Understanding the Self

Western Thoughts on the Self

• The Western thoughts conducted scientific investigations in the effort to understand the self and have
developed theories and concepts to account for the similarities and differences among them.
• They emphasized the importance of scientific methods of investigation to provide satisfactory
answers to understanding the self.
• In the Western thought, the emphasis is individualistic rather than relational.

Eastern Thoughts on the Self

• Many movements of Eastern thoughts raise questions about the ultimate meaning of human life and
have developed theories of self insofar as they have investigated what it means to be a human being.
• Eastern thoughts aim at transformations in consciousness, feelings, emotions, and one’s relation to other
people and the world.

• In the Eastern thought, the emphasis is relational rather than individual. The self is considered not in
isolation but in relation to others, society, and the universe.
• Eastern theories are highly practical.
• They offer a variety of techniques for cultivating a deeper understanding of the self. They do not
utilize the scientific techniques of investigation.

Models and Approaches of Understanding the Self

Schools of Thought

Buddhism

• Siddharta Gautama known as Buddha is the founder of Buddhism

• The root word of Buddhism is budh meaning awake.
• To be awake may imply that when the eyes are open, it would lead to understanding more about the self
and the world.
• According to the teachings of Buddhism, every person has the seed of enlightenment, hence, potential to
be a Buddha. But the seed should be nurtured.
• In Buddhist philosophy, man is just a title for the summation of the five parts (matter, sensation,
perception, mental constructs, and consciousness) that compose the individual, however each of the
parts distinctly are not man.
• There is no self (or no-soul).
• There is only nothing and all else is an illusion.
 • There is nothing permanent, but change.
• In Buddhism, annica (impermanence) means that everything in life is always changing, that nothing last
forever. The ignorance of the impermanence of everything may lead to an illusion of selfhood.
• The ideal is to experience Nirvana, a state of transcendence devoid of self-reference.
• This state of transcendence can be achieved through meditation and a life of moderation.
• Life of moderation – develop a middle ground that balances extremities in life.
Hinduism

•The goal of man is to have a knowledge of true reality – Brahman.

•Law of Karma is the most important doctrine of Hinduism
•All actions are subject to karma.
•Individual actions will lead to either a good or bad outcomes in one’s life.
•Hindus believe that Atman being an immortal soul continues to be reincarnated from lifetime to
lifetime until it is freed from the cycle of rebirth and reach a state of nirvana or non-birth.
• Karma does not end with a body’s death, so its influence may extend through incarnation of the soul.
Confucianism

• The core of Confucian thought is the Golden Rule or the principle of reciprocity: Do not do to others
what you would not want others to do to you.
• Another important feature in Confucian thought is the individual’s greatest mission of attaining self-
realization wherein self-cultivation is instrumental.
• Self-cultivation could be accomplished by knowing one’s role in the society and act accordingly.
• Moral character is perfected through continuously taking every opportunity to improve oneself in
thought and action.
Ren (Altruism)

• It focuses on the genuine concern for others, this starts to the immediate family.
• How can you do good things to others without doing it first to your own family?
Taoism

• To them, the self is an extension of the cosmos, not of social relationships.

• The self is described as one of the limitless forms of the Tao.
• The Tao is commonly regarded as Nature that is the foundation of all that exists.
• It is not bounded by time and space.
• The ideal is to identify with the Tao.
• Wu-wei (Non-action) – an action of non-action
Wu – Wei (Non-action)

• No purposive action yet do act

• We have to act based on natural scheme of things
• Effortless action; action without action
• Act in a way that reflects who you really are, because by doing so, you become natural and true to
yourself.
• BE NATURAL IN LIVING YOUR LIFE, DON’T BE TRYING HARD. ACT NATURALLY!
• The more you think and exert too much effort on the manner you perform your action, the more you
become unnatural. Be true to yourselves.
Philosophical Self
Ancient, Medieval, Modern, and Contemporary

Philosophy

 The etymological definition: love of wisdom.

