CHAPTER I: The Socratic Method

THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES • This is Socrates’ method for discovering what is
I. The Self from the Perspective of Philosophy essential in the world and in people
II. The Self from the Perspective of Sociology o In this method, Socrates did not lecture, he
III. The Self from the Perspective of instead would ask questions and engage
Anthropology the person in a discussion
IV. The Self from the Perspective of Psychology o He would begin by acting as if he did not
V. The Self in Western and Eastern Thought know anything and would get the other
person to clarify their ideas and resolve
logical inconsistencies
THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOSOPHY o Using this method, the questioner should
be skilled at detecting misconception and
Philosophy at revealing them by asking the right
• Refers to the love of knowledge, or the love of questions
wisdom o The goal is to bring the person closer to the
• Can be traced back all the way to 600 BCE, in final understanding
Athens, Greece • Socrates believed that his mission in life was to
o The Greeks in search for knowledge came seek the highest knowledge and convince others
up with answers that are both cognitive who were willing to seek his knowledge with him
and scientific in nature o “The unexamined life is not worth living”
▪ They chose to seek natural • According to Socrates, real understanding comes
explanations to events and from within the person
phenomena around them instead o His Socratic method forces people to use
of seeking for supernatural their innate person by reaching inside
explanations from the Gods that themselves to their deepest nature
was passed down through • The aim of the Socratic method is to make people
generations think, seek and ask again and again.
▪ These philosophers observed o Some may be angered and frustrated, but
changes in the world and wanted what is important is for them to realize that
to explain these changes by they do not know everything, that there
understanding the laws of nature are things that they are ignorant of, to
▪ Their study of change in led them accept this and to continue learning and
to the “idea of permanence” searching for answers
o Athenians settle arguments by discussion
and debate
▪ People skilled in doing this were
called Sophists, the first teachers of
the west

SOCRATES
• The mentor of Plato
• Considered to be the wisest of all men by the
Oracle of Delphi
• Wanted to discover the essential nature of
knowledge, justice, beauty and goodness
• He did not write anything, he is not a writer
• A lot of his thoughts were only known through
Plato’s writing (The Dialogues)
 PLATO Plato’s Components of the Soul
• Another Greek philosopher with major • The Reason: Rational and is the motivation for
contributions was Aristocles, also known as Plato goodness and truth
o He was nicknamed Plato because of his • The Spirited: Non-rational and is the will or the drive
physical built which means wide/broad towards action
o Left Athens for 12 years after the death of • The Appetites: Irrational and lean towards the
Socrates desire for pleasures of the body
o When he returned, he established a school
known as The Academy Continuation of PLATO…

• Plato believed that people are intrinsically good.

