UTS REVIEWER

Egocentric view – is a view of the self that is seen as an autonomous and distant individual
John Locke – he insisted each newly born human being is a “tabula rasa”
- He believes that human by nature are good.
Paul and Patricia Churchland - believed that self and brain are one.
Me – is considered to be the socialized component of the individual.
Socrates – according to him, self is dualistic
- “know thyself”
Culture – derived from the Latin word “cultura” or “cultus” meaning care.
Socialization – the intellectual process through which people learn basic skills, values and belief.
Sigmund Freud – known for his the “mental iceberg”.
Plato – there is a tripartite soul, rational, spirited and appetitive.
Cultural Identity – is part of a person’s self-conception and self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity,
religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture.
Identity – refers to “who the person is” or the qualities and traits of an individual that make him/her different from
others.
Rationalist – the view that reason is the primary source of all knowledge.
Anthropology – the study of all aspects of the human condition.
- Considers human experience as an interplay of “nature referring to the genetic inheritance”.
St. Augustine – human self is an immaterial soul that can think.
Charles H. Cooley – he developed the idea of “looking glass self”
Looking glass self – the interactive process by which we develop an image of ourselves beased on how we imagine we
appear to others.
George Herbert Mead – he is known for his theory “ the social self”
David Hume – according to him, our ideas regarding the self is based on impression that are temporary, thus, for him,
there is no persisting self.
I – represent the self as subject, and the individual’s impulse.
Meadconfuc– according to him, the self is the way people behave.
Cultural – subfield of anthropology that study how people in different places live and understand the world around
them.
Empiricist – the view that sense experience is the primary source of all knowledge.
Sociocentric view – this is view of the self that is context-dependent.
Inscription – is words or letters that have been written or carved into something, or the act of writing words or letters
into something.
Rene Descartes – “I think, therefore, I am”
Anthropologist – both biological and cultural factors have significant influence on the development of self-awareness
among individuals within society.
- The culture is similar to caring for an infant.
The Social Self – according to this theory, through interaction within their social and cultural environments, people are
transformed into participating members of their society.
Archeology – subfield of anthropology that study historic or prehistoric peoples and their cultures by analysis of their
artifacts, inscriptions, monuments, and other such remains.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty – according to him, body and mind cannot separated.

SOCRATES
- FATHER OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
- SOCRATIC METHOD – ask question and discuss possible answers.
- He believed that man is composed of body and soul.
- SOUL – is the person’s core identity, his/her unique spirit that makes one distinct.
- Socrates also believes on the dualism of reality, that the nature of man is comprising with the a Body which
is imperfect and changeable and Soul that is perfect and unchanging.
- “Know thyself”- inscribed on the frontispiece of the Temple of Delphi. This assertion, imperative in the form,
indicates that man must stand and live according his nature.

PLATO
- Greek Philosopher
- He also believed that man is composed of body and soul. Soul exists before birth after death.
- Soul is composed of 3 parts.
- TRI-PARTITE SOUL:
 -the APPETITIVE (desire) - our basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual
desire.
-the SPIRITED (honor, emotion) - our basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition,
aggressiveness, and empathy
-the REASON (mind/ nous) - 0ur divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make
wise choices, and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths.
SAINT AUGUSTINE
- Christian Theologian
- Human self is an immaterial soul that can think.
- After the death of the souls of those who most love the forms would rise to contemplate the eternal truths.
- Emphasized the importance of the will, the ability to choose between good and evil.
- The fundamental religious duty is to love and serve God.

RENE DESCARTES - “I”

- founder of modern Philosophy
- There is an essential distinction between mind (soul) and body.
- “I think, therefore I am”
- The first thing a person can be certain is his own existence.
- Archetypal proponent of the rationalist view of knowledge
- Triadic Existence : a mind in a body in the world.
- He believed that being human starts with the self.
- Knowledge is a product of the rational mind.
- Mind and body interact, but they are separate.