 Philosophy employs the inquisitive mind to discover the ultimate causes, reasons, and principles of
everything.
 The nature of the self is a topic of interest among philosophers.
 The philosophical framework for understanding the self was first introduced by ancient Greek
philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
 Socrates: Who am I?
 Philosophers agree that self-knowledge is a prerequisite to a happy and a meaningful life.

Notable Philosophers:

1. Socrates
2. Plato
3. Aristotle
4. St. Augustine
5. Rene Descartes
6. John Locke
7. David Hume
8. Immanuel Kant
9. Gilbert Ryle
10. Paul Churchland
11. Maurice Merleau-ponty

Socrates: An unexamined life is not worth living.

 Socrates: the self is synonymous with the soul.
 Every human possessed a soul which is immortal.
 Human life does not end at one’s death.
 He explained that death is the departure of the soul for the eternal world.
 One continues to live in the eternal world after death.
 The Self – Allegory of the Cave
 Socrates: Gnothi Seauton (Know Thyself)
In Socrates’ concept of reality, it consists of two dichotomous realms: PHYSICAL REALM and IDEAL
REALM.
1. The PHYSICAL REALM is changeable, transient, and imperfect. The body belongs to this realm.
2. The IDEAL REALM is unchanging, eternal, and immortal. The soul belongs to this realm.
  Socrates was the first thinker to focus on the full power of reason on the human self: who we are,
who we should be, and who we will become.
 The soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and reason is the soul’s tool to achieve an exalted state
of life.
 Our preoccupation with bodily needs such as food, drink, sex, pleasure, material possessions, and
wealth keep us from attaining wisdom.
 Goodness or beauty is the most important of all.
 A person can have a meaningful and happy life only if he becomes virtuous and knows the value of
himself that can be achieved through constant soul-searching.
 For him, this is best achieved when one tries to separate the body from the soul as much as possible.
 Soul searching must begin at the source of all knowledge and significance – the self.
 The Socratic method, Introspection, is a method of carefully examining our thoughts and emotions –
to gain self-knowledge.
Plato: The soul is immortal.
 Plato believed that the self is synonymous with the soul.
 Plato’s philosophy of the self can be explained as a process of self-knowledge and purification of the
soul.
 The self consists of three parts: REASON, SPIRIT or PASSION, and PHYSICAL APPETITE.
 REASON is the divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a true
understanding of eternal truths.
 SPIRIT or PASSION includes our basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and
empathy.
 PHYSICAL APPETITE includes our basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.
 These three are in a dynamic relationship with one another, sometimes in conflict.
 When conflict occurs, it is the responsibility of REASON to sort things out and exert control,
restoring a harmonious relationship among the three elements of our selves.
 Genuine happiness can only be achieved by people who consistently make sure that their reason is in
control of their SPIRITS and APPETITES.

Aristotle: The soul is the essence of the self.

 For Aristotle, the body and soul are not two separate elements but one thing.
 The soul is simply the Form of the body, and is not capable of existing without the body.
 The soul is that which makes a person a person. The soul is the essence of the self.
 Without the body the soul cannot exist. The soul dies along with the body.
 Aristotle suggested that anything with life has soul.
 His discussion about the self centers on the kinds of soul possessed by man.
 He introduced the three kinds of soul: VEGETATIVE, SENTIENT, RATIONAL.
1. VEGETATIVE includes the physical body that can grow.
2. SENTIENT includes the sensual desires, feelings, and emotions.
3. RATIONAL is what makes man human. It includes the intellect that makes man know and understand
things.
 Aristotle suggests that the rational nature of the self is to lead a good, flourishing, and fulfilling life.
St. Augustine: I am doubting; therefore, I am.
 St. Augustine integrated the ideas of Plato and Christianity.
 He developed a more unified perspective on the body and the soul.
 The soul is what governs and defines the human person or the self.
 The soul is an important element of man.
 The soul is united with the body so that man may be entire and complete.
 The physical body is different from and inferior to its inhabitant, the immortal soul.
 Augustine described that humankind is created in the image and likeness of God.
 Augustine believed that God is transcendent and everything created by God who is all good is good.
 Therefore, the human person being, a creation of God, is always geared towards the good.
 The self is known only through knowing God.
 Self-knowledge is a consequence of knowledge of God.
 For Augustine, “knowledge can only come by seeing the truth that dwells within us.”
 The truth of which Augustine spoke refers to the truth of knowing God.
 God is transcendent and that the self seeks to be united with God through faith and reason.
 In Augustine’s mission to discover the truth of existence of God, he developed the fundamental
concept of the human person and thus provided the philosophical principle, “I am doubting; therefore,
I am.”

