UNDERSTANDING THE SELF essences are real as they are immaterial

REVIEWER blueprints of objects in the physical

world.
LESSON 1: PHILOSOPHICAL  Ideas are objects of the intellect known
PERSPECTIVES ON THE SELF by reason alone and are objective
realities that exist in a world of their
SOCRATES (Know thy self) own.
 The idea of a man is the real man,
 There is no historical evidences that therefore the man in this world is an
proves the existence of Socrates. We illusion.
only know him because of his illustrious  Plato is the first philosopher who
students (Plato and Aristotle) believed that a man has an enduring self
 Socrates remind us to “know thyself”, a that is represented by the soul.
translation of an ancient Greek aphorism  The soul of a man continues to exist
“gnothi seauton”. even after death. Therefore the soul is
 Socrates claims that if a person knows eternal and constitutes the enduring self.
who he or she is he will be able to help
him/herself in coping up with issues in ST. AGUSTINE (The self has an immortal soul)
life.
 Self-Acknowledge- knowing one’s degree  His reflection on the relations between
of understanding about the world and time and memory greatly influenced
knowing one’s capabilities and potentials. many fundamental doctrines of
It is only through self-knowledge that psychology.
one’s self emerges. Therefore, self is  Time is something that people measure
achieved and not just discovered, within their own memory.
something to work on and not a product  Time is not a feature or property of the
of a mere realization. world, but a property of the mind.
 Answers will always be subjective and  Introspection- awareness of one’s own
there is no right or wrong answer to the mental processes.
questions posited by Socrates  He advanced the idea that past and
 Socrates is a Dualist future could be seen as equivalent
 The soul of a man is divine, immortal, entities that exist. However, time past
intelligible, uniform, indissoluble, and and time future are not real in
ever self-consistent and invariable. themselves but hey only real as long as
 The soul is the ruler of the body. It pre- they exist in the mind or consciousness.
existed the body. If the soul gives life to  Doctrines brought by introspection
the body, it makes the body and the soul confirm the superiority of humans over
dependent on each other. other organisms since humans have self-
consciousness.
PLATO (The self is an immortal soul)