Plato’s Metaphysics
• Philosophical study on the causes and nature of
things
o Plato explained that Forms refers to what
are real
▪ They are not objects encountered
with the senses but can only be
grasped intellectually
Characteristics of the Plato’s Forms
• The Forms are ageless and therefore eternal
• The Forms are unchanging and therefore
permanent
• The Forms are unmoving and indivisible
Plato’s Concept of Dualism (the existence of two realms)
The Realm of Shadows
• Composed of changing, ‘sensible’ things which
are lesser entities and therefore imperfect and
flawed
The Realm of Forms
• Composed of eternal things which are permanent
and perfect
• The source of all reality and true knowledge
Continuation of PLATO…
• He believed that knowledge lies within the
person’s soul
o He considered human beings as
microcosms of the universal macrocosms
(i.e., everything in the universe can also be
found on people – earth, air, fire, water,
mind and spirit)
Sometimes however, judgements are made in
ignorance and Plato equates ignorance with evil
• Love according to Plato
o Plato’s love begins with a feeling or
experience that there is something lacking
o This then drives the person to seek for that
which is lacking
o Thoughts and efforts are then directed
towards the pursuit of which is lacking
• Christian Philosophers on the other hand focused
on God, and man’s relationship with God
Comparing Greek and Christian Philosophers
• Greek Philosophers: Sees man as basically good
and becomes evil through ignorance of what is
good
• Christian Philosophers: Sees man as sinners who
reject/go against a loving God’s commands
ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
• A noteworthy Christian philosopher who initially
rejected Christianity for it seemed to him that
Christianity could not provide him answers to
questions that interested him
• St. Augustine’s belief of human nature focused on
two realms:
o God as the source of all reality and truth
▪ This means that people close to
God will be the ones closest to
understanding the world since God
is the source of all truth and reality
o The sinfulness of man
▪ To put simply, moral goodness can
only be achieved through God
▪ The cause of evil is not God’s will
but rather the free will given to man
by God
• The Role of Love according to St. Augustine
o Basically, real happiness can only be
achieved through God
o Disordered Love: When man loves wrong
things, in the wrong ways.
▪ Sin of Greed: Excessive love of
physical objects
▪ Jealousy: Love for other people is
not lasting and excessive love for
them
▪ Sin of People (Pride): Excessive love
for the self
▪ Love for God: Supreme virtue and
only through loving God can man
find real happiness
• European Philosophers such as Rene Descartes,
John Locke, David Hume and Immanuel Kant
focused on the concepts of experience and
rationalization
RENE DESCARTES
• Prominent rationalist in France and in Europe
o Applied scientific and mathematic
methods in Philosophy
o Proponent of the Cartesian Method
and Analytic Geometry
o He did not believe in Empiricism (A
philosophical perspective in which
knowledge is derived from sensory
experiences).
▪ He posited that the senses are
easily tricked, and may not provide
accurate information any time (ex.
Food will not taste the same if you
have a flu)
• Descartes questioned if anything can be known
with certainty, wherein he had dreams which
instructed him to construct a system of knowledge,
and a system of knowing
o Through his dreams, he came up with
a way of analyzing human knowledge
Two Powers of the Human Mind
• Intuition: The ability to apprehend direction of
certain truths
• Deduction: The power to discover what is not
known by progressing in an orderly way from what
is already known
• Descartes deduced that a thinker is a thing that
doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses
and also imagines and feels
o Hence, I Think; therefore, I am
• Descartes believed that reasoning could produce
absolute truths, that is why he believed in Apriori
(knowledge is independent from experience)
• Descartes believed in the concept of dualism, in
which he believed that the mind/soul was
separated from the body. (Mind-Body Problem)
o The body, according to Descartes, is like a
machine that is controlled by the will and
aided by the mind
JOHN LOCKE
• English philosopher
• Believed in contrast to Rene Descartes, wherein
understanding requires the senses
o Born in Wrington, England
o Interested in politics; Defender of the
Parliamentary System
o At 57 years old, he published a book which
played a significant role in the era of
Enlightenment
o Believed in the concept of empiricism
▪ “No man’s knowledge can go
beyond his experience”
▪ “Nothing exists in the mind that has
not first been experienced”
• Locke believed that knowledge results from ideas
produced a posteriori (objects that were
experienced). The process involves two forms:
o Sensation: Objects are experienced
through senses
o Reflection: The mind ‘looks’ at the objects
that were experienced to discover
relationships that may exist between them
• Locke contended that ideas are not innate, it
then, therefore must come from the senses. That
further means, that morals, religion, and political
values must have been a product of man’s
experiences
o Moral good depends on the conformity of
a person’s behavior towards some law
o There are 3 laws according to Locke:
▪ Law of Opinion: Actions that are
praiseworthy are called virtues
 ▪ Civil Law: Right actions are o There is no such thing as ‘personal identity’
enforced by people in authority behind perceptions and feelings that
▪ Divine Law: Set by God on the come and go; There is no
actions of main permanent/unchanging self
“THE SELF”: The man does not really have an idea of
DAVID HUME the so-called self because ideas rely on sense
• Scottish philosopher relied on the scientific impressions and people have no sense impression of a
method believing that it could analyze human self.
nature and explain the workings of the mind
o Born in Edinburgh, Scotland IMMANUEL KANT
o At the time he was enrolled at the • Prussian philosopher, posited the melding of both
University of Edinburgh, he lost his faith rationalist and empirical approaches
o Was credited for giving empiricism its o Lived in the town of Konisberg in East
clearest formulation Prussia (Presently Western Russia)
• Hume believed that the mind receives material o Wrote 3 books: Critique of Pure Reason,
from the senses, and called it perception. He then Critique of Practical Reason and Critique of
expounded that there are 2 types of perception: Judgement
o Impressions: Immediate sensations of • Kant argued that the mind is not just a passive
external reality receiver of sense experience but rather actively
o Ideas: The recollection of the impressions participates in knowing the object it experiences
Imagination: Has the ability to connect two ideas to o “When the self sees an object, it tends to
form a complex idea remember its characteristics and applies
• In examining the patterns of thinking, Hume on it, the forms of time and space.”
formulated 3 principles on how ideas relate to one o Kant used the term transcendental
another: apperception to explain the experience of
o The Principle of Resemblance: The the self in unity with objects
tendency which ideas become
associated if objects they represent are
similar
▪ Example: A photo of a bird
resembles a real bird, therefore,
they must be related
o The Principle of Contiguity: The tendency
of ideas to be associated if objects are
near each other in time and space
▪ Example: When you see a box of
crayons, you immediately
associate it to have crayons even if
it does not have any – you
automatically think of crayons, not
a box of crayons
o The Principle of Cause and Effect: The
tendency of things being causally related
▪ Example: The ball caused the
window to break
• Hume saw the self as just a sense of impressions
o He believed that like causality, ‘the self’ is
also a product of imagination

