UNDERSTANDING

THE SELF
COURSE CODE: GE005
3 UNITS
MODULE 1
COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is intended to facilitate the exploration of the self by stressing the different perspective in
psychological, sociological, and anthropological explanation through an integration of the personal
into the academic discussion which help the learners understand the external and internal aspects of
personality. The course includes holistic approach for a self-care, self-awareness, self-regulation,
reflexivity, and self-acceptance, through informed ethical choices in addressing conflicts, dilemmas,
diversities, differences, and inequalities. Furthermore, this aims to provide sufficient foundation for
the students to improve relationships by understanding of his own personality, and to attain a better
quality of life.
COURSE OUTCOME:

At the end of this course the students will be able to:

1. Understand and identify major psychological concepts and theories, principles, concepts, and skills
in psychological theories and philosophical view of self.
2. Develop arguments about and critically evaluate the established principles in psychology
3. Comprehend and evaluate new information related to psychology (e.g. theory, concepts, and data)
that may be presented in various forms and from various sources
MODULE 1
Philosophical view of self

CONCEPT
AND Christian or Biblical view of self
NATURE OF
SELF Psychological view of self
 How well do you know yourself?

Are you aware of your talents?

WHO AM I Skills?

Weaknesses?

Strengths?
Anthropology views the "self' as
a culturally shaped construct or
idea. Anthropologists assert that
it is an autonomous participant
in the society as much as it is
submerged in the community.
“WHO AM I”
Casting Crowns
Who am I, that the LORD of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt? Questions:
Who am I, that the bright and morning star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart? 1. What is the meaning of the song?
Not because of who I am 2. How would you describe yourself?
But because of what you've done 3. How will you relate yourself to the song?
Not because of what I've done
But because of who you are 4. What are you most grateful in life?
5. What are the biggest and most important things you have
I am a flower quickly fading learned in life so far?
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I'm calling
LORD, you catch me when I'm falling
And you've told me who I am
I am yours
Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again?
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me?
Not because of who I am
But because of what you've…
PHILOSOPHICAL
VIEW OF SELF
Socrates: Know Yourself

Socrates is principally concerned with man. He

considers man from the point of view of his inner
life. The famous line of Socrates, “Know yourself”
or one’s self, as well as the question about how
one ought to live one’s life, are very important
concerns because only by knowing yourself can
you hope to improve your life. Socrates believed
that you as a person should consciously
contemplate, turn gaze inward, and analyze the
true nature and values that are guiding your life. A
bad man is not virtuous through ignorance; the
man who does not follow the good fails to do so
because he does not recognize it.
Plato: The Ideal Self, the Perfect Self

According to Plato, man was omniscient

or all-knowing before he came to born
in this world. With his separation from
the paradise of truth and knowledge
and his long exile on earth, he forgot
most of the knowledge he had.
However, by constant remembering
through contemplation and doing good,
he can regain his former perfection.
 
 St. Augustine- All knowledge lead to God

Augustine's sense of self is his relation to God, both in

his recognition of God's love and his response to it—
achieved through self-presentation, then self-
realization. Augustine believed one could not achieve
inner peace without finding God's love.

 
 Immanuel Kant: Respect for Self

Man is the only creature who governs and directs

himself and his actions, who set up ends for himself
and his purpose, and who freely orders mean for
the attainment of his aims. Every man is thus an in
himself and should never be treated merely as a
means-as per order of the Creator and the natural
order of things.
Rene Descartes: “I think, Therefore I am”

Descartes states that the self is a thinking entity

distinct from the body. His first famous principle was
“Cognito, ergo sum,” which means “I think therefore
I am”. Although the mind and body are independent
from each other and serve their own function, man
must use his own mind and thinking abilities to
investigate, analyze, experiment, and develop
himself.
John Locke: Personality Identity
Personality identity is the concept about
oneself that evolves over the course of
an individual’s life that man has no
control over, such as where he grew up
or the color of his skin, as well as the
choices he makes, life how he spends his
time and what he believes.
David Hume: The Self is the Bundle Theory of
Mind