 Plato is the student of Socrates and the

teacher of Aristotle. RENE DESCARTES (I think therefore I am)
 Plato’s idealism insisted that empirical
 Best known for his dictum “cogito ergo
reality we experience in the experiential
sum or I think, therefore I am”.
world is fundamentally unreal and is only
 Anything that an individual register from
a shadow or a mere appearance while
his/her senses can be doubted.
ultimate reality is real as it is external
 Self- a thinking thing or substances
and constitutes abstract universal
whose whole essence or nature is merely
essences of things (the dog in this world
thinking.
is unreal, but the dog essence is real
 The self is real and not just illusion.
 All things that exist in the physical world
 The self for Descartes is nothing else but
are therefore unreal as they are all
a mind-body dichotomy. Thought (mind)
concrete objects while the universal
always precedes action (body).
essences are real as they are immaterial
 Everything starts with a thought.
blueprints of objects in the physical world
are therefore unreal as they are all
concrete objects while the universal
JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)
  It is the thought that sets direction to  He rejected the idea that personal
human actions but humans are always identity is reflected by the association of
free to choose. the self with an enduring body.
 Thinking self – nonmaterial, immortal,
conscious being, and independent of the IMMANUEL KANT (We construct the self)
physical laws of the universe.
 To acknowledge the writings of  Consciousness is formed by one’s inner
Descartes, Filipino have a unique term and outer sense.
“diskarte”, a derivative of the surname of  The inner sense is comprised of one’s
Descartes, in which denotes finding a psychological state and intellect. It is
way to making things possible. the source of empirical consciousness.
All representational states are in the
JOHN LOCKE (The self is consciousness) inner sense.
 The outer sense consists of one’s senses
 His main philosophy about personal and the physical world.
identity or the self is founded on  Consciousness of oneself and of one’s
consciousness or memory. psychological state (or inner sense) was
 For him, consciousness is the perception referred to by Kant as empirical self-
of what passes in a Man’s own mind. consciousness while consciousness of
 Locke rejected the idea that brain has oneself and of one’s state via acts of
something to do with consciousness as apperception is called transcendental
the brain, as well, as the body may apperception.
change, while the consciousness  Apperception is the faculty that allows
remains the same. for application of concepts.
 Personal identity is not in the brain but  Consciousness is the central feature of
in one’s consciousness. the mind. It makes the world intelligible.
 He was the one who coined the notion  As opposed to Hume, Kant stressed the
“tabula rasa” or blank slate, and the self is something real, yet is neither an
content is provided by one’s experiences appearance nor a thing in itself since it
over time. belongs to a different metaphysical
class.
DAVID HUME (There is no self)
SIGMUND FREUD
 There is no self as a mental entity for
“what we call a mind is nothing but a  Self is multi-layered. It is composed of
heap or collection of different three structures of the human mind, id,
perceptions”. ego and superego.
 The self is a bundle of perceptions  Id– pleasure principle
(object of the mind) of interrelated The psychic structure, present at birth
events. that represents psychological drives and
 Hume’s materialism views the soul as a is fully unconscious.
product of the imagination.  Ego – reality principle
Two distinct entities (Impressions and The second psychic structure to
Ideas): develop, characterized by self-
 Impressions-Vivid perception and are awareness, planning, and delay of
strong and lively. (based on direct gratification.
experience)  Superego – moral principle
 Ideas-Thoughts and images from The third psychic structure which
impressions. functions as a moral guardian and sets
 Hume stressed that there is no stable forth high-standards for behavior.
