LM1-LP1: Philosophical Self

FRANK ELIE V. MORALES

Instructor I

BATAAN PENINSULA STATE UNIVERSITY

Philosophers in relating to the concept of the Self

 Socrates
 Plato
 St. Augustine
 St. Thomas Aquinas
 Rene Descartes
 John Locke
 David Hume

 Socrates was concerned on the problem of the self

 Dualistic - every man is composed of body and soul

Socrates

"An examined life is worth living" There is a soul before the body, existing the realm of ideas.

Once the soul comes into a material world, he forgot everything

Socratic Method

Plato

Plato founded the Academy; considered

as the prototype of today's universities.

Dichotomy between the ideal (World of

Forms) and material world.

Three components of the soul:

 Rational Soul – the rational function of a person

 Spirited Soul – courageous part of a person who wanted to do good and avoid bad
 Appetitive Soul – is a part of a person who is inclined to pleasures.

Plato

Plato also relates these different souls to the social classes:

  Rational soul – Leaders, Kings, and Philosophers
 Spirited soul – Soldiers
 Appetitive soul – peasant

St. Augustine

The world of materials is not our final

home but only a temporary one.

The real world is the one where God is.

St. Thomas Aquinas

Man is composed of matter and form.

 Matter (hyle) - common stuff that makes up everything.

 Form (morpe) - essence of the living.

HE DEFINES THESE TWO

SUBSTANCES AS THE:

 res cogitans – the thinking being.

 res extensa - the measurable thing.

Rene Descartes

FATHER OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY

"I think, therefore I am" MIND AND BODY

Doubts the existence of his own physical body.

John Locke

 EMPIRICISTS knowledge originates from sense experiences

JOHN LOCKE

 He senses experience create the self

 BLANK SLATE THEORY OR TABULA
 RASA THEORY

The self is a blank sheet of paper and the experiences of five senses serve as a pencil to construct the
self.
David Hume

Self came from the collection or bundle of perceptions or apprehension. Once the body that contains
the five senses disintegrated the concept about the self will vanish so him there is no stable self.

CONVENIENCE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IS NOT CONVENIENCE AT ALL.

LIFESTYLE BY SAWYER.

LP2

WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY?

Sociology comes from the Latin word socius, meaning “companion”, and logos which means “study”. It
is the study of human social connections and institutions. Sociology covers a wide range of topics, from
crime to religion, from the family to the state, from racial and social class divides to shared cultural
ideas, and from societal stability to dramatic upheaval in whole countries. Sociology's goal of
understanding how human behavior and consciousness influence and are shaped by surrounding
cultural and social systems unifies the study of these different topics.

WHAT DOES SOCIOLOGY SAY ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF?

Socialization is a complex, lifelong process. George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley are some
of the sociologists who have made lasting contributions to our understanding of human development
related to the construction of self and identity as embedded in society and culture. What is a social self?
To be aware of oneself is to have a concept of oneself. Baumeister (1999) provides the following self-
concept definition: "The individual's belief about himself or herself, including the person's attributes and
who and what the self is". The self-concept is an important term for both social and humanistic
psychology.

Sociology comes from the Latin word socius, meaning “companion”, and logos which means “study”. Itis
the study of human social connections and institutions.

GEORGE HERBERT MEAD (1863-1931) George Herbert Mead once said, “What gives its human character
is that the individual through language addresses himself in the role of the others in the group and thus
8 becomes aware of them in his own conduct.” From this statement we can glean that Mead highlights
the importance of the people around us as they influence the development of the self.

Mead was an American philosopher and social theorist. He is also considered to be the father of
symbolic interactionism. During his time, it was believed that the self was based on inherited traits and
other biological factors, but he emphasized that the self is not initially there at birth, but arises in the
process of social experience and activity.
George Herbert Mead developed the concept of self, which explains that one's identity emerges out of
external social interactions and internal feelings of oneself. Self is not evident at birth but emerges over
time through language, play, and games.

According to Mead, the development of the self goes

through stages:

(1) imitation (children initially can only mimic the gestures

and words of others);

(2) play (beginning at age three, children play the roles of

specific people, such as a firefighter or the Lone Ranger);

and

(3) games (in the first years of school.