Rene Descartes: I think; therefore, I am.

 The phrase “I think; therefore, I am” is the keystone of Descartes’ concept of the self.
 For him, the act of thinking about the self – of being self-conscious – is in itself proof that there is self.
 For Descartes, the essence of the self – a thinking entity – is that it doubts, understands, analyzes,
questions, and reasons.
 There are two dimensions of the self: the self as a thinking entity and the self as a physical body.
 The thinking self (or soul) is the nonmaterial, immortal, conscious being, and independent of the
physical laws of the universe.
 The physical body is the material, mortal, non-thinking entity, fully governed by the physical laws of
nature.
 The soul and body are independent of one another and each can exist and function without the other.
 The self as a thinking entity is distinct from the self as a physical body. In other words, the thinking
self can exist independently of the physical body.

John Locke: The self is consciousness.

 On Psychology and Our Understanding of the Self
 For Locke, the human mind at birth is tabula rasa or blank slate.
 He felt that the self, or personal identity, is constructed primarily from sense experiences – or more
specifically, what we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. These experiences shape and mold the self
throughout a person’s life.
 Self-consciousness is necessary to have a coherent personal (self) identity or knowledge of the self as
a person.
 Using the power of reason and introspection enables people to understand and achieve accurate
conclusions about the self.
David Hume
 Hume suggests that if people carefully examine their sense experience through the process of
introspection, they will discover that there is no self.
 According to Hume, what people experience is just a bundle or collection of different perceptions,
impressions, sensations, ideas, thoughts, and images.
 The idea of personal identity is a result of imagination.

Immanuel Kant: We construct the self.

 According to Kant, it is the self that makes experiencing an intelligible world possible because it is the
self that is actively organizing and synthesizing all of our thoughts and perceptions.
 In other words, the self constructs its own reality creating a world that is familiar and predictable.
 Through our rationality, the self transcends sense experience.
 A priori and a posteriori knowledge of the self
 Categorical Imperative - “Act always on the maxim of such a will in us as can at the same time look
upon itself as making universal law.”
o Act as you would want all other people to act towards other people.

Gilbert Ryle: The self is the way people behave.

 The self is best understood as a pattern of behavior, the tendency or disposition for a person to behave in
a certain way in certain circumstances.
 Ryle’s concept of the human self thus provided the philosophical principle, “I act; therefore, I am.”
 In short, the self is the same bodily behavior.

Paul Churchland: The self is the brain.

 The self is inseparable from the brain and the physiology of the body.
 All we have is the brain and so, if the brain is gone, there is no self.
 For Churchland, the physical brain and not the imaginary mind, gives us our sense of self.
 The mind does not really exist.
 It is the brain and not the imaginary mind that gives us our sense of self.
 The self is the brain.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty: The self is embodied subjectivity.

 All knowledge of ourselves and our world is based on subjective experience.

 The self can never be truly objectified or known in a completely objective sort of way.
Sociological Self

 The science of society, social institutions, and social relationships; specifically: the systematic study of
the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of organized groups of human beings
 The scientific analysis of a social institution as a functioning whole and as it relates to the rest of the
society
 socius (Lat.) – companion, associate, neighbor
Sociologists:

1. George Herbert Mead

2. Charles Horton Cooley
3. Gerry Lanuza
4. Jean Baudrillard

THE SELF AS A PRODUCT OF SOCIAL INTERACTION

 The self is not present at birth. It develops only with social experience wherein language, gestures, and
objects are used to communicate meaningfully.
 The sociological perspective of the self is based on the assumption that human behavior is influenced by
group life.
 A particular view of oneself is formed through interactions with other people, groups, or social
institutions.

