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PERSPECTIVES
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LESSON OBJECTIVES
Self as an activity
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Aristotle also believed that there were four sections of the soul: the
calculative and scientific parts on the rational side used for making
decisions, and the desiderative and vegetative.
The ego is often associated with mind and the sense of time, which
compulsively thinks in order to be assured of its future existence, rather
than simply knowing its own self and the present.
Self-Knowledge
Socrates
For Socrates, the goal of philosophy was to "Know thyself". Lao Tzu, in
his Tao Te Ching, says "Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing the self is
enlightenment. Mastering others requires force. Mastering the self
requires strength.
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While he was imprisoned in a castle, Avicenna wrote his famous
"Floating Man" thought experiment to demonstrate human self-
awareness and the substantiality of the soul. His "Floating Man" thought
experiment tells its readers to imagine themselves suspended in the air,
isolated from all sensations, which includes no sensory contact with even
their own bodies. He argues that, in this scenario, one would still
have self-consciousness. He thus concludes that the idea of the self is
not logically dependent on any physical thing, and that the soul should
not be seen in relative terms, but as a primary given, a substance. This
argument was later refined and simplified by René
Descartes in epistemic terms when he stated: "I can abstract from the
supposition of all external things, but not from the supposition of my own
consciousness.
David Hume pointed out that we tend to think that we are the same
person we were five years ago. Though we have changed in many
respects, the same person appears present as was present then. We
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might start thinking about which features can be changed without
changing the underlying self. Hume, however, denies that there is a
distinction between the various features of a person and the mysterious
self that supposedly bears those features. When we start introspecting,
"we are never intimately conscious of anything but a particular perception;
man is a bundle or collection of different perceptions which succeed one
another with an inconceivable rapidity and are in perpetual flux and
movement" On Hume's view, these perceptions do not belong to anything.
Rather, Hume compares the soul to a commonwealth, which retains its
identity not by virtue of some enduring core substance, but by being
composed of many different, related, and yet constantly changing
elements.
SOCIOLOGY OF SELF
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"I am not who you think I am; I am not who I think I am; I am who I
think you think I am."
ANTHROPOLOGY OF SELF
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GLOBAL VS.
DIFFERENTIATED
MODELS
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JAMES, WILLIAM. 1890. "THE SELF AND ITS SELVES" (161-166).
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these things. The more we invest of ourselves in these objects, the more
attached to them we inevitably are to them.
A man’s social self is configured based upon our interactions with society
and the reactions of others that are analyzed in order to contribute to our
idea of a social Self. Within this notion of the social Self, there are multiple
divergences; which version of self is present is contingent upon which of a
particular social group one finds one’s self in. Seemingly, possessing
multiple social Selves and maintaining the right face depending on social
situation can be chaotic or harmonious. In attempts to maintain order
between different variations of social Self, an individual’s sense of “fame”
or “honor” regulates and determines what behaviors are or not moral,
reasonable or honorable.
The next constituent is said by James to be the most intimate self, the
spiritual self. James claims that it is the most intimate version of self
because the satisfaction experienced when one thinks of one’s “ability to
argue and discriminate, of our [one’s] moral sensibility, and
conscience, of our indomitable will” (James 1890, 164) is more pure
than other sentiments of satisfaction. Then, James describes a number of
bodily processes in which becoming introspective can make the acts
entirely mindful, conscious processes—furthering our understanding of an
intimate, spiritual self.
Finally, James addresses the last and “most puzzling aspect of the
self,” (1980, 165) the Pure ego. While different schools of thought have
all reached differing conclusions regarding the Ego, James begins to
describe it by first addressing the deciphering of a personal identity. The
first part of understanding the Ego comes with understanding that it can
recognize its own thoughts; the thoughts that belong to one’s own Ego can
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be recognized and possess a warmth that thoughts possessed by a
separate ego does not. This constructed consciousness then works in
conjunction with subjective synthesis, a concept that is essential to
thinking and is the act of bringing thoughts together (even if only to
contrast them and realize the thoughts no longer belong together). In
understanding the entirety of the Ego’s functions, however, one must
recall that personal identity is perceived sameness and can ultimately be
feeling—not fact.
Differentiation is about knowing yourself and who you are and who you
are not and holding on to that self. The goal is to hold to your self and
your values and goals apart from all the anxiety and pressure around you
(separateness) while remaining close to those in your life
(togetherness). These two forces of separateness and togetherness are
what makes the tension in differentiation.
Scazzero writes, “People with a high level of differentiation have their own
beliefs, convictions, directions, goals, and values apart from the pressures
around them. They can choose, before God, how they want to be without
being controlled by the approval or disapproval of others. Intensity of
feelings, high stress, or the anxiety of others around them does not
overwhelm their capacity to think intelligently.