What activities may influence the development of oneself? According to Mead, these are the following:

a. Language. As this is the primary method for humans to communicate, this allows individuals to
respond to each other through symbols, gestures, words, and sounds. Attitudes, opinions, and even
emotions can be expressed through language.

b. Play. Play allows the development of the self as it involves children’s taking on different perspectives
of who/what they are pretending to be.

c. Games. This activity lets individuals learn to take the perspective of the other team members or even
their opponents.

What are Mead’s stages of the development of the self?

a. Preparatory Stage (0-2 years). Learning is primarily done through imitation or mimicry. For example, a
child might adopt the language or words commonly used by the people he/she usually interacts with.
He/she may also mimic behaviors without understanding underlying intentions, and so at this point, the
person has no self (Macionis, 2006).

b. Play Stage (2-6 years). At this stage, children assume the roles of other people around them. They
would sometimes play and pretend like their parents, family members, or those who are significant to
them. For example, if a child plays the role of a father during play, he/she may talk, act and behave
based on how he/she has observed the language, actions and behaviors of the father.

c. Game Stage (7 onwards). During this stage, children learn to understand and adhere to the rules of
the game, like team sports. They also learn to understand the perspective of others, hence, leading to
understanding the role of the “generalized other” (Me)
The I and the Me

Mead also emphasized the idea that “by taking the role of the other, we become self-aware”. This goes
to show that according to him, the self has two (2) sides or parts, the I and the Me. Consider the table
below for comparison:

Table 1. Mead’s Two Sides of the Self

• subject

• existential

• natural

• the person’s

individuality

ME

• object

• socialized

• cultured

• generalized other -represents learned behaviors, attitudes, expectations of the society

There are also different theories on how we become socialized. George Herbert Mead said that the self
is a person’s distinct identity and it is developed through social interactions. Mead said that an individual
has to be able to view himself or herself through the eyes of others. To do this, Mead stated that there is
a specific way of development. The first stage is imitation. During this stage, children copy the actions of
the people surrounding them. The second stage is called play stage. In this stage, children take on roles
that other people around them have like their parents or grown-ups. Also, children learn to consider
various roles at the same time and how those roles interact with one another. The last stage is called the
generalized other. This is where individuals can imagine how they are viewed by one or others.

Lev Vygotsky

The most important application of Vygotsky's theory to education is in his concept of a zone of proximal
development. The zone of proximal development refers to the difference between what a learner can
do without help and what he or she can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled
partner. Thus, the term “proximal” refers to those skills that the learner is “close” to mastering.

A second important aspect of Vygotsky's theory is the role of play in his theory. Vygotsky, for his part, a
child internalizes real life dialogs that he has had with others, with his family, his primary caregiver, or
his playmates. They apply this to their mental and practical problems along with the social and cultural
infusions brought about by the dialogs.

Can you notice how children eventually become what they watch?

How children can easily adapt ways to cartoon characters they are exposed to?

CHARLES HORTON COOLEY(1864–1929) Ponder on the following statement: “I am not what I think I am,
I am not what you think I am; I am what I think you think I am”. Do you agree? This is one of the salient
thoughts of Charles Cooley, an American sociologist.

Cooley was born in 1864. He completed his bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of
Michigan. Later, he returned to school to study sociology. He was the president of the American
Sociological Association in 1918. He is one of the pioneering contributors to sociological perspectives. He
asserted that people’s self-understanding is constructed, in part, by their perception of how others view
them—a process termed “the looking-glass self”.

The Looking-Glass Self Social interaction acts as a mirror that helps individuals to measure their worth,
values, and behavior. This happens through three major steps:

a. First, an individual must imagine how he/she appears to others, be it family, friends, or any random
person being encountered.

b. Second, one imagines how he/she must be evaluated based on the way one is observed by others. For
instance, a person might be evaluated as being humorous, or clever, or maybe wise.

a. Lastly, one develops a self-basis on one’s impressions of these evaluations or judgments of others. For
instance, suppose, in an interview, the interviewee thinks of himself as an intellectual and smart
candidate who can easily get the job. During the interview, the interviewee observes how the
interviewers interact with him. If they listen to him without being distracted or being disinterested, the
interviewee’s belief in his ability will be upheld. On the other hand, if the interviewers do not show
interest, the interviewee will start questioning his beliefs about himself.