JOHN LOCKE
- British philosopher and physician
- Archetypal advocate of the empiricist view of knowledge
- Believed that humans by nature are good.
- People are naturally reasonable and moral.
- Behavior is learned, people are either influenced to do good or bad.
- RATIONALIST - The view that reason is the primary source of all knowledge and that only our reasoning
abilities can enable us to understand sense experience and reach accurate conclusions.
- EMPIRICIST - The view that sense experience is the primary source of all knowledge and that only a careful
attention to sense experience can enable us to understand the world and achieve accurate conclusions.

RATIONALIST EMPIRICIST
Reason is the source of knowledge Experience is the source of knowledge
Believed in intuition Do not believed in intuition
Individuals have innate of knowledge or concepts Individual have no innate knowledge or concept

SIGMUND FREUD (The mental Iceberg)

- Austrian neurologist/psychologist
- The mental Iceberg
- Though conscious self also has important role to play in our lives, it is the unconscious self that holds the
greatest fascination that has the dominant influence in our personalities.
- UNCONSCIOUS - is defined as a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that outside of
conscious awareness.
- Freud believed that the unconscious continues to influence behavior even though people are unaware of
these underlying influences.
- “Pleasure Principle”
- CONSCIOUS - The conscious mind involves all of the things that you are currently aware of and thinking
about. It is somewhat akin to short-term memory and is limited in terms of capacity. Your awareness of
yourself and the world around you are part of your consciousness.
- “Reality Principle”

DAVID HUME
- Scottish philosopher and historian
- He claimed that there cannot be a persisting idea of the self.
- All ideas are derived from impressions.
- Impressions are subjective , temporary, provisional, prejudicial and even skewed – and therefore cannot be
persisting.
- Impression – direct experience
- Ideas – imagination
 - As long as we only derive our knowledge from sense impressions, there will never be the “self”.know
thyself
- Hume harshly claimed that there IS no self.

IMMANUEL KANT
- Prussian metaphysicist
- believes that man is a free agent, capable of making decisions for himself. As a free agent, man is gifted with
reason and free will.

GILBERT RYLE
- British philosopher
- “The self is the way people behave”
- The self is basically our behavior. This concept provided the philosophical principle, “I act therefore I am” or
“You are what you do”.
- In short, the self is the same as bodily behavior.

PAUL and PATRICIA CHURCH LAND

- “The self is the brain”
- State that the self and brain I one. Basically if there is no brain, there would be no self.
- The physical brain and not the imaginary mind, gives people the sense of self. The mind does not really exist
because it can not be experienced by the senses.

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
- French philosopher
- “The self is embodied Subjectivity”.
- This concept explained that all the knowledge of ourselves and our world is based on subjective
experiences. It is more on how we view and give perceptions. The self can never be truly objectified.

SOCIOLOGY

In the sociological views of understanding the self, social situations become a great deal in defining the individual’s self-
concept and self-esteem as well.

SOCIALIZATION
- the activity of mixing socially with others.
- the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society.
- The interactive process through which people learn
- Within socialization, a person develops a sense of self
- Conscious awareness of possessing a distinct identity that separates you from other members of society.

JOHN LOCKE
- English philosopher from the 1600’s.
- Insisted each newly born human being is a tabula rasa
- Tabula rasa - the mind in its hypothetical primary blank or empty state before receiving outside impressions.
 “blank slate” - No personality

CHARLES COOLEY
- Theories of Socialization
- Developed idea of looking glass self - The interactive process by which we develop an image of ourselves
based on how we imagine we appear to others.
- Looking Glass Theory
- 3 steps
- We imagine how we appear to others.
- Based on the other’s reactions, we attempt to determine whether they view us as we see
ourselves.
- We use our perceptions of how others judge us to develop feelings about ourselves

