UNDERSTANDING THE SELF - LESSON 1 • Justice in human person can only be

attained if the three parts of the soul are

What is Philosophy? working harmoniously with one another
• It is defined as the study of knowledge
or wisdom. St. Augustine
• It comes from the Greek words, philo • Loving God means loving one's
(love) and sophia (wisdom) fellowmen; and loving one's fellowmen
• It gives us a sense of purpose on this denotes never doing any harm to another
earth. or, as golden principle of justice states,
• It differs from one another, and doing unto others as you would have
represent who we are. Without them do unto you.
philosophy, life will be meaningless. • The body is bound to die on earth and
the soul is to anticipate living eternally in a
THE PHILOSOPHERS realm of spiritual bliss in communion with
Socrates "Know Yourself" God.
"Know yourself" - tells each man to bring
his inner self to light. Rene Descartes "I think therefore, I am"
Self is composed of two things: • "Father of Modern Philosophy"
Physical realm - consists of anything we • The fact that one thinks should lead one
sense, changing and deteriorating. to conclude without a trace of doubt that
Ideal realm - concept of beauty, truth and he exists.
goodness that is unchanging and eternal. Two distinct entities of self:
(1) body-imperfect and impermanent (1) Cogito - mind
aspect (2) Extenza - body
(2) soul-perfect and permanent aspect • In his view, the body is nothing else but
a machine that is attached to the mind.
Plato "The Ideal Self, The Perfect Self" The human person has it but it is not what
He supported the idea that man is a dual makes a man a man. Although mind and
nature of body and soul. the body are independent from each
Three components of the soul: other and serve their own functions, man
(1) rational soul - forged by reason and must use his own mind and thinking
intellect has to govern the affairs of the abilities to investigate, analyze,
human person experiment, and develop himself
(2) spirited soul - in charge of emotions
(3) appetitive soul - in charge of base John Locke "Personal Identity"
desires, like eating, drinking, sleeping, and • The matter of personal identity deals
sexual acts. with the question, "What makes it true
that a person at a time is the same thing
as a person at another time?"
• Famed in his concept of “Tabula Rasa” • It is the customary beliefs, social forms,
or blank slate that assumes the nurture of and material traits of a racial, religious, or
human's development. social group.
• Culture is "an historically transmitted
David Hume "The self is a bundle of pattern of meanings embodied in symbols,
impression" a system of inherited conceptions
• He believes that one can only know expressed in symbolic forms by means of
what comes from the senses and which men communicate, perpetuate, and
experiences. develop their knowledge about and their
Self - "a bundle or collection of different attitudes toward life" (Geertz 1973).
perceptions". • Embodiment is often defined as "how
Empiricism - all knowledge comes from culture gets under the skin" (Anderson-
senses and experiences. Fye 2012, 16).
The self is nothing else but a bundle of
impressions. The Self in Different Cultural Context
(1) Impressions - are the basic object of • Collectivist characterized by emphasis
our direct experience or sensation. on cohesiveness among individuals and
(2) Ideas are copies of impressions. prioritization of the group over the self.
• In reality, what one thinks as unified self Collectivism views the group as the
is simply a combination of all experiences primary entity, with the individuals lost
with a particular person. along the way. Harmony and the
Immanuel Kant "Respect for Self" interdependence of group members are
• All men are persons gifted with the same stressed and valued.
basic rights and should treat other as • Individualist characterized by
equals. individualism, which is the prioritization or
• Consciousness is the central feature of emphasis, of the individual over the entire
the self. group. The individual identifies primarily
The consciousness is divided into: with self, with the needs of the individual
(1) Internal Self- composed of being satisfied before those of the group.
psychological states and informed Looking after and taking care of oneself,
decisions; remembering our own state, being self-sufficient, guarantees the well-
how can we combine the new and old being of the group.
ideas with our mind. Traits of Individualism
(2) External Self-made up of ourselves and "I" identity
the physical world where the • Promotes individual goals, initiative and
representation of objects achievement.
• Individual rights are seen as being the
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE most important. Rules attempt to ensure
What is culture? self-importance and individualism.