The looking-glass self describes the process wherein individuals base their sense of self on how they
believe others view them. Using social interaction as a type of “mirror,” people use the judgments they
receive from others to measure their own worth, values, and behavior. According to Self, Symbols, &
Society, Cooley’s theory is notable because it suggests that self-concept is built not in solitude, but
rather within social settings. In this way, society and individuals are not separate, but rather two
complementary aspects of the same phenomenon. When it comes to understanding ourselves, social
interaction plays a more important role than many of us realize. According to sociologist Charles Horton
Cooley, individuals develop their concept of self by observing how they are perceived by others, a
concept Cooley coined as the “looking-glass self.” This process, particularly when applied to the digital
age, raises questions about the nature of identity, socialization, and the changing landscape of self.
Cooley said that we base our image on what we think other people see. He believes that we based our
sense of self on the imagined perception of us of others and how they would react to us. He concluded
that people’s reaction to us is like a mirror in we which we are reflected. People also go through the
process of socialization. Socialization is the process wherein people are taught to be proficient members
of society. Through socialization people learn societal norms, beliefs, and values. Socializing, the act of
interacting with others is not the same as socialization. Socialization is a sociological process that occurs
through socializing.

Henri Tajfel's greatest contribution to psychology was social identity theory. Social identity is a person’s
sense of who they are based on their group membership(s).

Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g., social class, family, football team etc.) which people
belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social
identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.

We divided the world into “them” and “us” based through a process of social categorization (i.e., we put
people into social groups).

Henri Tajfel proposed that stereotyping (i.e., putting people into groups and categories) is based on a
normal cognitive process: the tendency to group things together. In doing so we tend to exaggerate:

1. the differences between groups

2. the similarities of things in the same group This is known as in-group (us) ang out-group (them). The
central hypothesis of social identity theory is that group member of an in-group will seek to find
negative aspects of an out-group, thus enhancing their self-image.

Prejudiced views between cultures may result in racism; in its extreme forms, racism may result in
genocide, such as occurred in Germany with the Jews, in Rwanda between the Hutus and Tutsis and,
more recently, in the former

Yugoslavia between the Bosnia and Serbs.

We categorize people in the same way. We see the group to which we belong (the in-group) as being
different from the others (the out-group), and members of the same group as being more similar than
they are.

Social Identity Theory Stages

Tajfel and Turner (1979) proposed that there are three mental processes involved in evaluating others
as “us” or “them” (i.e. “in-group” and “out-group”. These take place in a particular order.

Categorization

The first is categorization. We categorize objects in order to understand them and identify them. In a
very similar way, we categorize people (including ourselves) in order to understand the social
environment. We use social categories like black, white, Australian, Christian, Muslim, student, and bus
driver because they are useful.
If we can assign people to a category then that tells us things about those people, and as we saw with
the bus driver example, we couldn't function in a normal manner without using these categories; i.e. in
the context of the bus.

Similarly, we find out things about ourselves by knowing what categories we belong to. We define
appropriate behavior by reference to the norms of groups we belong to, but you can only do this if you
can tell who belongs to your group. An individual can belong to many different groups.

Social Identification

In the second stage, social identification, we adopt the identity of the group we have categorized
ourselves as belonging to.

If for example you have categorized yourself as a student, the chances are you will adopt the identity of
a student and begin to act in the ways you believe students act (and conform to the norms of the
group).

There will be an emotional significance to your identification with a group, and your self-esteem will
become bound up with group membership.

Social Comparison

The final stage is social comparison. Once we have categorized ourselves as part of a group and have
identified with that group, we then tend to compare that group with other groups. If our self-esteem is
to be maintained our group needs to compare favorably with other groups.

This is critical to understanding prejudice, because once two groups identify themselves as rivals, they
are forced to compete in order for the members to maintain their self-esteem.