GEORGE HERBERT MEADE

- Believed that we not only see ourselves as others see us, but actually take on the roles of others. Called role-
taking - Socialization process that allows a person to anticipate what others expect of us.
- Mead believed that social experience depends on our seeing ourselves as others do, or, as he coined it,
“taking the role of the other.” (putting oneself in someone else shoes)
- Three Stages
 - LANGUAGE ( 0 month – 2 years )
 Children lack sense of self.
 Therefore, they can only imitate the action of others.
- PLAY (2 -6 years )
 Children learn to play and act out roles
 Can play “house” or role play
- GAME (After 7 years)
 Children can play games with specific rules
 Children can anticipate actions of others
 Children can outmaneuver other players
- The PLAY STAGE – children begin “role-taking” in which they mentally assume the perspective of another
and respond from the view-point.
- The PREPARATORY STAGE – children imitate significant others to learn meaning behind symbols, gestures,
and language.
- The GAME STAGE – Children are now aware of their position in relationship t the other numerous social
positions in society.
“I”
- The unsocialized, spontaneous, self-interested component of personality.
 Very large role in children
“Me”
- The part of our self that is aware of the expectations and attitudes of society.
 Very large role in adults

ANTHROPOLOGY

- Greek word anthrōpos, meaning “human being” and logia, "study"

- is the study of all aspects of the human condition
- the science of human beings especially : the study of human beings and their ancestors through time and
space and in relation to physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture.
- is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, and societies, in both
the present and past, including past human species.

The Four Subfields

 ARCHEOLOGY - is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture.
- the scientific study of historic or prehistoric peoples and their cultures by analysis of their
artifacts, inscriptions, monuments, and other such remains, especially those that have been
excavated.
- Inscription is words or letters that have been written or carved into something, or the act of
writing words or letters into something. 

 BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY - also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with
the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human
primates, particularly from an evolutionary perspective.
 LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY - study the many ways people communicate across the globe. They are interested
in how language is linked to how we see the world and how we relate to each other
 CULTURAL ANTHRPOLOGY - how people in different places live and understand the world around them. They
want to know what people think is important and the rules they make about how they should interact with one
another.

THE SELF AND THE PERSON IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

 Anthropology considers human experience as an interplay of “nature’ referring to the genetic inheritance which
sets the individual’s potentials, and “nurture” referring to the sociocultural environment.
 Therefore it could be understood that both biological and cultural factors have significant influence on the
development of self-awareness among individuals within society.

The Cultural Construction of Self and Identity

 Culture is derived from the Latin word “cultura” or “cultus” meaning care or cultivation.
 Culture is similar to caring for an infant. Because an infant has a prolonged dependency, he or she has to be
taken care of by the people around him or her.
 Throughout one’s life he or she functions according to the cultural context where he or she is situated. As an
individual interacts with people and makes sense of how he or she functions in the context of his or her social
and cultural background, he or she learns that he or she has both personal identity (the way he or she sees
 himself/herself as an individual) and collective identity (the way he/she sees himself/herself as member of a
certain group).

IDENTITY
- refers to “who the person is,” or the qualities and traits of an individual that make him/her different from
others. There are many ways to distinguish people.

Two ways in which the concept of self is viewed in the different societies
 Egocentric View - The self is seen as an autonomous and distant individual Each person is defined as replica of
all humanity but capable of acting independently from others
 Sociocentric View - The self is contingent on a situation or social setting. This is a view of the self that is
context-dependent which emphasizes that there is no intrinsic self that can possess enduring qualities.

Forming of Cultural Identity

 Cultural identity is the identity of belonging to a group. It is part of a person's self-conception and self-
perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social
group that has its own distinct culture.

ARNOLD VAN GENNEP

- believes that changes in one’s status and identity are marked by three-phased rite of passage: separation,
liminality and incorporation.
- Separation phase. People detach from their former identity to another.
- Liminality phase. A person transitions from one identity to another.
- Incorporation phase. The change in one’s status is officially incorporated.