thing called self, for the self is nothing  Superego has two system: conscience
but a complex set of successive and the ideal self.
impressions or perceptions.  Conscience can sanction the ego
 He reduced personality and cognition to through the feeling of guilt.
a machine that may be activated or  The ideal self, an imaginary picture of
deactivated. Death, according to Hume, one’s self, is rewarded by the superego
obliterates (destroy/eliminates) the when one conforms to the standards
perception one has. imposed by society.

JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)

  The superego is dominant, a law- forms of their physical involvement with
abiding, morally upright, god-fearing, the world.
and socially acceptable individual  Mind and body are so intertwined that
appears. they cannot be separated from one
another.
 One cannot find any experience that is
not an embodied (alive) experience. All
GILBERT RYLE experiences are embodied.
 Consciousness cannot simply be
 Self is best understood as a pattern of
immaterial but must be embodied. It is
behavior. It is taken as whole with the
both perceiving and engaging.
combination of the body and the mind.
 Man’s living body, thoughts, emotions
 I act therefore I am
and experiences are all one.
 Mind: totality of human dispositions
through the way people behave. LESSON 2: THE SELF FROM THE
 Self: same as bodily behavior. SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
 He supported the behavioristic
psychology. His theory is called logical GEORGE MEAD’S SOCIAL SELF
behaviorism or analytical behaviorism- a
theory of mind which states that mental  Self is not biological but social. Self is
concepts can be understood through developed through social interaction.
observable events.  Self has two parts:
 He said that, the mind is not the seat of Self-awareness
self but the behavior. Self-image
 He proposed the idea that the self
PAUL CHURCHLAND AND PATRICIA develops through social interaction; that
CHURCHLAND social interaction involves the exchange
of symbols (i.e. laguange); each person
 Eliminative Materialism- a radical claim involved must correctly interpret the
that ordinary, common sense meanings of symbols and intentions of
understanding of the mind is deeply others.
wrong and that some or all of the  Role playing is the process in which one
mental states posited by common sense takes on the role of another by putting
do not actually exist. oneself in the position of the person
 It is false to claim that folk psychology, with whom he or she interacts. By
or common sense psychology, is the putting oneself in the position of others,
capacity to explain mental states of one is able to reflect upon oneself.
people.  Self is not inborn. Babies cannot
 Our beliefs and attitudes are supported interpret the meaning of other people’s
by our feelings, which include mental behavior. It is usually learned during
states like joy and sorrow, or anxiety childhood which comes in three stages
and relief. of development:
 They stated in their book entitled Imitation or the Preparatory stage- a
“Touching a Nerve: The Self as Brain” child imitates the behavior of his or her
that, to understand the self, one must parents like sweeping the floor.
study the brain, not just the mind Play stage- involves the child playing the
role of others (act like teacher or
MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
parent).
 He distinguished the body in two types: Game stage- the child comes to see
Subjective Body- as lived and himself/herself from the perspective of
experienced other people. To play the game, the
Objective Body- as observed and child must be aware of his or her
scientifically investigated relationship to other people and place
 He sees human beings neither as himself/herself in their roles in order to
disembodied minds (existing without appreciate his/her particular role in the
body) nor as complex machines, but as game. In doing this, he or she sees
living creatures whose subjectivity himself or herself in terms of the
(consciousness) is actualized in the collective viewpoint of other people and

JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)

 the attitude of generalized others (i.e.  Collective Self- is the cognition
he is brilliant, creative, lazy etc.) concerning a view of the self that is
found in memberships in social groups
I AND ME SELF (i.e. family, coworkers, tribe, and
professional organizations). (Ex. A
 For Mead, all humans experience person maybe identified as feminist-
internal conversation. This conversation attributes of being feminist that are
involves the, I and Me, which is called similar with other feminist are
phase of self. emphasized forming the collective self).
 Self is essentially a social process going
on between the I and Me. SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY
 The I is the phase of the self that is
unsocialized and spontaneous. “The  Person’s sense of who he or she is
acting part of the self”. “Free and according to his or her membership to a
Unique”. It is also the subjective part of certain group.
the self.  Group membership according to the
 The Me, is the self that results from the social identity theory, is an important
progressive stages of role playing or source of pride and self-esteem. It gives
role-taking and the perspective one sense of identity and belongingness to
assumes to view and analyze one’s own the social world.
behavior.  Henri Tajfel pointed out that, the world
 The Collective Self is the cognition is divided into “us” and “them” through
concerning a view of the self that is the process of social categorization
found in memberships in social groups forming the social groups.
(i.e. family, workers, tribe, and  William Graham Summer further divided
professional organization). these social groups into two: o In-
 Mead describes Generalized others as group- is an esteemed social group
an organized community or social group commanding a member’s loyalty “a
which gives to the individual his or her person belongs” o Out-group- one feels
unity of self. The attitude of generalized competition or opposition. “a person
other is the attitude of the entire does not belong”
community.  Tajfel and Turner identified three mental
processes in evaluating “us and them”
Social Categorization- similar with how
people categorize things, such as living
CHARLES HORTON COOLEY’S LOOKING GLASS and nonliving, solid, liquid, or gas
SELF among other, in order to understand
and identify them. (i.e. Christian and
 Looking-glass self
non-christian)
 People whom a person interacts become
Social Identification- people adapt the
a mirror in which he views himself
identity of the group to which they have
 Self-identity or self-image is achieved
categorized themselves.
through a threefold event which begins
Social Comparison- after categorizing
by
and identifying a group, they tend to
1. Conceiving an idea of how he
compare that group with other groups.
presents himself to others
They might discriminate or criticize the
2. How he analyses how others
other groups.
perceive him; and
3. How he creates an image of himself POSTMODERN VIEW OF THE SELF
 These perceptions are subjective
 Private Self- or individual self is the  It is a philosophy but more of a report
cognition that involves traits, states, and on the mindset of western culture in the
behaviors. It is the assessment of the latter half of the 20th century. In the
self by the self. postmodernist view, self is not the
 Public Self- is the cognition concerning creator of meaning, nor the center of
the generalized other’s view of the self. starting a point of sociological
It corresponds to an assessment of the
self by the generalized other Four basic Postmodernist ideas about the
self (Anderson):
JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)
  Multiphrenia- refers to the many  Off stage- where actors meet
different voices speaking about “who members of the audience
were are and what we are”. independently.
 Protean- a self is capable of changing
constantly to fit the present conditions.
You may not be at ease to talk with
gays and lesbians as a teenager, but
now you are not bothered at all.
KENNETH GERGEN’S SATURATED OR
 De-centered- a belief that there is no
MULTIPLICITOUS SELF
self at all. The self is constantly being
redefined or constantly undergoing  Saturated self is characterized by
change. constant connection to others, a self
 Self-in-relation- which means that that absorbs a multitude of voices
humans do not live their lives in (sometimes contradictory) and takes
isolation but in relation to people and to seemingly endless streams of
certain cultural contexts. information.
 The self is shaped by outside forces. It  Through absorption of voices, an
is socially constructed. individual establish multiple selves which
is called by Gergen’s multiphrenia.
Postmodern social condition is dominated
 The individual can use his/her multiple
by two realities:
selves depending on the needs of the
 The rise of new media technologies current situation.
 The dominance of consumerism  People create and experiment with
 Lyon argued that the predicament of the multiple selves by utilizing our current
self in postmodern societies is technology. (To make an ideal self)
complicated by the advent of electronic-
mediated virtual interactions of cyber
selves and the spread of information LESSON 3: THE SELF FROM THE
technology. This phenomenon disrupts ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
the self from the traditional constraints
of time and space. The self is digitalized CULTURE IDENTITY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
in cyberspace.
 Culture is derived from the Latin word
ERVING GOFFMAN’S PRESENTATION OF SELF “Cultura or Cultus” meaning care or
IN EVERYDAY LIFE cultivation. It is analogous to caring for
an infant.
 Dramaturgical Model of Social Life  Identity refers to “who the person is”, or
 social interaction may be compared to a the qualities and traits of an individual