SIGMUND FREUD
• Austrian neurologist emphasized the role of the
unconscious in the development of the self
o His psychodynamic theory has
characteristics of philosophical thought
o Freud made use of methods like free
association and dream analysis for his
clinical practice
• Freud explained that the mind is structured by the
following components:
o ID: The pleasure principle
o Ego: The reality principle
o Super Ego: The morality principle
The ID, Ego, and Superego
Figure 1.1: The ID, Ego, and Superego
According to Freud’s structural model, the personality
is divided into the id, ego and superego. On this
diagram, smaller portion above the water signifies the
conscious mind, while the much larger portion below
the water illustrates the unconscious mind.
Continuation of SIGMUND FREUD…
• Freud in his 1920 book, Beyond the Pleasure
Principle, he presented 2 kinds of instincts that
drive individual behavior
o Eros – Life Instinct: The energy is called
LIBIDO and urges necessary for individual
and species survival like thirst, hunger and
sex
o Thanatos – Death Instinct: Behavior that is
directed towards destruction in the form of
aggression and violence
• Freud further believed that man lives life
balancing the forces of life and death, making
mere existence a challenge
o “Man’s behavior by his pleasure-seeking
life instinct and his destructive instinct is
said to be born with his ego already in
conflict”
GILBERT RYLE
• English philosopher
• Believed that many philosophical problems were
caused by the wrong use of language
o Example: The Mind-Body Problem made
no sense, as applying non-material things
should not have been applied to material
concepts
• Ryle criticized Cartesian Dualism, stating that it
only equates to people being a “ghost in a
machine”
• Ryle believed that freewill was only invented to
answer whether actions must be praised or
blamed. He further elaborated that action must
be moral for it to be free
2 Types of Knowledge
• Knowing-That: Knowing facts and information
o Ryle considered this to be empty
intellectualism, as it is worthless if you
cannot use it to solve practical problems
o “A person may acquire a great bulk of
knowledge but without the ability to use it
to solve some practical problems to make
his life easier, this bulk of knowledge is
deemed to be worthless”
• Knowing-How: Using facts in the performance of
some skills or technical abilities
 PATRICIA AND PAUL CHURCHLAND
• Patricia Churchland coined the term
Neurophilosophy, who together with Paul
Churchland was dissatisfied with the particular
approach of philosophers and instead sought to
guide scientific theorizing with philosophy with
scientific inquiry
o The philosophy of neuroscience: The study
of the philosophy of the mind, the
philosophy of science, neuroscience and
psychology
▪ This aims to explore the relevance
of the neuroscientific studies to the
philosophy of the mind
▪ “There isn’t a special thing called
the mind. The mind is just the brain”
– Patricia Churchland
• Patricia claims that the man’s brain is responsible
for the identity known as ‘the self’
o The biochemical properties of the brain
according to this philosophy is really
responsible for man’s thoughts, feelings
and behavior
o “Man is endowed with more than just
physical or neurological characteristics.
Despite research findings, neurophilosophy
states that the self is real, that it is the tool
that helps the person tune-in to the realities
of the brain and the extant reality”