Properties of Cultural Identity

JANE COLLIER and MILT THOMAS

- combined the ethnography of communication and social construction in order to frame the properties of
cultural identity. These properties refer to the manner in which members of a group communicates their
identity.
1. Avowal and Ascription
 Avowal is how one articulates or expresses his/her views about group identity. It is how
one presents oneself to another.
 Ascription is how others perceive an individual. It is how one refers to others. This may
include stereotypes.
2. Modes of Expression..
 The use of core symbols (expressions of a group’s cultural beliefs and theories about the
world around them), names, labels and norms (expected standard of behavior) that a
cultural community share and follow in order to show that they belong to a particular group,
demonstrates shared identity.
3. Individual, Relational and Communal Identity
 Individual refers to how an individual interprets his cultural identity based on his
experiences.
 Relational refers to how individuals interact with one and another.
 Communal identity is the use of communication in the creation, affirmation and negotiation
of shared identity.
4. Enduring and Changing Aspects of Identity.
 The cultural identity changes due to several factors which are social, political, economic and
contextual.
5. Affective, Cognitive and Behavioral Aspects of Identity
 This refers to emotions fully attached to cultural identity in particular situations.
6. Content and Relationship Levels
 This refers to the interaction between two or more individuals. The message exchange
carries information/content. The participants of the conversation interpret the choice and
meanings of the words based on their experiences.
7. Salience or Prominence.
  This is the degree to which an identity is demonstrated in a situation and refers to how
much a person’s cultural identity stands out and attracts attention. This is influenced by the
extent of similarity or difference between two individuals.
 Salience is defined as the state of being important or conspicuous.

PSYCHOLOGY

- the scientific study of the mind and behavior

- scientific discipline that studies mental states and processes and behaviour in humans and other animals.

Different Perspectives in psychology

- An approach is a perspective that involves certain assumptions about human behavior: the way they
function, which aspects of them are worthy of study and what research methods are appropriate for
undertaking this study.

1. BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE
- They view people as controlled by their environment and specifically that we are the result of what we
have learned from our environment. The behaviorist perspective is concerned with how environmental
factors (called stimuli) affect observable behavior (called the response).
- The behaviorist perspective proposes two main processes whereby people learn from their environment:
namely classical conditioning and operant conditioning. 
- CLASSICAL CONDITIONING ( IVAN PAVLOV)
- OPERANT CONDITIONING (B.F SKINNER)

2. PSYCHOANALYSIS PERSPECTIVE
- Founded by Sigmund Freud
- Focuses on the importance of the unconscious mind. It dictates that behaviour is determined by your past
experiences that are left in the unconscious mind.
-  Freud believed that people could be cured by making conscious their unconscious thoughts and
motivations, thus gaining "insight". The aim of psychoanalysis therapy is to release repressed emotions
and experiences, make the unconscious conscious.

FREUD’S PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

 ORAL 0-2 – Infant achieves gratification through oral activities such as feeding, thumb sucking and
babbling.
 ANAL 2-3 – The child learns to respond to some of the demands of society
 PHALLIC 3-7 – The child learns to realize the difference between males and females and becomes
aware of sexuality.
 LATENCY 7-11 – the child continues his or her development bur sexual urges are relatively quiet.
 GENITAL 11-ADULT – the growing adolescent shakes off old dependencies and learns to deal
maturely with the opposite sex.
EX. OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FIXATIONS
 ORAL – Smoking, gum-chewing, nail-biting.
 ANAL FIXATIONS – orderliness, obsessiveness, rigidity.
 OHALIC FIXATION – vanity, exhibitionism, pride

3. HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
- Centers on the view that each person is unique individual, and has the free will to change at any time in his
or her life.
- It suggests that we are each responsible for our own happiness and well-being as humans. We have the
innate capacity for self-actualization, which is our unique desire to achieve our highest potential as people.
- Abraham Maslow
 - Carl Rogers

4. COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
- is concerned with “mental” functions such as memory, perception, attention, etc. It views people as being
similar to computers in the way we process information
- JEAN PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
 SESORIMOTOR STAGE 0-2 – the child begins to interact with the environment.
 PREOPERATIONAL STAGE 2-7 – The child begins to represent the world symbolically.
 CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE 7-12 – The child learns rules such as conservation.
 FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE 12-ADULTHOOD – The adolescent can transcend the
concrete situation and think about the future.

5. BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
- states that all thoughts, feeling & behavior ultimately have a biological cause. It is one of the major
perspectives in psychology and involves such things as studying the brain, genetics, hormones, and the
immune and nervous systems
- behavior is dictated by biology
- certain parts of the brain perform different function.
- William james
 an American philosopher and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology
course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the late 19TH
century, one of the most influential philosophers of the United States, and the "Father
of American psychology".

The CONCEPT OF SELF

(ME-SELF & I-SELF)

- Distinguished two understanding of the self represented by the self as “Me”, and the self as “I”.
- “Me” corresponds to the self as an object of experience (self as object) or the self as known
- “I” refers to the self as a subject of experience (self as subject) or the self as knower that is considered to be
pure ego and the consciousness itself.

I SELF
- Refers to the self that knows who he or she is
- Thinking, acting, and feeling self
- -(everything in your mind is the “I” self).
- Reflects the soul of a person or what is now thought of as the mind and is called the pure ego
 - Concerned about the existence of the self
Me self
- the empirical self (experience)
- refers to describing the person’s personal experiences and further divided into sub- categories
- MATERIAL SELF - is the component of “Me” that we tend to be most affected with, as we invest our selves
within these things such as clothes, family, and home.
- SOCIAL SELF - on our interactions with the society and the reactions of others that are analyzed in order to
contribute to our idea of a social self
- SPIRTUAL SELF - most intimate self, it is who we are at our core and something that is permanent:
personality, core values, conscience.
- Concerned about the experience of the self

SELF- CONCEPT
REAL & IDEAL SELF
 IDEALIZED SELF

 ACTUAL SELF
 REAL SELF

Real and Ideal Self Concept

- People tend to create an idealized self - an imaginary picture of self having an unlimited power or qualities
which the actual self - who we actually are, has failed to fulfill. Underlying both the idealized and actual self
is the real self, which is revealed only when a person starts to find ways to deal and resolve anxiety and
conflicts.

CARL ROGERS
- He is widely regarded as one of the most eminent thinkers in psychology. He is best known for developing
the psychotherapy method called client-centered therapy and for being one of the founders of humanistic
psychology
- Rogers belief, humans have one basic motive, that is to be self actualized. To achieved such motive,
individual’s real self and ideal self must be in a state of congruence. People, according to Rogers, are
inherently good and creative, it is only when poor self concept overriding the valuing process that they
become destructive. Such that, when gaps between the real and ideal self exist that unhealthy personality
arises.

SELF ACTUALIZATION

- one basic motive, that is the tendency to self-actualize - to fulfill one's potential and achieve the highest
level of 'human-beingness' we can.

KAREN HORNEY

- was a German psychoanalyst. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views. This was
particularly true of her theories of sexuality and of the instinct orientation of psychoanalysis.
- believed that people experiences anxiety, and by such experience that they develop strategies to be able to
reduce and cope with the anxiety. Thus, people tend to create an idealized self - an imaginary picture of
 self having an unlimited power or qualities which the actual self - who we actually are, has failed to fulfill.
Underlying both the idealized and actual self is the real self, which is revealed only when a person starts to
find ways to deal and resolve anxiety and conflicts.

True versus False Selves (Donald W. Winnicott)

- The ”True Self” is a sense of being alive and real in one's mind and body, having feelings that are
spontaneous and unforced. This experience of aliveness is what allows people to be genuinely close to
others, and to be creative
- The "False Self" is a defense, a kind of mask of behaviour that complies with others' expectations. Winnicott
thought that in health, a False Self was what allowed one to present a "polite and mannered attitude" in
public.

Self as Proactive and Agentic

- People as viewed by the Social Cognitive Theory, are capable of controlling their own lives. They are
proactive, and reflective, and influential to their own actions to produce desired consequences.
- Social cognitive theory, used in psychology, education, and communication, holds that portions of an
individual's knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social
interactions, experiences, and outside media influences.
- The agent self resides over everything that involves decision making, self-control, taking charge in situations,
and actively responding. As such, people has the power to choose which option is to be selected, or what
action is to be done.
- This is how we, as individuals, make choices and utilize our control in situations and actions. 