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in order to have a sense of their own worth and identity. Or out of fear of
getting too close to someone and thus swallowed up, they may avoid
closeness to other completely. Under stress they have little ability to
distinguish between their feelings and their thougth (intellectual) process.”
0-25
25-50
50-75
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Can hear and evaluate beliefs of others, discarding old beliefs in favor of
new ones
Can listen without reacting and communicate without antagonizing others
Can respect others without having to change them
Aware of dependence on others and responsibility for others
Free to enjoy life and play
Able to maintain a non-anxious presence in the midst of stress and
pressure
Able to take responsibility for their own destiny and life
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REAL AND IDEAL
SELF CONCEPTS
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Figure 7. Carl Rogers
The ideal self on the other hand, is the self that we think we want to be,
that we strive to be, and that we feel we are expected to be. This self is
borne out of influences outside of us. It is the self that holds
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values absorbed from others; a culmination of all those things that we
think we should be, and that we feel others think we should be.
It can be difficult to identify your ideal self. Often, others will see it before
you can see it in yourself. It helps to be in touch with and to trust your
feelings. In fact, your thoughts, emotions and feelings can usually be
trusted to speak the truth to you. They will lead you to your real self,
which in turn, will help you to identify your ideal self.
If the two are close, you will be the person that is comfortable in their skin,
with the attainable goal to be the best that you can be. If the two are miles
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apart, you will experience that dissonance, and you will know in your heart
that things are not quite right.
You will have extremely high expectations of yourself, most of which may
be close to impossible to meet. Those perceived “failures” will take a toll
on your self-esteem. Needlessly. If you let your feelings guide you in an
honest way, you will eventually find your real self. The more you get to
know that self, the more you will come to appreciate it and love it for what
it is. The real – perhaps less than perfect – but lovable, one and only you.
Let’s start with a basic common sense response and say that there is a
single self. This position can initially be justified by the basic observation
that we inhabit one body. My body can be conceived of as an object and
like most “normal sized” objects, it exists in one location in space and time
and in that sense it is singular. But deeper reflection reveals that we are
not usually talking about the physical body when we are talking about the
self. If so, my ‘self’ would still be there if I had a heart attack and fell to the
floor and died. But most people, myself included, would say that a dead
body does not contain the self; the self-resides in the dimension of the
mental and cultural and is not really reducible to the physical and
biological
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consciousness’ and the first person felt experience of being. In this
context, it includes the felt consistency of being across periods of time. In
that sense, it is tied very closely to memory. This is the part of you that
“disappears” when you enter a deep sleep, flickers on and off as you
dream, and then comes back on line as you wake up.
Our sense of self is shaped deeply by others. James Mark Baldwin has a
great quote that “ego and alter are born together,” which means our
self-concept is foundationally shaped both by how others see us and how
we see ourselves in relation to others. This starts with our earliest
attachments, when our fundamental sense of security is shaped by how
well our care-takers were attuned to our needs and vulnerabilities. Thus
we come to experience ourselves first via the eyes of others. In addition,
our self-consciousness system was shaped as a social reason giving
device. That means that our “narrator” first starts off via speech narrating
to others why we are doing what we are doing, and this means that our
self-concept is formed in large part by the audiences. In terms of a
multiplicity of self-states, this means that our self-concept is deeply
influenced by the “audience” we initially narrate to. Change the audience,
and we change the self. That is in part what William James is getting at in
his quote.
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depending on things like biorhythms (time of day, month, season) and
what goals have been sated (e.g., hunger, sex, sleep) or are active.
1) self-protection/injury avoidance;
2) disease avoidance;
3) affiliation;
4) status seeking;
5) mate acquisition;
6) mate retention; and
7) kin care.
The present versus future self. One of the most common conflicts between
self-states that people experience is the conflict between their present and
their future self.
Almost everyone can relate to this. Our current self wants the piece of
cake, but our future self wants to be fit and trim. Our current self wants to
be relaxed by a cool drag on a cigarette, but our future self does not want
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lung cancer. Our current self wants to take the day off and go on a
vacation, but our future self does not want to face an annoyed boss or
depleted bank account.
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Agency
Structure
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Self-reactiveness broadens the role of the agent to be more than just
“planners and fore thinkers and includes processes of self-management
and self-motivation, as well as emotional states that can undermine self-
regulation: The translation of plans into successful courses of action
requires the self-management of thought processes; motivation to stick
with chosen courses in the face of difficulties, setbacks, and uncertainties;
and emotional states that can undermine self-regulatory efforts.