Competition and hostility between groups is thus not only a matter of competing for resources (like in
Sherif’s Robbers Cave) like jobs but also the result of competing identities.

Just to reiterate, in social identity theory the group membership is not something foreign or artificial
which is attached onto the person, it is a real, true and vital part of the person.

Again, it is crucial to remember in-groups are groups you identify with, and out-groups are ones that we
don't identify with, and may discriminate against.

Erving Goffman’s Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Erving Goffman, one of the most influential
American sociologists of the 20th century, introduced a theory, which he referred to as the
dramaturgical model of social life. For him, social interaction may be compared to a theater and people
to actors on a stage where each plays a variety of roles (Crossman, 2018) In this theory, he posited the
idea that as people interact with one another they constantly engaged in impression management- a
process in which people regulate and control information in social interaction. This can only be realized
when all people involved in the interaction are working to ensure that all partis have the same definition
of the situation, that is, each person understands what is meant to happen in that situation, what to
expect from the others involved, and how one should behave. This model on social life assumes that
personalities are not static because they change to suit the situation.
Kenneth Gernen’s Saturated Self or Multiplicitous Self

The concept of the saturated self was developed by Kenneth J. Gergen in his volume The Saturated Self
(Gergen, 1991). It refers to the dramatic expansion in the range of relations (real, virtual, and imagined)
in which the individual is increasingly immersed. This expansion is largely attributed to the accumulation
of twentieth-century communication technologies such as radio, television, the Internet, and cell
phones (among others). The resulting transformation in everyday life includes an expansion and com-
plexification of the individual's repertoire of “ways of being” (e.g., attitudes, values, opinions, moralities,
styles of relating), a compounding of evaluative standards applied to the self, an infinite expansion of
opportunities, and an expanding sea of obligations. In Gergen's terms, one becomes multiphrenic. As a
general orientation to life, the expansion in the range of realities, reasons, and moralities to which one is
exposed leads to a consciousness of construction. Increasingly suspect are traditional claims to truth,
objectivity, and reason. At the interpersonal level, the condition of saturation leads to a receding sense
of authenticity and to a diminishing in the time and attention devoted to any particular relationship. The
result is a loss of enduring emotional intensity and commitment.

Another theory is Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development. Moral development is crucial
for socialization. It refers to the way people distinguish the good and bad in society. Moral development
prevents people from doing unchecked urges. Kohlberg’s theory states that people undergo three levels
of moral development: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. During the
preconventional stage, children experience the world around them through their senses. When they
grow a bit, they become more aware of others’ feelings and consider those when weighing what’s right
or wrong. That is the conventional stage. In the post-conventional stage, people begin to think of
morality in abstract terms. They realized that legality does not equate to morality.

Carol Gilligan agrees with Kohlberg’s theory but she stated that that theory shows gender bias. It is
because Kohlberg’s research was only conducted on male subjects. Gilligan’s research shows that boys
and girls have a different understanding of morality. Boys tend to highlight rules and laws. They have
more of a justice perspective. While girls have a care and responsibility perspective. That is why they
tend to consider people’s reasons for their wrong actions. Gilligan also noticed that Kohlberg assumes
that the justice perspective was the right or better perspective. She, on the other hand, said that neither
perspective was better. Finally, she explained that boys are socialized for work environments while girls
are socialized for a home environment. This is why boys are stricter about rules and girls are more
flexible that allows for harmony at home.

Socialization is important because it is critical to both individuals and the societies they belong to. Why?
First, teaching culture to new members is how society preserves itself. If the new members did not learn
the way of life of the society, then that society ceases to exist. The culture must be transmitted to those
who join the society for the society to survive. Socialization is also important to individuals. Social
interaction lets us see ourselves through the eyes of others. Thus, we learn who we are and how we fit
into the society. Through socialization, we learn about culture and language too. Without it, we have no
self.

Socialization is expedited by agents of socialization. We have two broad categories of agents of

socialization: social group agents and institutional agents. Social group agents are usually the source of
our first socialization. Under this category are family and peer groups. These groups are the people’s
first teachers of culture, beliefs, and values of society. Social institutions are further divided into two,
formal and informal. Formal social institutions are schools, workplaces, and the government. They teach
people to behave in a certain way and how to navigate in society. An example of informal institutions is
mass media. Media contributes to socialization by flooding us with messages about norms and
expectations. It is through these agents where we get proficient with our socialization.

