GE1 Understanding

the Self
The course deals with the nature of identity as well as
the factors and forces that affects the development
and maintenance of personal identity.
COURSE OUTCOMES
At the end of the course, students should be
able to:
The Self from Various Perspectives
1. Discuss the different representations and conceptualizations
of the self from various disciplinal perspectives.
2. Compare and contrast how the self has been represented
across different disciplines and perspectives.
3. Examine the different influences, factors and forces that
shape the self.

4. Demonstrate critical and reflective thought in analyzing the

development of one’s self and identity by developing a theory
of the self
Unpacking the Self
1. Explore the different aspects of self and identity
2. Demonstrate critical, reflective thought in integrating the
various aspects of self and identity
3. Identify the different forces and institutions that impact the
different aspects of self and identity

4. Examine one’s self against the different aspects of self-

discussed in class
Managing and Caring for the Self

1. Understand the theoretical underpinnings for how to

manage and care for different aspects of the self
2. Acquire and hone new skills and learning for better
managing one’s self and behaviors

3. Apply the new skills to one’s self and functioning for a

better quality of life
Course Content
I. The Self from Various Philosophical Perspectives
a. The Self, Society and Culture
b. The Self as Cognitive Construct
c. The Self in Western and Eastern Thoughts
II. Unpacking the Self
a. The Physical and Sexual Self
b. To Buy or Not to Buy? That is the Question!
c. Supernaturals: Believe it or Not?
d. The Political Self and Being a Filipino
e. Who Am I in the Cyberworld? (Digital Self)
III. Managing and Caring for the Self
a. Learning to Be a better Learner
b. Do not Just Dream, Make it Happen
c. Less Stress, More Care
Course Requirements

1. Written Examination (Midterm / Finals)

2. Project
3. Attendance
4. Class Participation
5. Learning Assessment Activities
The Self from Various Perspectives

The Self is something that a person perennially molds, shapes, and

develops. The self is not static thing that one is simply born with
like a mole on one’s face or just assigned by one’s parents just like
a name. Everyone is tasked to discover one’s self. Have you truly
discovered yours?

Your personal identity influences everything you do, and it changes

and evolves over time.
Philosophical Perspectives

• The etymological definition of philosophy is 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 and Plato.
• Socrates suggests to “know thyself.”
• What is self and the qualities that define it?
• Philosophers agree that self-knowledge is a
prerequisite to a happy and meaningful life.
Notable Philosophers:
• Socrates • Freud
• Plato • Ryle
• Aristotle • Churchland
• St. Augustine • Merleau-Ponty
• Descartes
• Locke
• Hume
• Kant
SOCRATES: AN UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT
WORTH LIVING

• For ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, the self is

synonymous with the soul.
• The soul is immortal. Socrates believed that every
human possessed an immortal soul.
• Human life does not end at one’s death.
• Socrates explained that death is the departure of
the soul for the eternal world.
• One continues to live in the world after death.
• In Socrates' concept of Reality, it consists
of two dichotomous realms: physical realm
and ideal realm.
• The physical realm is changeable,
transient, and imperfect. The body
belongs to the physical realm.
• The ideal realm is unchanging, eternal,
and immortal. The soul belongs to the
ideal 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 atttaining 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, the so-called
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.
• The spirit or passion includes basic emotions such
as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and
empathy.
• The physical appetite includes our basic
biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and
sexual desire.
• These three elements of our selves are in a
dynamic relationship with one another,
sometimes in conflict.
• When conflict occurs, Plato believes that it is the
responsibility of our Reason to sort things out and
exert control, restoring a harmonious relationship
among the three elements of our selves.
• Plato believes that genuine happiness can o n l y
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 are 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 essense 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, and rational.
• The vegetative includes the physical body
that can grow.
• Sentient includes the sensual desires,
feelings, and emotions.
• 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 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
on the 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 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 that 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

• For Locke, the human mind at birth is tabula rasa

or blank slate.
• He felt that the self, or personal identity, is c o n s t
ructedprimarilyfromsense
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.
• Consciousness is what makes possible our
belief that we are the same identity in
different situations.
• Using the power of reason and
introspection enables people to
understand and achieve accurate
conclusions about the self.
DAVID HUME: THERE IS NO SELF

• 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.
SIGMUND FREUD: THE SELF IS MULTILAYERED
• According to Freud, the self consists of three layers:
conscious, unconscious, and preconscious.
• The conscious self is governed by the reality principle
and is organized in ways that are rational, practical,
and appropriate.
• The unconscious contains the basic instinctual drives
that would be considered socially taboo and is
governed by the pleasure principle. Much of the self is
determined by the unconscious.
• The preconscious is located between the conscious
and unconscious part of the self that is not
threatening and is easily brought to mind.
Fundamental structures of the human mind:
• Id-is concerned with instant gratification of basic
physical needs and urges.
• Ego- concerned with social rules and morals—
similar to what many people call their ”
conscience ” or their “moral compass.”
• Superego-the rational, pragmatic part of our
personality. It is less primitive than the id and is
partly conscious and partly unconscious.
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 as bodily behavior.
GILBERT RYLE: THE SELF IS THE WAY PEOPLE BEHAVE

• Gilbert Ryle – Blatantly denying the concept of an

internal, non-physical self; what truly matters is
the behavior that a person manifests in his day-
to-day life. – “Self” is not an entity one can locate
and analyze but simply the convenient name that
people use to refer to all the behaviors that
people make
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 our selves and our world is

based on subjective experience.
• The self can never be truly objectified or
known in a completely objective sort of way
LINARD A. MAPULA, LPT, MAED
Instructor
Daraga Community College
Daraga, Albay