For example, children work through parents to get what they want, marital
partners through spouses, employees through labor unions, and the
general public through their elected officials. Agency can also be
exercised in groups. “People do not live their lives in individual autonomy.
Indeed, many of the outcomes they seek are achievable only through
interdependent efforts.”
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Collective agency is an interdependence of human functioning that is
enacted when people who share common beliefs act as a group to
produce effects by collective action. Collective agency is an
interdependence of human functioning that is enacted when people who
share common beliefs act as a group to produce effects by collective
action.
Agency refers to the thoughts and actions taken by people that express
their individual power. The core challenge at the center of the field of
sociology is understanding the relationship between structure and agency.
Structure refers to the complex and interconnected set of social forces,
relationships, institutions, and elements of social structure that work
together to shape the thought, behavior, experiences, choices, and
overall life courses of people. In contrast, agency is the power people
have to think for themselves and act in ways that shape their experiences
and life trajectories. Agency can take individual and collective forms
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Individual and collective agency may serve to reaffirm social order by
reproducing norms and existing social relationships, or it may serve to
challenge and remake social order by going against the status quo to
create new norms and relationships. Individually, this might look like
rejecting gendered norms of dress. Collectively, the ongoing civil rights
battle to expand the definition of marriage to same-sex couples shows
agency expressed through political and legal channels.
BEING REACTIVE
Looked through the window to see rain and grey clouds, and decided it’s a
miserable day. Been criticised by someone at work or home and
consequently felt down for hours afterwards. Watched our sports team win
a game and felt on cloud nine for a week.
For better or worse, these are all examples of reactive behaviour, where
our feelings depend on the results of external events or processes that we
have no control over. They are completely outside our sphere of influence,
yet they can control our lives.
Reactive people are essentially like characters in a movie, playing out the
script. They often resemble powerless victims, having their lives run by
external factors. They have little control over their emotions. Instead their
emotions are dictated by someone or something else; by circumstance
and the outside environment.
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You’ll often hear phrases like: “If only they treated me a bit better, I could
be happy”. “I have to do this because…”. “I wish I had more time for that,
but…”.
We are all guilty of being reactive from time to time, often without even
knowing. For most people it’s the default program. I know I’m guilty.
BEING PROACTIVE
When we are told that the situations we find ourselves in and the emotions
we experience are largely from our own doing, it can be hard to accept. It
involves a huge paradigm shift, with us taking responsibility for our current
circumstances.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human
freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to
choose one’s own way.”
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This type of behavior is proactive. When we are proactive, we only
concern ourselves with things that are inside our sphere of influence,
rather than worrying about things we can’t do anything about. We look
towards what we are able to control and change and this includes the way
we react to any given situation.
We can’t always directly alter how someone else behaves or talks to us.
We have no control over the weather. We don’t even have a say in how
our favourite team will do on the weekend. But we can choose our thought
processes and our responses.
Instead of shifting the blame elsewhere, you can begin to carry the
responsibility. You stop thinking that the external circumstances need to
change, and realise that you can instead alter yourself internally. The
proactive approach is one that deals with things from the inside-out
perspective.
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good or bad events. Only our judgements of those events make them
good or bad, and we are free to choose. And that, we are.
APPLYING PROACTIVITY
How can we apply this thinking to our everyday lives? How can we make
the shift from reactivity to proactivity? Here are a few things you can have
a go at:
1) Notice your reactive behaviour. Begin with the little things, not with the
death of a loved one or the suffering of innocent people. Just the everyday
situations; in work perhaps, or in your relationships. Notice your reactive
behaviour when it occurs, in the moment. Also note how many others do
the same, and how easy it is to be reactive. Don’t judge, just watch.
2) Alter your language. Our language tells us a lot about our level of
reactivity or proactivity. Reactive people tend to use “I can’t”, “If only”, “I
have to”. These phrases are shifting the blame to outside circumstances,
getting rid of responsibility. Consciously change these to more positive,
empowering phrases. “I can”, “I will”, “I want to”. A simple change in
language can make a big difference.
3) Analyse your past mistakes. Whilst you can control your actions, you
cannot always control the consequences. Invariably, you will have made
mistakes in your past — we all have. But we cannot change the past, so
dwelling on those mistakes is a form of reactive behaviour. Instead, accept
that you made them, take whatever you can learn from them, let them go,
and move on.
4) Make commitments. Making goals and working towards them can help
empower you and reinforce the control you have over your life. If you
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achieve what you set out to, you realise that you can be responsible for
your circumstances, regardless of the external forces.
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