THE SELF IN WESTERN AND ORIENTAL / EASTERN THOUGHTS

Western Thoughts
- Conducted scientific investigations in the effort to understand the self and have developed theories and
difference among them.
- They emphasized the importance of scientific methods of investigation to provide satisfactory answers to
understand the self.
- The emphasis is individualistic rather than relational.
Eastern Thoughts
- Raise questions about the ultimate meaning of human life
- Developed theories of self as they have investigated what it means to be a human being.
- They do not utilize the scientific techniques of investigation
- They offer variety of technique for cultivating a deeper understanding of the self

The Self in Oriental/Eastern Thought

Buddhism
- Etymology: “budhi” meaning “to awaken” Origins: 2,500 years ago
- Siddhartha Gautama (also known as the Buddha “the awaken one”)
- The teachings of Siddhartha Gautama are considered the core of Buddhism after his death.
- They believe that it is “a way of life”. To live a moral life, to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions ,
and to develop wisdom and understanding are its main teachings.
- The Self According to Buddhism
o Four Noble Truths
 Suffering (Dukkha) - The First Noble Truth. Suffering comes in many forms. Three obvious kinds
of suffering correspond: old age, sickness and death. Suffering goes much deeper. Life is not
ideal: it frequently fails to live up to our expectations. Human beings are subject to desires and
cravings, but even when we are able to satisfy these desires, the satisfaction is only temporary.
Pleasure does not last; or if it does, it becomes monotonous.
 The cause of Suffering (Samudāya) - The Second Noble Truth. Our day-to-day troubles may
seem to have easily identifiable causes: thirst, pain from an injury, sadness from the loss of a
loved one. In the second of his Noble Truths, though, the Buddha claimed to have found the
cause of all suffering - and it is much more deeply rooted than our immediate worries. The
Buddha taught that the root of all suffering is desire, tanhā. This comes in three forms, which he
described as the Three Roots of Evil, or the Three Fires, or the Three Poisons. These are the
three ultimate causes of suffering:
 Greed and desire, represented in art by a rooster
 Ignorance or delusion, represented by a pig
 Hatred and destructive urges, represented by a snake
  The end of Suffering (Nirodha) - The Third Noble Truth. The Buddha taught that the way to
extinguish desire, which causes suffering, is to liberate oneself from attachment. This is the third
Noble Truth - the possibility of liberation. The Buddha was a living example that this is possible
in a human lifetime."Estrangement" here means disenchantment: a Buddhist aims to know
sense conditions clearly as they are without becoming enchanted or misled by them.

 Nirvana- means extinguishing. Attaining nirvana - reaching enlightenment - means

extinguishing the three fires of greed, delusion and hatred. Someone who reaches
nirvana does not immediately disappear to a heavenly realm. Nirvana is better
understood as a state of mind that humans can reach. It is a state of profound
spiritual joy, without negative emotions and fears. Someone who has attained
enlightenment is filled with compassion for all living things.

 The Path (Magga)- The Fourth Noble Truth. The final Noble Truth is the Buddha's prescription
for the end of suffering. This is a set of principles called the Eightfold Path (Middle way) - it
avoids both indulgence and severe asceticism, neither of which the Buddha had found helpful in
his search for enlightenment.

The Noble Eightfold Path

1. Right Understanding - Sammā ditthi. Accepting Buddhist teachings.

2. Right Thoughts - Sammā san̄kappa. A commitment to cultivate the right attitudes.
3. Right Speech - Sammā vācā. Speaking truthfully, avoiding slander, gossip and abusive speech.
4. Right Action - Sammā kammanta. Behaving peacefully and harmoniously; refraining from stealing, killing and
overindulgence in sensual pleasure.
5. Right Livelihood- Sammā ājīva. Avoiding making a living in ways that cause harm, such as exploiting people or
killing animals, or trading in intoxicants or weapons.
6. Right Effort - Sammā vāyāma. Cultivating positive states of mind; freeing oneself from evil and unwholesome
states and preventing them arising in future.
7. Right Mindfulness - Sammā sati. Developing awareness of the body, sensations, feelings and states of mind.
8. Right Concentration - Sammā samādhi. Developing the mental focus necessary for this awareness.

