The Self in Western and

Oriental/ Eastern Thought

Western Concept of the Self
Western Concept of the Self
01 Ancient Greece
• Philosophers view humans as bearers of
irreplaceable values.
02 Medieval Times
• Philosophers and Saints like Thomas Aquinas
believed that the body constitutes individuality.
03 Renaissance Thought
• Individual was its focus with Rene Descartes
“I think Therefore I am” as the epitome of the
Western idea of self.
 Western Concept of the Self
4 categories on how the term self is used in contemporary western discussion:

Analytical Monotheistic Individualism Materialistic/

Rationalistic

tendency to see reality tendency toward unitary self-expression and self- tends to discredit
as an aggregate of parts. explanations of actualization are explanations using
phenomena and a important ways of analytic-deductive modes
closed-system view of establishing who one is of thinking.
the self as modeled after as well as satisfaction in
a unitary, omnipotent the world.
power
Eastern Concept of the Self
HINDUISM
• Vedas
• earliest religious writings
in the East which formed
the Hindu Philosophy and
dharma (the principle of
cosmic order).
• “Brahman” is described
as the true nature of
human which is a divine
universal consciousness
encompassing the
universe.
BUDDHISM
• Composed of the
teachings of Buddha.
• “self” is not an entity, a
substance, or essence.
Rather, it is a dynamic
process.
• “Anatta”
• a doctrine defined as “no-
self or no-soul”
emphasizing that a sense
of being a permanent,
autonomous “self” is an
illusion.
CONFUCIANISM
• Confucius concept of
personality is not
something that exists
inherently but formed
through upbringing and the
environment.
• every person is born with 4
beginnings of the “pre-self”
or a “potential self” which
are the perfection of the
virtues that at the start were
mere potentials.
 CONFUCIANISM
4 beginnings of the “pre-self” or a “potential self”

heart of compassion that leads to Jen heart of righteousness that leads to Yi

means goodwill, sympathy toward others, means rightness and the respect of duty
politeness, and generosity. (respecting one’s position as guardian
toward nature and humanity)

heart of propriety that leads to Li heart of wisdom that leads to Chih

means having the right to practice propriety means wisdom which is expressed by
in all that a person does putting jen, yi and li into practice.
Taoism
• rejects the hierarchical view of the
self, society or cosmos.
• Self is one of the countless
manifestations of the Tao and an
extension of the cosmos (the
universe seen as a well-ordered
whole).
• For Chuang-tzu ( Zhuang Zhou),
“The perfect man has no self, the
spiritual man has no achievement,
the true sage has no name.”
• His idea of selfhood entails
conscious self-transformation
leading to a balance life in harmony
with the nature and society.
Islamic
Tradition
• self in Arabic word is “Nafs”
(Holy Qur’an) which pertains to
the psyche(totality of the
conscious and unconscious
human mind) or the soul.
• The nafs/self is something that
has to be nurtured and self-
regulated to become “good” or
“evil” through its thoughts and
actions.
• Self is both used in the
individualistic and collective
sense.
Individualistic vs.
Collectivistic Self
 INDIVIDUALISTIC SELF
• Encourage asserting one’s goals and desires
• Highly value independence and self-reliance
• Insist that interest of the individual should take precedence over the
state or a social group
• Strongly oppose external interference by society or institutions upon
one’s own interests.
• Oriented around the individual that a person should be independent
instead of having the mentality of identifying with a group.
• In interpersonal relationships, they see each other as loosely linked
• Value personal goals over group interests.
• Emphasize personal achievements
• Assess rationally both the beneficial and detrimental aspects of
relationships with others.
 COLLECTIVE SELF
• Represents the self in a collective view. People in a collectivist
culture:
• Emphasize the interdependence and harmonious relatedness with
one another.
• Gives importance in maintaining social networks, good relationships
and in fulfilling obligations
 Closing the Gap
• Roy Baumeister proposed that self-concept could be could be
organized into 3 aspects:
• Private
• Refers to mental processes that perceives one’s own traits
or behaviors(e.g. I am kind)
• Public
• Refers to the generalized view of self such as the
perception of how others view you (People think I am kind)
• Collective
• Refers to the view of self in a collective concept (My family
expects me to be kind)
Thank you