LP3

Anthropology

Anthropology is a study of all the aspects of human condition. This includes human history, the present
human condition, and even the future possibilities. It also examines the biology, interactions in society,
language and especially culture (Kottak, 2009). Anthropology explores the interconnectedness and
interdependence of human cultural experiences in all places and ages. This kind of broad and holistic
perspective of anthropological inquiry equips the anthropologists the ascendancy in explaining human
nature (Havilland, et. al., 2014).

How does anthropology explain human nature? What is the anthropological concept of the self? The self
is both a biological and a cultural entity. The traditional anthropological understanding of the self is that
the self is an animal species which underwent the process of biological evolution and has shared
characteristics with other living animals, the hominids, in particular. The self is believed to have evolved
from apes some 33 million years ago and in the evolutionary process the self-traced his/her origin from
hominid species "homo sapiens'. Since the self has better development in terms of brain with billion
neurons, and adaptation to the environment for survival, the self develops a culture resulting in
behavioral changes.

The self is a living animal but superior to other animals due to certain factors. namely: a.) physical
aspects (self as the only animal with a larger brain capacity making him/her a rational animal; the only
animal that can stand straight allowing him/her to have better mobility in doing things,etc., b.) social
aspects (self uses language and symbol in dynamic, complicated and yet systematic manner allowing
him/her to communicate, and preserve history, knowledge, culture, etc.; can cooperate with others in a
systematic manner in larger cooperation; and invents new things for survival)

Now, let us examine the two very important concepts in anthropology before we discuss further about
the self, the contemporary self. These concepts are culture and enculturation.

Culture is traditionally defined as systems of human behavior and thought. This covers all customs,
traditions and capabilities of humans as they function in society to other words, cultures are those
complex structures of knowledge, beliefs, arts, religion morals, law, language, traditional practices and
all other aspects needed by humans to function in society.

Culture is symbolic. When our ancestors learned to the tools and symbols to originate meaning of
significant events in life and in society, those tools and symbols become an integral part of the culture.
The burial sites, ancestral homes, landmarks of significant and historical events, the rituals, customary
actions and even some natural phenomena are all part of one's culture. In the words of Geertz, C.
(1973), culture is "a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of
inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate
and develop their knowledge about their attitudes toward life". The embodiment in symbols of cultural
elements describes both an attitude of our body to incorporate techniques and social devices, and a
creative vocation to invent and incorporate new and different expressive operative ways. (Thomas
Csordas, 1999).

Culture therefore, is learned and is very much integrated in one's customs and beliefs. It is integrated in
the patterns and systems of one's life. Hence, if culture considers all aspects and elements of the self,
people must be on guard that culture can be adaptive or maladaptive. On the one hand, communities
shall continue to assess whether the practices, rituals and customary actions are still relevant and still
beneficial to the development of the community. Adaptive culture shall continue to manifest the key
central values that the individual and the community want to demonstrate. On the other hand,
communities may also try to get rid of the cultural practices that will only extinguish the identity and
good will of the community.

In order to do this, we have to understand the concept of enculturation. Broadly defined, enculturation
is the transmission of culture from one generation to the next. Unlike biological hereditary transmission,
cultural transmission is done through observation, use of language, adaptation to environment, rituals,
and formal and informal education. Every member of the community will then distinguish themselves
from other communities because of the differences in the way people do things in their lives.

2. The Self and Person in Contemporary Anthropology

The anthropological self takes a holistic dimension of the individual person. It considers both the
biological and environmental aspects of the person. The genetic component plays a significant role in
the cultural development of an individual. Anthropologists even suggest that the genes of the person
living in a particular community are already a necessary component for the enculturation of the person.
In the same way. environmental exposure is also a vital component in the creation of the cultural self.
Some anthropologists claim that environmental exposure starts soon after birth. However,
contemporary anthropologists suggest that the environmental exposure starts during conception. The
child inside the mother's womb already hears the language, tastes the food and feels the mother's
emotions. These experiences then are solidified as soon as the child is born.