- The eight stages can be grouped into Wisdom (right understanding and intention), Ethical Conduct (right
speech, action and livelihood) and Meditation (right effort, mindfulness and concentration).
- The Buddha described the Eightfold Path as a means to enlightenment, like a raft for crossing a river.

BUDDHISM
- There is no self (or no soul).
- There is only nothing and all else is an illusion.
- There is nothing permanent but change.
- “annica” – means that everything in life is always changing, that nothing last forever.

Confucianism (rujiao)

- Is way of life taught by Confucius (Kong Fuzi) in the 6th-5th century BCE.
- concerns itself primarily with ethical principles and does not address many traditional religious
 - One may also ask, what is Junzi in Confucianism? Junzi. The junzi is a Chinese philosophical term often
translated as "gentleman" or "superior person" and employed by both the Duke of Wen in the I-ching
and Confucius in his works to describe the ideal man.

Confucianism

- Principles of Reciprocity
- The individual’s greatest mission of attaining self-realization wherein self is cultivation is instrumental.
- Self-cultivation could be accomplished by knowing one’s role in the society and act accordingly.

WESTERN VS. EASTERN

Dimension Western Thoughts Eastern Thoughts

Frame of Reference There is a separation Religion and

between philosophy Philosophy are
and religion/ intertwined.
spirituality.

Source of Knowledge Has made use of Has trusted intuition

reason rather than and is often associated
faith to pursue wisdom with religious beliefs.

Notable Philosophers Socrates, Plato, Rene Siddharta Gautama

Descartes, John Locke (Buddha), Confucius

View of the Self Egocentric Sociocentric

View of the Universe Linear Circular

and Life

Theological View Monotheistic Polytheistic

Ideal Self- Actualization To achieve a balanced

through personal life and find one’s role
growth in society

Cultural Framework Individualism Collectivism

CHAPTER II: UNPACKING THE SELF

A. THE PHYSICAL SELF

THE SELF AS IMPACTED BY THE BODY

Physical Self

- refers to the body, this marvelous container and complex, finely tuned, machine with which we
interface with our environment and fellow beings.
- is the concrete dimension, the tangible aspect of the person that can be directly observed and
examined.
- is defined by the physical characteristics that are visible. These characteristics are the defining
traits and features of the body. Sex, height, weight, complexion, hair and facial features are
among the common, physical features identified when one is asked to describe another person.
- The physical aspect of the self does not include characteristics that are internal to the self-
such as kindness, generosity, loyalty, obedience and other similar qualities.

THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON BODY IMAGE AND BEAUTY

- The cultural implications of beauty are prominent in every culture and have a strong influence on
the way men and women are perceived.
JULIAN ROBINSON

- According him, "the enhancement and beautifying of the human form by various means
appeared to be an inborn human trait-an essential part of our genetic makeup and an
expression of our psyche."
- "human beauty is an expression of this inventive and aesthetic nature, a reflection of our inner sprit,
a biological imperative sculpted into our soul by some seemingly godlike life force, about which we
can do little except accept its reality and validity."

THE CONCEPT OF BEAUTY IN DIFFERENT CULTURES

- Beauty is often sought after, revered, and sometimes interpreted as a personal virtue.
- Standards of beauty are usually social markers determining cultural status, social acceptance and
suitability as a mate.
- A physical aesthetic has remained constant over time throughout the diverse cultures of the world.

1. Face Tattoos
- Tattooing the chin and lips of Māori women of New Zealand is considered beautiful.
- This tradition has been around for centuries, and consists of patterns called Ta-Mako in black or
dark blue ink on the woman’s face.
- Ta-Mako tattoos are also a public declaration of one’s membership in the Māori tribe.
2. Decorated Skin
- Instead of accessorizing with extravagant jewelry, women in India turn to nose rings, bindis and
henna to make themselves more attractive for festivals and celebrations, like weddings. Brides in
particular will often wear a dot of red powder on the face known as akumkum to look more beautiful.