theater and people to actors on a stage that make him or her different from
where each plays a variety of roles others.
 He posited the idea that people interact  Cultural Identity refers to the identity or
with one another they are constantly feeling of belongingness to a certain
engaged in impression management. It culture group. It is an individual’s
is a process in which people regulate perception about himself or herself
and control information in social anchored on demographic
interaction. This can only be realized characteristics.
when people regulate and control  Cultural Identity Theory explains why a
information in social interaction are person acts and behaves the way he or
working to ensure that all parties have she does. It makes sense of how an
the same definition of the situation individual is influenced by the cultural
 He used imagery of theater to portray contexts he or she is situated in. A
face to face social interaction single person can possess multiple
 Front stage- is a region where actors identities, simultaneously making him or
perform and act in conformity with her part of many cultural groups.
the expectations of the audience.  A Nation is a group of people built on
 Back stage- is the region where the premise of shared customs,
actors behave differently. The place
where actors act their natural selves.
JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)
 traditions, religion, language, art,  From a temporal point of view, the self
history, and more. is part of a process of positioning and
 National Identity refers to the identity or repositioning in collective history and
feeling of belongingness to one state or personal development.
nation.  In this theory, an individual’s sense of
 Rupert Emerson define it as a self is established through how one
body of people who feel that they
identifies himself or herself with the
are a nation
different positions he or she holds,
National Identity is socially constructed
and shaped by material and non- internally or externally, to himself or
material cultures. It requires the process herself.
of self-categorizations.  Internal I-Position- refers to how
 Material Culture- representation one functions in himself or herself
of all the people who are part of (e.g. I as empathic, I as diligent)
a nation. (e.g., national flag)  External I-Position- refers to how
 Non-material Culture- embodies one identifies himself or herself
the shared understanding of a based on particular external
group of people which includes factors (e.g. I as brother, I as
norms, beliefs and traditions. part of organization)
BRIAN MORRIS’S ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE  When positions are silenced or
SELF suppressed, the self becomes monologic
instead of dialogic. It is when positions
 The self is not an entity by a process are recognized and accepted together in
that orchestrates an individual’s their differences that the self is seen as
personal experience. As a result of this dialogic.
process, a person becomes self-aware  As a whole, the dialogic self-approach is
and self-reflective about his or her place designed to stimulate the conversations
in the surrounding world.
between the internal and external
 The concept of self is defined as an
positions of the self. It is a relational
individual’s mental representation of his
concept of the self and culture can be
or her person, as a kind of self-
representation. seen as collective voices that shape
 The concept of “other" refers to how social positions of the self.
one perceives the mental
representations of others in relation to INDIVIDUAL SELF, RELATIONAL SELF, AND
the self. COLLECTIVE SELF
 Separation between self and others
varies from person to person. The There are 3 fundamental self:
relationship between the self and others
 Individual Self- it reflects the cognitions
is also a function of culture.
related to traits, states, and behaviors that
are stored in memory (I am religious, I feel
cold or I am ambidextrous)
DIALOGICAL SELF
 Relational Self- reflects cognitions that are
 “Self as the society of mind” was related to one’s relationships (I am the
introduced by Hurbert Hermans father, I am the godfather, I am the son-in-
 Self is considered as extended to law)
significant others in the environment
that populate the self as a dynamic  Collective Self- reflects cognitions that are
multiplicity of I-positions in which related to one’s group (I am a
dialogical or monological relationships Kapampangan, I am a Filipino)
may emerge.
 From a spatial perspective, the self is  Each self is inherently social.
Involves assimilations and contrast,
engaged in a process of positioning and
counter positioning in a globalizing which respectively occur between
and within person’s, dyads, and
society.
JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)
 groups for the individual, relational, values, conscience, and moral
and collective self and meaningful to behavior.
human experiences.  James said that, these sub-categories
are related in a hierarchical way, with
IDENTITY STRUGGLES material self at the bottom, the spiritual
self at the top, and the social self in
 An individual can be unsympathetic
between. Together, they constitute
because of particular individual issues
what James called EMPIRICAL SELF.
but people, sometimes, fail to consider
 Feelings and Emotions Aroused
any justification for why one can be
(Self-Feelings) - the self was
unsympathetic. This is called identity
categorized by this concept
struggle.
because of his or her knowledge
 Identity struggle- characterizes the
and appraisal of his or her
discrepancy between the identity a
empirical existence in the world.
person claims to possess and the
 Action the Self prompt (Self-
identity attributed to that person by
seeking) - it is the effort of every
others.
individual to preserve and
improve oneself based on one’s
self-knowledge and resulting self-
feelings.