The growing years of the child is very crucial in anthropological perspective. This is the time when the
child develops the psychological construct of dependency or in dependency. In many western cultures
where independence is the cultural emphasis, the child is usually provided with a room and is trained to
be independent by giving less physical contact from parents or carers. On the contrary, in most part of
Asia and Africa, children are reared in close contact with parents, especially the mother, thus developing
the sense of dependence on significant others and the immediate community (like the family).

These rearing practices are the key to the development of the neuromotor functions of the child and
this neuromotor circuitry is fundamental in the formation of self-awareness.

2.1 Self-awareness Anthropology defines self-awareness as "that which permits one to assume
responsibility for one's own conduct, to learn how to react to others, and to assume a variety of roles"
(Haviland, 2003). It has been observed that a child starts to conceptualize self-awareness at age two.
However, studies also show that self-awareness is conceptualized much earlier by children sleeping with
parents and are exposed to a variety of stimuli like touch and the like. Stimulation is maximized when
the child is in close contact with the mother or carer and all the other members of the family. This
develops the neural circuitry or hard wiring of the brain faster than with the children with less
stimulation. This is particularly advantageous for us Filipinos because most of the time our cultural
practice is to sleep with our parents until at least school age.

Following the faster process of enculturation and selfawareness is the importance of attachment of
positive values to one's self. The child must be able to get the culturally correct values necessary for
adult life. Parents, immediate family and the community play a vital role in the development of the
child's values. What the child observes from what the adults are doing or thinking will more likely be
adapted and imitated by the child. However, in the continued process of selfawareness, the child will
eventually develop his or her own identity. This identity is further intensified by a practice common to all
cultures - the naming ritual.

Naming individualizes a person. It gives a person his/her own unique traits, experiences, personality,
identity and status. The latter, however, gives the person's name its place as a member of the group.
The person's name is also a symbol of one's status in the community. It either gives you honor or stigma.
The person's name is at the same time a project in progress. The self that bears the name continues to
establish an identity of the name in the community.

2.2 Self and Behavioral Environment In order to strengthen the identity of the self, one must be able to
grasp the different behavioral orientations. These are concepts that will help situate the self in different
behavioral conditions. The four environmental orientations are; object orientation, spatial orientation,
temporal orientation and normative orientation.

Object orientation positions the self in relation to the surrounding objects. The self should be able to act
responsively to the cultural objects around. Take for example the T'boli, an indigenous group from South
Cotabato. They learn to respect the trees, the lakes, the falls and the animals of the forest. They believe
in the spirit of the forest hence they consider the woods as a holy ground where no leaf shall be turned
as one walks through.

Spatial orientation provides the self with personal space in relation to other people or things. In our
earlier example, the individualistic society where independence is of utmost importance, personal space
is also emphasized.

Whereas in the communal society where interdependence is strongly developed, personal space is more
likely lessened. It is however important to note that the self must be able to keep personal space. It
would be a deviant behavior to any community when a person intrudes the personal space of the other.

Temporal orientation endows the self with the sense of time. Time is truly relevant to cultural
communities. In Filipino philosophy, time is seen as spherical (unlike the western concept of time as
linear), where life-events are repeated but may not be necessarily the same. Routinary activities are not
considered a repetition of previous activity because these activities will be done at the "feel of time."
This is particularly true in the rural communities where only the self or very few people are involved. In
urban communities where time is of the essence, and where the western linear concept of time is
practiced, the self must be able to adjust to this temporal orientation.

The last example is better explained in normative orientation. Normative orientation provides the self
with the grasp of accepted norms in the community. Being on time is a generally accepted norm in
communal activities. In communities where punctuality is considered a value, being on time is already a
charitable gesture. Likewise, normative orientation is at the same time providing the self an idea of
behaviors which are not acceptable in the community. The self at a very early age must have known that
killing, stealing, hurting others and the like are behaviors that should be avoided.