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
• French phenomenological philosopher who was
known as the Philosopher of the Body
o Emphasized that the body was the primary
site of knowing the world, and that man
cannot be separated from the world
• According to Merleau-Ponty, the world and the
sense of self are emergent phenomena in the
ongoing process of man’s “becoming”
o He added that perception is nor purely the
result of sensations nor is it purely
interpretation, rather, consciousness is a
process that includes sensing, as well as
interpreting/reasoning
 THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
• One of the disciplines in the social sciences which
aims to discover the ways by which the social
surrounding/environment influences people’s
thoughts, feelings and behavior
• Its main focus is understanding human societies
and its social processes which may aid in people
understanding themselves better
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
• American philosopher and social theories who
studied the self from a social behaviorist
perspective
o Born on February 27, 1863
Massachusetts, USA
o Graduated and taught Grade School at
Oberlin College
o Enrolled in Harvard University in 1887 where
his interests were Philosophy and
Psychology
o Wrote and published articles and book
reviews but did not publish his own book
o His students put together number of his
articles and edited them for publications
o He died in 1931 due to Heart Failure
• Proponent of Social Behaviorism, in which it was
the approach used to describe the power of
environment in shaping human behavior. At the
center of his theorizing is the concept of the self
o Mead described the self as “dimension of
personality that is made up of the
individual’s self-awareness and self-
image”
• According to Mead, the self cannot be separated
from the society
Stages of Development
• Preparatory Stage: A stage in which the self-did
not exist at birth but develops over time. It
depends on social interaction and social
experience
o Children’s behavior is primarily based on
imitation. They become familiar with
symbols (verbal and non-verbal) as they
interact, and these symbols are the bases
of communication
Continuation of STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT…
o Knowing and understanding the symbols
are important to constitute their way of
communicating with others throughout
their lives
• Play Stage: The stage where the child widens his
perspective and realizes that he is not alone and
there are others around him which he has to
consider
o Knowing and understanding the symbols
of communication to constitute basis for
socialization to form social relationship
o Role taking: The process of assuming the
perspective of another person to see how
this person might behave or respond in a
in given situation
• Game Stage: The stage in which the child has the
ability to respond not just to one but several
members of his social environment
o Begins to consider several tasks and
various relationships simultaneously
o Generalized other was used to explain the
behavior when a person considers other
people in the course of his action. Through
this, the person realizes the cultural norms,
beliefs and values incorporated to each
self. With this, it forms the basis of self-
evaluation
STAGE EXISTENCE CHARACTERISTICS
OF SELF
Preparatory Stage None Imitates another
Play Stage Developing Role-taking
Game Stage Present Generalized other
Mead’s Theory of the Self
• The self is not present at birth but begins as a
central character in a child’s world
o This means that children see themselves as
“universe” and is having difficulty
understanding people around them
o As they grow and mature, they begin to
see other people and is concerned about
their reactions
o Family plays a major role in the formation
of the self. They are the Significant others –
strongly influence his development
Mead’s “I” and “Me”
• Simply explains that a person’s capacity to see the
self through others implies that the self has 2 parts:
o I Self: When the person initiates the self-
functions as object. This subjective
element of the self is the I
▪ The I is basically the response to the
Me, it basically serves as the
individual identity/personal identity
o Me Self: When the person takes the role of
the other, the self-function as object. The
objective element of the self is the Me.
▪ How we believe how the
generalized others see us
▪ Heavily influenced by society’s
view
o Example: The Me would think that going to
college is the next step after high school,
since that is the objective thing to do, what
is expected of the individual. The I would
then weigh in, and respond to the Me’s
idea of going to college, considering if that
is the best move forward from a personal
stand point
• People imagine how others evaluate them
o Example: Others will see you as pretty by
the way you fix yourself
• People develop some sort of feeling about
themselves as a result of those impressions
o Example: You may see yourself as
confident
• It can be basically summed up in...
o I am not what I think I am
o I am not what YOU think I am
o I am what YOU think I am
Continuation of CHARLES HORTON COOLEY…
• It is noticed that Cooley used the word imagine.
This may mean that there is a possibility that
people develop self-entities based on the wrong
perception of how others see them. Wrong
perceptions, however, can still change based on
positive social experiences