Independence is valued; there is much
less of a drive to help other citizens or
communities than in collectivism. Relying
or being dependent on others is SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
frequently seen as shameful. • Self in contemporary literature and even
People are encouraged to do things on common sense, is common defined by the
their own; to rely on themselves following characteristics: "separate, self-
➤ People strive for their own successes. contained, independent, consistent,
unitary, and private" (Stevens, 1996).
Traits of Collectivism Separate distinct from others.
• Each person is encouraged to be an Self-contained and independent -
active player in society, to do what is best distinctness allows it to have its own
for society as a whole rather than thoughts, characteristics, and volition.
themselves. The rights of families, Consistent - a particular self's traits,
communities, and the collective supersede characteristics, tendencies and
those of the individual. potentialities are more or less the same.
• Rules promote unity, brotherhood, and Unitary - the self is the center of all
selflessness. experiences and thoughts.
• Working with others and cooperating is • Private self is isolated from the external
the norm; everyone supports each other world.
as a community, family or nation more • Society is a group of individuals involved
than as an individual. in persistent social interaction, or a large
social group sharing the same
Weaknesses of the two cultures geographical or social territory, typically
• People in individualist cultures are subject to the same political authority and
susceptible to loneliness, and people in dominant cultural expectations.
collectivist cultures can have a strong fear • Culture is the customary beliefs, social
of rejection. forms, and material traits of a racial,
religious, or social group.
Clifford Geertz - American Anthropologist • The concern then of this lesson, is in
• Aim of most his work is to provide an understanding the vibrant relationship
understanding and acknowledgement of between the self and the external reality.
"thick description" that exists within This phenomenon is known as social
cultures; understanding other people's constructivism.
understandings of things. • The self is always in participation with
• Thick description is an anthropological social life and its identity subjected to
method of explaining with as much detail influences here and there.
as possible the reason behind human "Social constructionists argue for a
actions. merged view of 'the person' and 'their
social context' where the boundaries of Can you notice how little children are fond
one cannot easily be separated from the of playing role play with their toys as they
boundaries of the other" (Stevens 1996, play with them?
p.222). • Lev Vygotzky - a child internalizes real-
life dialogs that he has had with others,
The Self and Culture with his family, his primary caregivers or
According to Marcel Mauss, a French his playmates.
anthropologist, every self has two faces: Can you notice how children eventually
(1) Moi refers to a person's sense of who become what they watch?
he is, his body, and his basic identity; his Self in Families
biological givenness. • The kinds of family that we are born in
(2) Personne is composed of the social and the resources available to us will
concepts of what it means to be who he is, certainly affect us and the kind of
and has much to do with what it means to development that we will have as we go
live in a particular institution, a particular through life.
family, a particular religion, a particular • In trying to achieve the goal of becoming
nationality, and how to behave given the a fully realized human, a child enters a
expectations and influences from others. system of relationships, most important is,
the family. Human persons learn the ways
The dynamics and capacity for different of living and therefore their selfhood by
personne can be illustrated better cross- being in a family.
culturally. • It is what a family initiates a person to
Examples: become that serves as the basis for this
• A man adjusting life in another country. person's progress. Babies internalize ways
• A man violating road instructions. and styles that they view from the family.
• A man who's sweet and when courting a That is by imitating the language of the
woman and suddenly change after hearing primary agents of rearing, their family,
the sweet "yes". Gender and Self
• Gender is one of those loci of the self
Distinction between different languages. that is subject to alteration, change and
The Self and the Development of the development. It is important to give one
Social World the leeway to find, express, and his live his
So how do people actively produce their identity.
social worlds? • Gender has to personally discovered and
• George Herbert Mead a child assumes asserted and not dictated by culture and
the "other" through language and role the society.
play.
Nancy Chodorow, a feminist, argues that
because mothers take the role of taking
care of children, there is a tendency for • It is everything that we are aware of and
girls to imitate the same and reproduce it contains our ego.
the same kind of mentality as women as • Preconscious contains memories that
care provides in the family. are nor part of the current thoughts but
• Men on the other hand, in the periphery can readily be available to mind if the
of their own family, are taught early on need arises (equivalent to our memory). It
how to behave like a man. This normally contains the superego.
includes holding in one's emotion, being • Unconscious level contains thoughts,
tough, fatalistic, not to worry about desires and impulses we are unaware of.
danger, and admiration for hard physical • The explanation for the meaning of
labor. dreams, slips of the tongue and certain
kinds of forgetting (repression).
