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PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ABOUT SELF UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

- Deals with nature of identity and the factors and forces that affect the development and
maintenance of personal identity.

Philosophy : the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence,
- Is a way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society.

Socrates: An Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living

- Know thy self
- Self is synonymous with the immortal soul that survived physical self
- To live an examined life, a life of purpose and value, we must begin at the source of all
knowledge and significance—our self.

Plato: The Self is an Immortal Soul Tripartite Soul/Three-part Psyche:

1. Reason—Our divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, and achieve
a true understanding of eternal truths.
2. 2. Physical Appetite—Our basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.
3. 3. Spirit or Passion—Our basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and
empathy.
Since the soul is regarded as something permanent, man should give more importance to it than
the physical body which resides in the world of sense.

Aristotle: The Soul is the Essence of the Self

- Does not consider the body and soul as separate entities.
- Soul is the essence of all living things thus, the soul is the essence of the self.
- Three Kinds of Soul:
1. Vegetative Soul -includes the physical body that can grow.
2. Sentient Soul -includes sensual desires, feelings and emotions.
3. Rational Soul - is what makes man human. includes the intellect that allows man to know
and understand things.
- Aristotle suggests that the rational nature of the self is to lead a good, flourishing, and
fulfilling life (self-actualization).

St. Augustine: The Self has an Immortal Soul

- Viewed the physical body and the nonphysical soul as two different entities
- Self-knowledge is a consequence of knowledge of God.
St. Thomas Aquinas: Self is Both Matter and Form Man
a. Matter -“Common things that make up everything in the universe”. Man’s body is part of
this matter.
b. Form - “Essence of a substance or thing”. What makes a human person a human person, and
not a dog or a tiger, is his soul, his essence. To Aquinas, the soul is what animates the body
and it is what makes us humans.

Rene Descartes: “I think therefore, I am.”

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- The essence of your self is you are a “thinking thing,” a dynamic identity that engages in all of
those mental operations we associate with being a human self.
- The act of thinking about the self, of being self conscious is in itself proof that there is a self.
Two dimensions of the human self:
- a . Self as a Thinking Entity, Thinking self (or soul) as non-material, immortal, conscious
being, and independent of the physical laws of the universe.
- b. Self as a Physical Body - Is a material, mortal, non-thinking entity, fully governed by the
physical laws of nature.
- Descartes stresses -The essence of the human self – a thinking entity that doubts, understands,
analyzes, questions, and reasons and the proof that there is a self.

John Locke: The Self is Consciousness

- Self-consciousness is necessary to “personal identity,” or knowledge of the self as a person.
- Self or personal identity is constructed primarily from sense experiences - what people see,
hear, smell, taste, and feel.
- Consciousness is being aware that we are thinking
- 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 enable one to understand and achieve accurate
conclusions about the self or personal identity

David Hume: There is No Self

- If people carefully examine their sense experience through the process of introspection, they
will discover that there is no self.
-
- Self is not just what gives one his personality, it also is the seat of knowledge acquisition of
all.

Maurice Merleau - Ponty: The Self is Embodied Subjectivity

- All knowledge about the self is based on the “phenomena” of experience.
- The living body, his thoughts, emotions and experiences are all one.
Paul Churchland: The Self is the Brain
- Materialism holds that the self is inseparable from the substance of the brain and the
physiology of the body.
- It is the physical brain and not the imaginary mind that gives us our sense of self What is your
concept of self?

Sigmund Freud: The Self is Multilayered

- Proponent of Psychoanalytic Theory
- Father of Psychoanalysis He believes that ‘… Humans are driven by sexual and aggressive
instincts or drives”
- Humans are in pursuit of pleasure and satisfaction of bodily needs
- Humans are dominated by the unconscious forces
Early childhood experiences greatly affect our personality levels of awareness.
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1. CONSCIOUS -Characterized by sensory awareness - We perceive through our sense organs

- What are you aware of now? - What do you see, hear, feel, smell, taste?
2. PRECONSCIOUS MIND - Below the level of consciousness - Can be brought to
consciousness when needed - Secondary censorship that keeps threatening information out of
consciousness
3. UNCONSCIOUS MIND - Holds all of the individual’s unacceptable memories, urges,
desires and impulses - These urges and drives threaten the person’s sense of self if they are
expressed directly at the conscious level of awareness - Primary censorship keeps
threatening information from the preconscious mind and the conscious mind Most
influential region of the mind Personality structure

STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN MIND

1. ID - Located in the unconscious - Present at birth which includes sex

and hunger drives - Subjective and directed toward itself - Operates
according to the PLEASURE PRINCIPLE which seeks immediate
gratification of impulses and drives like unacceptable urges , desires ,
memories and impulses found in the unconscious - Reservoir of
INSTINCTS , inborn force s that are both physical (bodily needs) and
psychological (wishes)

- 2 types of instincts or drives

A. Eros or life instincts or sexual instincts - generally referred to as libido, the
energy of life instinct - the physical desire, erotic tendencies, sexual desires
and the motive of sexual life - energy for preserving life and others
B. Thanatos - death instinct - promotes aggressiveness - May explain wars,
atrocities, and religious persecutions

2. EGO - Operates according to the reality principle by delaying

gratification - Objective and directed outside self - In contact with the
outside world - Satisfies the desires of the id in accordance with reality
and the demands of the superego. Ego serves as a bridge to reality. - The
superior strength of (horse) ID must be held in check by its rider (EGO. -
Executive of the personality because it acts as a mediator between the id
and the superego.