3. The Self Embedded in Culture The self –concept is an organized collection of beliefs about the self.
The self-concept entails your beliefs about your personality (Markus & Cross, 1990) those things that
come to mind when you think about yourself (Stets & Burke,2003). These beliefs, also called self-
schemas, shape social perception. (Showers & Zeigler –Hill, 2012). These are developed from “past
experience”, and are concerned with your personality traits, abilities and physical features, values, goals,
and social roles (Campbell, Assanand, & DiPaula 2000).

When the self is able to distinguish what is acceptable behavior and what is not, it only follows that the
self is already able to recognize the differences of one's self and the other. This ability to manage the
differences between selves is what makes the self-embedded in culture. Psychological anthropologists
recognize the thin line that distinguishes the cultural self and the "actual self." The latter includes all the
feelings, thoughts, experiences, biological and psychological constitutions, language and memory.
However, the actual self is also being shaped by all these same elements and more. Therefore, what
remains in this distinction is the solid identity of the self in relation to everything else.

The claim of the self as embedded in culture can only be embraced when the self recognizes its relation
to everything else. The complexity of cultural identities of people’s things, and events shall be
recognized and respected by the self. The individual self must remain reflexive of the similarities and
unique differences of everything around it. This shows that the self should not maintain the
individualistic, independent and autonomous entity but that the self should be able to maintain his or
her solid culturally reflexive identity in relation to everything and everyone else.

Anthropology recognizes the movement of this understanding towards plurality and multiplicity of
thoughts, beliefs, convictions, and practices. Hence, this is exactly the contribution of anthropology to
the postmodern era. There is now the breakdown of grand narratives that subdue the small voices in the
peripheries. In other words, the anthropological movements at this time are already geared toward
recognizing the power of culture in influencing little gaps and interstices, meaning intervening spaces
between people. It is only when the self recognizes the power of culture constituted by every system
that we can have an effective shaping of social reality.

This can be illustrated by few examples. One perhaps is the attitude of some indigenous peoples
(especially the IP students enrolled in big universities where they do not want to be recognized as IP or
they do not want to be identified as IP. This may only mean that these students are not proud of their
cultural identity. Eventually, this may lead to cultural degradation.

Cultural degradation or more horribly cultural genocide means the loss of a particular culture due to
assimilation or loss of interest. Assimilation happens when a dominant culture, the Ilocano culture for
example, is overshadowing the inferior culture, meaning the culture possessed by lesser population
living within the Ilocano communities: the inferior culture will eventually lose its identity. As a result, we
will not be surprised when children do not know anymore how to speak their own indigenous dialect, or
perform the rituals that were used to be performed by the elders, or play traditional instruments that
were played by the indigenous musicians, or to cook the indigenous delicacies prepared by traditional
chefs to mention a few.

In a larger scale, culture is also lost through continued violence, genocide, inability to respect traditions,
religions, beliefs, and the cultural community's sense of pride, which are largely the result of
globalization. For many decades, the Moros of Mindanao, for example, are continuously striving for the
recognition of their cultural identity and self-realization. However, history tells us that both the Moros
and the dominant culture living in Mindanao are constantly victimized by the unending violence
perpetrated by various groups. In the end, many of the cultural landmarks, meaning the identity
prejudiced or lost forever. the people, are either

A very obvious example of cultural degradation is that brought about by excessive exposure to media in
various forms. Television for instance influences language, traditions, beliefs, knowledge and even
personalities. In judging beauty for, media proposes the following criteria:

Ø face must be beautiful and unpimpled

Ø hair must be black and silky

Ø skin color must be fair and flawless

Ø body must be slim and toned, etc.

"Culture is also not a force or causal agent in the world, but a context in which people live out their
lives." (Clifford Geertz, 1973)

In conclusion, Anthropology liberates the self from the fallacies of dominant ideas. In this most
liberating science, the self is no longer seen as an entity with innate ideas, ready to face the world, and
as if programmed to respond to the demands of time. Likewise, the self is not seen as a "blank slate"
ready to encode all the details of everyday experiences, so that it becomes limited only to what is
written on that slate. In anthropology, the self is recognized as

(1) biologically attuned to respond to his or her environment,

(2) variably self- aware of the mechanisms of the elements of culture working within the self, and

(3) self-reflexive of the uniqueness and differences of all other selves and everything else around.