Psychological Perspective • Most of unconscious thoughts were
• Personality is a pattern of relatively conscious but has been actively repressed-
permanent traits and unique driven from consciousness because they
characteristics that give both consistency were too anxiety provoking. It is where
and individuality to a person's behavior the Id resides.
(Feist & Feist, 2009).
Psychodynamic Stages of Development
Structures of Personality Oral Stage
Id Age: birth 1.5 years
• Dominant during infancy. Focus: mouth
• Operate on pleasure principle. • Gratifying activities: nursing (responsive
Superego nurturing is the key)
• Ideals and morals • Oral-dependent personality: too much
• Operate on morality or the conscience stimulation will lead the child become
principle. very dependent and submissive.
Ego • Oral-aggressive personality: too little
• Realistic and socially accepted. gratification will lead the child be very
• Intervene between id impulses and aggressive and will get what he wants
superego inhibitions. through force.
• Operates on reality principle. Anal Stage
Age: 1.5-3 years
Focus: anus
Three Levels of Mental Mind • Gratifying activities: toilet training and
• Conscious contains whatever we are urge control.
thinking about or experiencing at a given Anal-expulsive personality: too lenient
moment (all that our senses detect). will derive the child pleasure and success
from the expulsion (reckless, careless)
Anal-retentive personality: excessive
pressure will take the child pleasure in Psychosocial Stages of Development
being able to withhold (obsessively clean • In every stage of life there is an
and orderly) interaction of opposites - that is, a conflict
Phallic Stage between syntonic tendency (harmonious)
Age: 3-5 years elements; dystonic tendency (disruptive)
Focus: genital element; ego quality - basic strength and;
• Gratifying activities: play with genitals; core pathology - too little basic strength.
sexuality Developmental Crisis: Trust vs Mistrust
Identification Age - infancy (birth to 1st year of life)
Success: control envy and hostility and • Most significant relation - mother;
identify with same-sex parent. caregiver
Failure: with commitment issues • Basic Strength - hope
Latency Stage •Core pathology - withdrawal
Age: 5 years - puberty Developmental Crisis: Autonomy vs
• Time of learning, adjusting to the social Shame and Doubt
environment, form beliefs and values. Age: early childhood (two to three years
• Developing same-sex friendships. old)
"Sublimation stage" • Basic strength: will
Genital Stage • Core pathology: compulsion
Age: puberty + Developmental Crisis: Initiative versus
Focus: genital Guilt
• Gratifying activities: masturbating and Age: play age (three to five years old)
heterosexual relationships. • Basic strength: purpose
• Renewed sexual interest desire • Core pathology: inhibition
Developmental Crisis: Industry vs
Defense Mechanisms Inferiority
Repression - push conscious unpleasant Age: school age (six to thirteen years old)
thoughts to the unconscious. • Basic strength: competence
Denial - refusing to accept reality. • Core pathology: inertia (idleness)
Sublimation - channeling of unacceptable Developmental Crisis: Identity versus
and potentially disruptive impulses Identity confusion
through emotions or thoughts into socially Age: adolescence (puberty)
accepted behavior. • Basic strength: fidelity
Displacement - redirect emotion from a • Core pathology: role denial
"real" person to a lower status person, Developmental Crisis: Intimacy vs
object or animal. isolation
Regression - going back to childhood Age: young adulthood (eighteen to thirty
behaviors when faced with anxiety. years old)
• Basic strength: capacity to Love • Basic strength: care
• Core pathology: exclusivity • Core pathology: rejectivity
Developmental Crisis: Generativity vs Developmental Crisis: Integrity vs Despair
Stagnation Age: Old age (sixty years old until death)
Age: adulthood (thirty one to sixty years • Basic strength: wisdom
old) • Core pathology: disdain