3. SUPEREGO - Center of moral standards of the individual - Operates

through morality principle (society’s right and wrong)

Two aspects of superego

a. Conscience - internal agent that punishes us when we do wrong - punishes all
behavior that is inappropriate and morally unacceptable - Experience of guilt over
having done something wrong
b. Ego ideal - Rewards all behavior that is considered right, appropriate and morally
acceptable - Feeling of pride and self respect -“You are a good child.
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KAREN HORNEY & CARL ROGERS (UTS Prelim Review)

Psychoanalytic Social Theory

•  Early childhood experiences are largely responsible for shaping personality

View of Man

•  Anxiety is central aspect of her theory

BASIC CONCEPTS

When the parents demonstrate genuine affection and warmth toward the child thereby satisfying
the child’s need for safety, this leads to normal development.

When the parents demonstrate indifference, rejection or even hatred thereby frustrating the
child’s need for safety, this leads to NEUROTIC DEVELOPMENT.

Basic Hostility

•  Reactions to parents when they do not create a secure environment

•  If these two needs are not met , the child develops basic hostility towards the parents

Basic Anxiety

• Feeling lonely and helpless in a hostile world

• Feelings of insecurity in response to a threatening social environment.

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Basic Evil

- parental behavior that undermines a child’s security

1. Indifference towards 4. Obvious preference 8. Erratic behavior
child for a sibling

9. Unkept promise
2. Rejection of the child 5. Unfair punishment

10. Isolation of child

6. Ridiculing the child from others
3. Hostility towards the
child
7. Humiliating the child
Neurotic Needs

•  Irrational needs and desires of individual to achieve a sense of security.

•  Created by intense feelings of basic anxiety

Three Neurotic Trends

1. Moving toward people (Compliant type)

– neurotic need for affection, and approval, to be liked , loved , etc.

2. Moving against people (Hostile type)

– neurotic need for power, exploitation of others, prestige, etc.

3. Moving away from people (Detached type)

– neurotic needs for self-sufficiency, independence, unavailability, etc.
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TEN NEUROTIC NEEDS

MOVING TOWARDS PEOPLE; Excessive needs for:

1. Affection and approval

•  Striving to be liked and admired by others

•  Pleasing other people and living up to the expectations of others

2. Having a powerful “partner”

Need to be affiliated with someone who will protect him/her from danger and fulfill all his/ her
needs

TEN NEUROTIC NEEDS

MOVING TOWARDS PEOPLE; Excessive needs for:

3. Power

Seeking domination and control; despising weakness

4. Exploiting others

Taking advantage of others

5. Social recognition and prestige

Seeking public acceptance and dreading humiliation

Attracting attention to oneself

6. Admiration
Self-inflating; admiring their idealized self

7. Achievement

Striving to be the best; defeating others; dreading failure

MOVING AWAY FROM PEOPLE; Excessive needs for:

8. Self-sufficiency and independence

Trying not to need others; dreading closeness.

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9. Perfection

Being driven toward superiority; dreading criticisms

10. Narrowly restricting one’s life

Very conservative and avoids life defeat by attempting very little

Downgrade own ability

Real self

– what a person believes is true and unique to himself.

Ideal self

– individual’s perception of how he would like to be.

“The greater the degree of overlap between the ideal self and the real self, the greater the degree
of personality adjustment.”

CARL ROGERS PERSON-CENTERED THEORY

VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

•  Human nature is essentially good and positive.

• Has the capacity for self-understanding and self- directed behavior and can solve one’s
problems

Self-Actualization

•  Lifelong process of realizing one’s potentialities to become a fully functioning person.

•  Needs openness to experience

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The Self and Self Concept

Also known as the Perceived self

All aspects of one’s being and one’s experiences that are perceived in awareness by the
individual

Sense of personal identity within one’s subjective experience

I, me and myself

Ideal Self

One’s view of self as one wishes to be

Contains all positive attributes that people aspire to possess

Congruence between the self –concept and ideal self results to psychologically healthy
individuals.

Gap between the self-concept and ideal self results to psychologically unhealthy individuals.

CONGRUENCE

• A b s e n c e o f c o n fl i c t
between perceived self and
experience.

INCONGRUENCE

• P r e s e n c e o f c o n fl i c t
between perceived self and
experience.