 For sociologists like George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, the self is not dependent on
biological predispositions; rather, it is a product of social interaction.
o Sociologist Charles Horton Cooley introduced the looking-glass self to highlight that the people
whom a person interacts become a mirror in which he views himself.
o Since these perceptions are subjective, there might have wrong interpretations of how other
people evaluate him.
o It would be critical if he thinks others judge him unfavorably because he could develop negative
self-image.
o George Herbert Mead’s theory of the social self, explained that the self has two divisions: the “I”
and the “me”.
o The “I” is the subjective element and the active side of the self.
o It represents the spontaneous, and unique traits of the individual.
o The "I" is the response of the individual to the “Me”
 The “Me” is the objective element of the self. It represents the “internalized” attitudes, expectations, and
demands of other people.
 The "Me" is what is learned in interaction with others and with the environment.
 The full development of the self is attained when the “I” and the “me” are united.

THE SELF AS A PRODUCT OF MODERN AND POSTMODERN SOCIETIES

 According to Gerry Lanuza, in modern societies the attainment and stability of self-identity is freely
chosen. It is no longer restricted by customs and traditions.
 In postmodern societies, self-identity continuously change due to the demands of multitude of social
contexts, new information technologies, and globalization.
o These freedom and changes offer opportunities for self-cultivation but problems may also arise
(e.g., alienation and dehumanization).
 For instance, it limits the face to face, close relationships with others especially among family members.
 It limits close contact and communication with others.
  According to Sociologist Jean Baudrillard, in postmodern societies, individuals achieve self-identity
through prestige symbols that they consume.
 The cultural practices of advertising and mass media greatly influence individuals to consume goods not
for their primary value and utility but to give them a feeling of goodness and power when compared
with others.

The postmodern person has become an insatiable consumer and may never be satisfied in his life.

 Thus, the self may be a never-ending search for prestige in the postmodern society.

Anthropological Self
 Anthropology holds a holistic view of human nature. It is concerned with how cultural and biological
processes interact to shape the self.
 Anthropology considers human experience as an interplay of “nature” referring to genetic inheritance
which sets the individual’s potentials and “nurture” which refers to sociocultural environment .
 Both biological and cultural factors have significant influence in the development of self.
 In the Anthropological perspective, there are two ways in which the concept of self is viewed in different
societies: egocentric and sociocentric.
 The egocentric concept of the self suggests that each person is defined as a replica of all humanity but
capable of acting independently from others.
 In the sociocentric concept of the self, the self is viewed as dependent on the situation or social setting.
 For example, the Japanese possess a sociocentric view of the self, wherein the membership of a person
in a particular social group defines the boundaries of the self.
 The Chinese prioritize kin ties and cooperation. They put importance to compliance and subordination of
one’s will to the authority figures in the family.
 In egocentric view, the self is viewed as autonomous and distinct individual with inherent
characteristics.
 The Americans are egocentric. They believe that they should be assertive and independent.
 From the similarities and differences in characteristics among individuals, people construct their social
identities.
 The identity toolbox refers to the “features of a person’s identity that he or she chooses to emphasize in
constructing a social self.”
 Self-identification may be attained by: kinship, family membership, gender, age, language, religion,
ethnicity, personal appearance, and socioeconomic status.
 Some characteristics such as kinship, gender, and age are almost universally used to differentiate people.
 Other characteristics, such as ethnicity, personal appearance, and socioeconomic status are not always
used in every society.
 Family membership could be the most significant feature to determine the person’s social identity.
 Another important identity determinant that is often viewed as essential for the maintenance of a group
identity is language.
 In other societies, religious affiliation is an important marker of group identity.
 In Mindanao, being a Christian or a Muslim is possibly the most important defining feature of social
identity.