Hume is skeptical about the existence of the self,

specifically. On whether there is a simple, unified
self that exists over time. For him, man has no
“clear and intelligible” idea of the self. He persists
that no single impression of the self exists; rather,
the self is just the thing to which all perceptions of
a man is ascribed. Moreover, even if there were
such an impression of the self, would have to
remain constant overtime to constitute identity.
Immanuel Kant – Reason is the final authority of morality.
Morality is achieved only when there is absence of war because
of the result of enlightenment

Philosopher Immanuel Kant is a central figure in modern

philosophy. Kant's view of the "self" is transcendental, which
means the "self” is related to a spiritual or nonphysical realm.
For Kant, the self is not in the body. The self is outside the
body, and it does not have the qualities of the body. Despite
being transcendental, Kant stressed that the body and its
qualities are rooted to the "self”. He proposed that it is
knowledge that bridges the "self" and the material things
together (Boeree, 1999; Brook, 2004).
BIBLICAL VIEW OF SELF

The Holy Bible

“God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him; male and female
He created them. God blessed them, saying, “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth
and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds in the air, and all the
living things that move on the earth.”
Genesis 1:24-28
PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEW OF SELF

 Sigmund Freud, the most important contribution, particularly in

Psychology, was psychoanalysis, a practice devised to treat those who
are mentally ill through dialogue. “The self” was an entity in itself
characterized as the subject (the focal point: the topic and doer of the
action) of the physical and mental actions and experiences. The notion is
that the self is essence and subject points to the idea of an entity that is
unified, single, undivided, and unaffected by time.
 In his earlier structural division of the psyche, Freud distinguished three
levels of consciousness.
THREE LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS.

1. Conscious, which deals with awareness of present

perceptions, feelings, thoughts, memories, and fantasies at
any particular moment.
2. Pre-conscious/subconscious, which is related to data that
can readily be brought to consciousness; and
3. Unconscious, which refers to data retained but not easily
available to the individual’s conscious awareness or scrutiny.
PARTS OF PERSONALITY

1. Id (Internal desires). Also called internal drives or

instinctive drives, it consist of the body’s primitive
biological drives and urges which are concerned only
with achieving pleasure and self-satisfaction. Id lives
completely in the unconscious
2. Ego (reality). It is the “I” part of the individual that
gives him/her the sense of the personality .
3. Superego (conscience). It is the part of the personality
concerned with morals, precepts, standards, and ideas.
The superego is also the critical faculty of the
personality.
Psychosexual Stage of Development by Sigmund Freud – father of pyscho analysis

Stage Age range What happen at this stage?

Oral Stage 0-1 year old Children derive from oral activities, including
sucking and tasting. they like to put things in
their mouth

Anal Stage 2-3 years old Children begin potty training

Phallic Stage 3-6 years old Boys are more attached to their mother, while
girls are more attached to their father.

Latency Stage 6 years to puberty Children spend more time and interact mostly
with same sex.
Genital Stage Beyond Puberty Individuals are attracted to opposite sex peers.
Psychosocial Stage of Development by Erik Erickson
Erikson was primary concerned with how both psychological
and social factors affect the development of individuals. He has
formulated eight major stages of development, each posing A
unique developmental task and simultaneously presenting the
individual with a crisis that he/she must overcome. As defined
by Erikson, a crisis is not “a threat of catastrophe but a turning
point, a crucial period of increased vulnerability and heightened
potential”. Accordingly, individuals develop a healthy
personality by mastering “life’s outer and inner dangers”.
Basic Period of Important Relationship Choices/De Outcome
Conflicts/Crisis Life Life Events With cisions
Trust Vs. Mistrust Infancy Feeding Maternal To give in The individual develops a sense of trust
(Birth-18 return towards the caregiver, especially with the
 
months)   mother’s genuine affection and care. A lack
of this leads to mistrust.
To get
Autonomy Vs. Early Toilet Paternal To hold on The individual needs to develop a sense of
Shame/Doubt Childhood Training   personal control over physical skills and a
(18 months to sense of independence. Success leads to
3 years) To let go feelings of shame and doubt.

