Meanning and nature of Self
1. Self Is a unified being and is essentially connected to consciousness,awareness
2. Self is the condition of identity that makes one subject of experience distinct from all others
3. Self is exhibited and inferred in the conduct and discourse that emanate from the individual
alone
4. Self is the person regarded as an individual apart from all others
5. Self is one’s identity
6. Self is expressed in the first person
7. Self is dynamic.
There are many explanations with respect to the nature of self:
1. The self is independent of the senses
2. The self may have changed in many respects but the same self appears present as was present
then
3. The self is a narrative center of gravity
4. The self is both legal and moral person
5. The self is an intersubjective being
6. According to Swami Vivekananda, the self is conditioned by three factors:
1. the senses are unreliable, 2. The mind is conditioned by space-time,3. The mind is
conditioned by logical limitations
7. the self is constantly evolving due to the complexities of culture and socities
8. religion views the nature of the self very widely
9. human beings have a self
The Constitution of the Self
1. Self-knowledge- this is sometimes referred to as Self-concept.
- Allows for people to gather information and beliefs about themselves.
- Is a desire for the majority of human beings.
Introspection- is a manner in which a person gathers information about himself through the use
of mental functions and emotions
Social Comparison- is the manner in which we compare ourselves to other people around us.
Self-perception-aspect of self-knowledge is a process of which a person infers about himself
through his behavior
Self-esteem-examines how a person evaluates himself positively or negatively
2. Interpersonal Self- can be referred to as your public self
- This feature allows for social connection to others
3. Agent self- is known as the executive function that allows for actions.
The Filipino Concept of Self
1. Educated Filipino women characterized themselves as more individualistic than less
educated Filipino women,
while less educated characterized themselves as more collectivistic.
2. In terms of socio-economic status, middle class Fil women rated themselves as more
competitive
than those in thee lower socio0economic group
Part II THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVE
A. Philosophical Perspectives of the Self
1. Socrates
-“Know Thyself"
-“An unexamined life is not worth living”
-He state that the soul is immortal and even if a human died, it’s not its end.
Summary of Socrates philosophy of the self:
1. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
2. Man must stand and live according to his nature
3. Man has to look at himself
4. Knowledge is inherent in man, not outside
5. Knowledge of oneself can be achieved through Socratic’s method of inquiry
2. Palto- “ The soul is immortal”
- According to him the self consist of reason, spirit or passion physical
appetite.
3. Aristotle- “The Soul is the essence of the Self”
- For him the body and soul are not separated element but is one thing
4. St. Thomas Aquinas- Theory of Knowledge
-“ all our self-knowledge is dependent on our experience of the world
around us
-That the mind is always on, never sleeping
5. Saint Augustine- “ I am doubting therefore I am”
- he explained that human created through image and likeness of God and we
are created as a good individual
Some influential quotations from St. Augustine’s writings are:
-man should love the sinner but hate his sin
-nothing can conquer the self except truth and victory of truth is love
-if a person sings once, he must pray twice
-Christ is the teacher of men
-there is no salvation of the selves outside the church
-total abstinence of the self is easier than a perfect moderation
6. Francis Bacon- knowledge of self is power
- to arrive at knowledge, the self must study natures.
7.Thomas Hobbes- a person is free to decide for herself/himself
8. Rene Descartes- Father of Modern Philosophy
-“I think therefore I am”
9. John Locke- “The Self is Consciousness”
- At birth our mind is at blank stage and self identity is developed from
experiences.
10. David Hume- “There is no Self”
-he suggested that if people carefully examine their sense experience through
the process of introspection
, they will discover that there is no self
11. Immanuel Kant- “We construct the Self”
12. Gilbert Ryle- “The self is how you behave”
- the self is basically our behavior
- “I act therefore I am”
13. Patricia Churchland- “The self is the Brain”
-Self and brain is one
- if there is no brain, their would be no self
14. Maurice Merleau-Ponty- “ the self is embodied Subjectivity”
- that all the knowledge of ourselves and our world is based on
subjective experience
B. SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF
1. Margaret Mead- theorize the self into 2 parts- self-awareness and self-image
“I and Me of Mead Theory”
Me- is the social self and _I- the response to the me
Charles Cooley- “the looking glass-self”
2. Henri de Saint Simon- “The reconstruction of Society”
- He insisted on the necessity of new and positive reorganization of society
3. Herbert Spencer- Social Statics- human happiness
-Principles of Statics- law of ethics and morality
4. David Emile Durkheim- father of modern Sociology
- for him sociology was the science of institution
-sociology of knowledge
5. Albert Bandura-
Sociall Learning Theory- it emphasizes the societal context of socialization rather than the
individual mind
- He stressed the importance of observational learning, imitation and
modeling
Model—Imitate—Response—(Reinforcement or punishment)
Bobo Doll Experiment
Self Efficacy- reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one’s own
motivation,behaviour
and social environment
Sources of Self-Efficacy
Enactive mastery
(performance outcome)
Ex. Past experience
Development of self- Behaviour & performance
Vicarious Experience efficacy
(ex. Self-modeling)
Social Persuasion
(Social encouragement)
Ex. Coachingh and
feedback
Physiological Arousal
(ex. Emotional State)
6.Karl Marx- Theory of Self- estrangement or self-alienation
Theory of self-alienation- is the feeling of being alienated from people and things around
you.
7.Max Weber- “Exercising Self-help Imagination
8. Lewis Morgan- best known for his work on kinship and social structure
- Kinship study led him to develop his theory of cultural evolution “ theory
of Social Evolution”
C. ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF
1. Ruth Fulton Benedict- “Pattern of Culture- express her belief in cultural relativism
2. William Graham Sumner- he knew the power of words ( he was fluent in 14 languages)
D. PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF
1. Sigmund Freud-
3 layers of Self
1. ID- unconscious mind “makahayop”
- Is the first part of the self to develop
- It’s the seat of all desires and wants
2. EGO- conscious mind “makatao”
- Is the part of us that functions in reality
- Is able to to discern what is right or wrong
3. SUPER-EGO- the Conscience “Maka-Diyos)
- It is sometimes referred to as the “voice of God”
- It acts as a judge, a referee a decision-maker when ID and EGO are in
conflict.
2. William James- “the stream of thought”, “the stream of consciousness”
3. Confucius- transliterated Kong Fu Zi or K’ung-fu-tzu or frequently referred to as Kongz.
Here is a summary of his teachings:
1. The family is a basis for an ideal government
2. Being an ideal government, there should be a strong solidarity among the family
members
3. Children should respect their elders, living or dead
4. Husbands should respect their wives
5. Politicians and rulers should be good models of the citizens
6. Nature self is essentially good
7. “Do not do to others what you do not want others do unto you- the Golden rule
8. All men should observe carefully their duties toward state
9. Every self must possess 5 virtues: kindness, uprightness, decorum, wisdom and
faithfulness