LESSON 4: THE SELF FROM THE CARL ROGERS

PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
 Self is flexible & changing
WILLIAM JAMES’S SELF THEORY  Human beings are striving for Self-
actualization (Be who you can be) and
 The perception of the self was divided Self-fulfilment (Be who you want to be).
into two categories:  Self-concept
 I-Self- refers to the self that knows
who he or she is. (Thinking self) Real Ideal
 Me-Self- is the empirical self. It Self Self
refers to the describing the person’s
personal experiences  Real Self – consists of all the
 Self can be contextualized in three ideas (i.e. awareness of what one
categories: is and what one can do)
 Constituents of the self – it refers to  Ideal Self– conception of what
the further sub-categories which one should be/aspires to be (i.e.
includes:
ambitions and goals)
 Material Self- consists of
 The closer the ideal self to the real self,
things that belong to a
the fulfilled and happy one becomes.
person such as the body,
 If the ideal self is far from the real self,
family, clothes, money, house
etc. that contributes to one’s the person becomes dissatisfied and
self-image. unhappy.
 Social Self- refers to who and
SELF CONCEPT
how a person acts on social
situations. James believed  It is defined as the totality of complex,
that we have different social organized, and dynamic system of
selves depending on the learned beliefs, attitudes, and opinions
social situation. that each person holds to be true about
 Spiritual Self- refers to the his or her personal existence.
most intimate and important  It is a social product, developing out of
part of the self that includes interpersonal relationships and striving
the person’s purpose, core for consistency.
JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)
  It is also the individual’s beliefs about  False Self – its function is to hide and
him or herself which includes attributes protect the true self; displayed to
 Self-concept is also defined as the impress others
organized structure of cognitions or
thoughts that an individual has about GLOBAL VS. DIFFERENTIATED MODELS
him or herself.
 This model looks into a human being in
ASPECTS OF SELF-CONCEPT his or her totality, as an invisible entity
that cannot be broken down into parts.
There are two aspect of self-concept:  Two prominent schools of thought in
this model:
 Existential Self- when an individual
 Gestalt Psychology- is guided by
recognizes his or her existence as a
the principle that “the whole is
separate entity from others and realizes
greater than the sum of all its
that he or she will continue to exist over
parts”. This rejected the view
a period of time and space. It usually
that the self is a “structure”
starts in infancy up to early childhood.
composed of the ID, EGO and
This is evident when a child can relate
SUPEREGO. It looks into the self
to the outside world (i.e. responds by
as a WHOLE, independent of its
clapping, touching objects, move
parts.
objects)
 Humanistic Psychology- is guided
 Categorical Self- starts after a child
by the principle that “human
recognize his or her existence as a
beings, as humans, supersede
separate entity and become aware that
the sum of their parts”. They
he or she is an object in the world. Like
cannot be reduced into
objects with physical properties, one
components. It posited the idea
begins to categorize him or herself in
that personality should be studied
terms of age, sex, height, weight.
from the point of view of an
Three components of Self-Concept individual’s subjective experience.
It is better understand one’s
 Self-worth or self-esteem- is what one emotions and experiences in
thinks about oneself. This develops in order to know more about one’s
early childhood stage resulting from identity.
interaction of the child with his or her  Both Gestalt and Humanistic psychology
mother and father. focus on the totality of the self.
 Self-Image- is how one sees him or  Carl Jung divided the psyche into three
herself, which is important for good parts:
psychological health. Selfimage includes  Ego- is the center of
the influence of body image on inner consciousness. It is the person’s
personality. At a simple level, one might sense of identity and existence. It
look at oneself as either good or bad, organized the thoughts, feelings,
beautiful or ugly, self-image has an senses and intuition.
effect on how a person thinks, feels,  Personal unconscious- refers to
and behaves in the world. all information stored in a
 Ideal Self- is the person that one wants person’s mind that are readily
to be. It consist of one’s dreams and accessible to consciously recall.
goals in life, and it is continuously  Collective unconscious- refers to
changing. the unconscious mind shared by
all human beings such as
DONALD W. WINNICOTT’S TRUE SELF AND instincts and archetypes (models
FALSE SELF or people, personalities, and
behavior).
 Self is composed of the true self and
false self

JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)