Initiative Vs. Guilt Preschool (3 Exploration Family To make The individual needs to begin asserting
to 5 yrs.) control and power over the environment.
 
Parents who give their children freedom in
 
To make running, sliding, bike-riding, and skating are
  like allowing them to develop initiative. Success
in this stage lead to a sense of purpose.
Children who try to exert too much power
experience disapproval resulting in a sense
of guilt.
Industry Vs. Elementary School School To make things As an individual moves into the world of
Inferiority school age (6 to Neighborh schooling, he/she needs to cope with new social
 
11 years) ood and academic demands. Parents and teachers
To make together who support, reward, and praise children are
 
encouraging industry. Success leads to a sense
of competence while failure results in feelings
of inferiority. Those who rejects, ridicule, or
ignore children’s effort are strengthening
feelings of inferiority.

Identity Vs. Role   Social Peer Group To be oneself As an individual enters adolescence or teen years,
Confusion Relationships he/she needs to develop a sense of self and
Adolescence (12  
personal identity. An adolescent tries new roles as
to 18 yrs.)
To share being he/she romantic involvement, vocational choice,
  oneself and adult statuses. When the adolescent fails to
develop a “centered” identity, he/she becomes
 
trapped in either role confusion or negative
  identity. Success leads to an ability to stay true to
oneself while failure leads to a weak sense of self.

Intimacy Vs. Isolation Young Relationship Partners in To lose As an individual grows as a young adult, he/she
Adulthood (19 friendship/s needs to form intimate, loving relationships with
 
to 40 yrs.) ex other people. Success leads to strong relationships
competitio To bind oneself to while failure results in loneliness and isolation.
 
n others
 
Generativity Middle Work To make To Generativity means reaching out beyond one’s own immediate
Vs. Adultho and be To make concerns to embrace the welfare of society and of future generations.
Stagnation od (40 to Parentho take care be It entails selflessness. The adult needs to create or nurture things that
65 yrs.) od of will outlast him/her, often by having children or creating a positive
 
change that benefits other people. Success leads to feelings of
  To take usefulness and accomplishment while failure results in shallow
  care of involvement in the world.

Integrity Vs. Old Reflectio To be, To be, The older adult needs to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment.
Despair age/matu n on life through through Success at this stage leads feelings of wisdom while failure results in
rity having having regret, bitterness, and despair.
been been
(65 to
death)    
  To face To face
not being not
being
LEARNING ACTIVITY 1
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ASSIGNMENT:
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8yIUaUX3qSM81gVA/viewform?usp=sf_link
 ASSESSMENT RUBRIC FOR ESSAY
Areas of Assessment 4 3 2 1
CONTENT  Substantial, specific, and  Sufficiently developed  Limited content with  Superficial and/or minimal
illustrative content content with adequate inadequate elaboration and content.
 
demonstrating strong elaboration and presentation of examples and
development and sophisticated explanation of the ideas.
ideas related to the theme, that topic in relevance to
are appealing to the readers. the theme.

ORGANIZATION  Refined arrangement of  Functional  Inconsistent arrangement of  Minimal use of transitional

content with evident and arrangement of content content with minimal usage of devices with improper
 
proper use of transitional that sustains a logical transitional devices. arrangement of paragraphs.
devices. order with some
evidence of transitional
devices.

CONVENTIONS  Evident control of grammar,  Adequate control of  Limited control of grammar,  Minimal control of grammar,
mechanics spelling, usage, and grammar, mechanics, mechanics, spelling, usage, mechanics, spelling, usage, and
 
sentence formation. spelling, usage, and and sentence formation. sentence formation.
sentence formation.
 Ung knowledge po na nakukuha natin is nang gagaling po sa kung ano ung
nararanasan natin or nararamdaman natin, therefore ung mga impressions po na
meron tayo nanggagaling po sa mgga naranasan natin and by that po, mas
makakatulong po na mas makilala natin ung sarili natin.