3. Long Earlobes
- To the Masai tribe of Kenya, long, stretched earlobes are the ideal for both men and women. They
are known to shave their heads and use everything from elephant tusks to twigs to pierce and
stretch their lobes to become more attractive

4. Long Necks
- Long, giraffe-like necks are the ultimate sign of beauty and female elegance to the Kayan tribe. At 5
years old, Kayan women start priming their necks with heavy brass rings. Each year, more coils are
added, pushing down their shoulders and creating the effect of a longer neck. The rings in this
centuries-old ritual can weigh up the 22 pounds.

5. Pale Skin
- Women in many Asian countries avoid the sun at all costs simply because pale skin is the ultimate
sign of beauty and desirability.

6. Full Figures
- In Mauritania, females with full figures are considered incredibly beautiful, and think women are
considered physically undesirable. Mauritanian parents will even send their girls to “Fat camps,”
where the girls would eat up to 16,000 calories a day to prepare for marriage. On top of that, stretch
marks are considered a bonus, and even more beautiful.

7. Body Scars
- Scarification of the body is a practice, specifically among populations with dark skin too dark to
show tattoos. The Karo tribe of Ethiopia scar men and women’s torsos and chests to assert social
status. Men’s scars mark the number of enemies killed in battles, while women’s scars represent
sensuality and appeal.

8. Lip Plates
- Suri people of Ethiopia find beauty represented in women’s lip plates. When a girl reaches puberty,
her bottom teeth are removed to make way for a piercing in the lower lip. Once the piercing is in
place, the lip is stretched around a clay plate. When it is time to find a husband, this lip plate guides
the dowry process. Plates are seen as both a sign of beauty and a measure of a woman’s value in
cattle. Larger plates signal a more valuable and desired woman.

9. Foot Binding
- foot binding was a huge part of Chinese culture. The process of foot binding included breaking all of
the toes and bending them backwards against of the sole of the foot, and then binding them in
 place with a tight fabric wrapping. The result was small and petite feet which is considered highly
attractive in China.

10. Monobrows
- the women of Tajikistan embrace their natural eyebrows, and will even draw on them to make it
appear that they have a monobrow. I guess monobrows are in style in Tajikistan.

THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA ON THE ADOLESCENT’S UNDERSTANDING OF BEAUTY

- Body dissatisfaction is experienced when one perceives that their body falls short of the societal
ideal in terms of size and/or shape, regardless of a person’s objective size or shape. In other words,
body dissatisfaction is influenced not only by how we interpret societal ideals, but by how we
perceive ourselves. Therefore, body dissatisfaction and perceptions of beauty are inextricably
linked.

BODY IMAGE AND SELF ESTEEM

- Self-esteem is all about how much you feel you are worth — and how much you feel other people
value you. It is how you value and respect yourself as a person. Self-esteem affects how you take
care of yourself, emotionally, physically and spiritually.
- Body image is how you view your physical self — including whether you feel you are attractive and
whether others like your looks. 
- Body image and self-esteem directly influence one another. When you have healthy body image,
you feel comfortable about your body and know how to care for it.

Jung and Lee (2006)

- according to them, the lower or more negative one’s body image, the lower his or her self-esteem.
In addition, the more optimistically one feels about his or her appearance, the more optimistically he
or she will feel about him or herself overall.

Here are a few other things that you can try to increase your self-esteem:
1. Make a list of the stuff you’re good at. 
2. Give yourself three compliments every day
3. Remember that your body is your own, no matter what shape, size, or color it is. 
4. Remember that there are things about yourself you can’t change. 
5. When you hear negative comments in your head, tell yourself to stop.

How do I know if I have a healthy body image and self-esteem?

 You see and think of yourself as a whole person, not a collection of specific body
parts.

 You accept and celebrate the uniqueness of your natural body shape and size.

 You understand that a person’s physical appearance says very little about their
character and value as a person.

 You feel comfortable and confident in your body, and avoid worrying about food,
weight, and counting calories.