ALBERT BANDURA’S AGENTIC THEORY OF  It describes the self as existing and
THE SELF distinct from others. The self is free
 Humans, through agency, are perceived express itself
as proactive agents of experiences  Self-orientedness
 Agency– embodies the endowments,  Does not promote isolation
belief systems, self-regulatory  An individual has the capacity to
capabilities, and distributed structures consider his or her own best interest.
 MAIN FEAURES OF HUMAN AGENCY  Everyone is free to decide whether to
 Intentionality – acts done take it or not in solving societal
problems
intentionally
 Forethought – enables the person to Collectivism
anticipate the likely consequences of
prospective actions  Is an orientation characterized by
 Self-reactiveness – involves making belongingness to larger groups or
choices and choosing appropriate collectives.
courses of action  Collectivistic cultures, on the other
 Self-reflection – gives the person the hand, give more importance to loyalty to
ability to reflect upon and the the in-group, which in turn takes care of
the individual’s welfare.
adequacy of his or her thoughts and
 The eastern conception is collectivistic;
actions
it gives more importance on
 People are not only agents of action but
relationships, roles, duties, obligations,
also self-examiners of their own and the preservation of culture and
functioning. tradition.
 Efficacy beliefs – foundation of human  It prioritizes the needs and goals of
agency; play a central role in self- society over the needs and desires of
regulation every individual.
 Self-regulation – ability to control his or  It is founded that people are socially
her behavior without having to rely on connected. It put more emphasis on
others. belongingness to a larger group and
 Self-efficacy – individual’s belief that he adjustment to social demands and
or she will think pessimistically or situations.
optimistically and in ways that are self-  Others-oriented, since it encourages
enhancing or self-hindering. people to be kind, benevolent,
charitable, dependable, sacrifice for the
Lesson 5: The Self in Western and welfare of society.
Eastern Thoughts  A man should think, live, and act toward
certain goals that benefit the group
INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM
BUDDHISM
Individualism
 Founded by Siddharta Gautama
 Is an orientation concerned with the  In Buddhism, there is no such thing as
independence and self-reliance of the the Atman (Self). The atman is
individual. Individualistic cultures put impossible to perceive by one’s senses
more emphasis on promoting the for it does not actually exist in any
individual and the immediate family’s metaphysical, material, and spiritual
welfare. level.It is regarded as illusion, an
 The western conception of the self is imaginary concept born as a product of
individualistic; it gives more emphasis evolved consciousness and misguided
on freedom and choice- an independent thinking of humans.
self that is free from the influence of  There is no illusion, a flux of momentary
culture and environment and from the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings.
expectations and welfare of society.
JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)
  What is perceived by one’s sense  A subdue self means being a “person for
becomes one’s reality. others”
 The Buddhist philosophy also refutes the
idea of having an enduring self, a self TAOISM
that stands the test of time, for it
 Living with harmony with the Tao (way
implies that something is permanent or
or path), is a religion and a philosophy
never changing.
at the same time.
 There is nothing permanent, but
 Tao is nothing but the expression of the
change.
unity of the universe and of the path
 It does not consider humans as persons
which human beings must take to
with a fixed and unified identity.
preserve that unity.
Instead, a human being is a product of
 Reject the idea of relational self
five changing processes, the physical
 It is referred to as the life force that
body, feelings, perceptions, responses,
surrounds and flows through all living
and the flow of consciousness-that
and non-living things, and that
experiences them all.
balances, orders, unifies and connects
 One may identify with the role of a man
them
or woman, parent or child. Yet, these
 Tao is the ultimate creative principle of
are not one’s true identity.
the universe
CONFUCIANISM  According to Taoists, the human body is
regarded as the miniature of the
 It regards an individual as a member of universe or what they call the extension
a larger whole, not as a separate being. of the cosmos.
 The ethical teachings of Confucius are  Going against the will of the nature or
based on human relationship as the universe disrupts the cosmic order
reflected in his concept of Five Cardinal (Ying and Yang)
relationship/Five bonds:  It contradicts the idea of Confucius since
 Between the ruler and minister it does not consider the self as
 Between father and son extension of social relationships; rather,
 Between husband and wife the self is but one of the countless
 Between brothers manifestations of the Tao.
 Between friends
 If individuals perform their respective HINDUISM
roles, there will be harmony.
 The Hinduist view about the self was
 Individual identity is defined by
written in the Upanishads “Story of
membership in the reference group to
Creation” which tells about the origin of
which one belongs. This identity is
the universe and of humans.
called relational self.
 The self called Purusha created a wife
 Each member must possess the same
out of himself. The wife born Man and
qualities that the group preserves and
then transform into a bull. Then the wife
cherishes. Each member shares the
transformed into a mere, while Purusha
pride that the group claims and is united
into a stallion.
in every success or failure.
 These continuous transformations imply
 Subdued Self is conditioned to respond
the belief that all creation is made up of
to perceptions, not of its own needs and
the same self as everything originated
aspirations but of social requirements
from Purusha.
and obligations.
 The atman, referred to as the self, spirit
 To subdue oneself means to practice
and soul, is the same self-described in
ren-(human-heartedness)- the hallmark
the creation.
of confusion ethics.
 In Hinduism, the atman is one with the
 Ren is a virtue characterized by altruistic
Brahman (the absolute, transcendental
behavior that must be nurtured in every
power)
person.

JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)

 It has been stated that Brahman is an from the material world and worldly
absolute reality, while Atman (soul or possessions.
spirit), the true knowledge of self, is  The goal of man is to have a knowledge
identical to Brahman. of the true reality-Brahman
 The atman indicates a true self which  Law of Karma is the most important
underlies one’s existence. doctrine of Hinduism - All actions are
 The atman is viewed as a spiritual, subject to Karma (Good or Bad)
immaterial being that must be detached

“We summoned the next until the end was

reached”
Good luck peeps! Review well.

JUSTINE MAE VERGARA (P-104)