes we use.
 James believed that clothing is essential part of the material self.
 Third hierarchy is our immediate family. Our parents and siblings hold
another great important part of our self.
 We place huge investment in our immediate family when we see them
as the nearest replica of our self.
 Fourth component of material self is our home. Home is where our
heart is. The earliest nest of our selfhood.
 Our experiences inside home were recorded and marked on parts and
things in our home.

 A man’s self is the sum of all what he CAN call his. Possessions (assets
or properties) then become a part or an extension of the self.

 We are what we HAVE – the identification of the Self to things started


in our infancy stage when we make a distinction among self and
environment and others who may desire our possessions.

 Activity 2: Material Self (Before Discussion and After)


 2 Assignments.

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