CHARLES HORTON COOLEY

• American sociologist who made use of the
Sociopsychological approach to understand how
societies work
o The Sociopsychological approach takes
into consideration the social variables that
affect the development of an individual’s
personality

Cooley’s Concept of the Looking Glass Self

• The self is a product of social interaction
• Seeing oneself is based on contemplating one’s
personal qualities and the view of the self is also
influenced by the impression of other people
•
3 Phases of the Process of Self-Development
• People imagine how they present themselves to
others
o Example: You dress up elegantly at the
prom
 ERVING GOFFMAN
• Canadian-American sociologist known for his role
in the development of Modern American
Sociology
• He posited the Presentation of the Self in Everyday
Life
o Impression Management: People early in
their social interactions learned to slant
their presentation of themselves in order to
create preferred appearances and satisfy
particular people or altering how the
person presents himself to others
• He sees similarities of real social interaction to a
theatrical presentation. This is the reason for the
label dramaturgical approach to his view
• He used the phrase face-work to describe another
aspect of the self. This was observed in situations
where face-saving measures are resorted to in the
maintenance of a proper image of self in
frustrating or embarrassing situation
THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology
• Field of the social sciences that focuses on the
study of man. Not just on one aspect of man, but
the totality of what it means to be human
• Looks into man’s physical/biological
characteristics, social relationships, and the
influence of his culture from the dawn of
civilization up to the present.
• Everything in anthropology is interconnected and
a complete understanding is necessary to
achieve better understanding of oneself
FOUR MAJOR SUBFIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Archaeology
• The study of earlier cultures and their way of life through
retrieving, and examination of material remains of
previous human societies
o Archaeologist: A scientist who studies artifacts
in order to discover how people lived their lives.
As a result, archaeologists have discovered
humans adapted to changes in their
environment in order for them to survive
o They believe that homo sapiens did not
become extinct because of their ability to
think, use tools, and learn from experience
o These discoveries made people realize that the
most important aspect of human life is survival.
Human behavior, according to the School of
Functionalism, continues to adapt, in order to
survive
Biological Anthropology
• Gives emphasis on the biological adaptation of man to
his environment
o Biological Anthropologists: Focus primarily on
how the human body adapts to the different
earth environments. They look at the probable
cause of diseases, mutation, and death. They
are interested in explaining how biological
characteristics of human beings affect how
they lived their lives
o They study people in different places that while
human beings vary in their biological make-up
and behavior, there are a lot more similarities
among them than there is difference
o Biological characteristics of human being’s
share may earn for them complete dominion
over all earth creatures and at the same time
be the cause of their extinction

Continuation of SUBFIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY…
Linguistic Anthropology
• Focuses on the study of human speech and
language
o Human survival is primarily linked to their
ability to communicate and an essential part
of human communication is language
o Language: Identifies group of people; words,
sounds, symbols, writings and signs that are
used are reflections of a group’s culture
o Linguistic Anthropologists: Used language to
discover a group’s manner of social
interaction, to create and share meanings to
form ideas, concepts, and to promote social
change, and how language change over
time
o Language is reflective of the time and mode
of thinking of the people using it. As societies
change and technologies develop, so do
the symbols and meaning people use
through language as their way of
communicating
Cultural Anthropology
• Gave emphasis on the study of societies and human
behavior, taking into consideration religion, culture,
myths, rituals, technology, gender roles, kinship,
economic and political structure, music, and folklore
o Culture: Group of people’s ways of life,
including their behavior, beliefs, values, and
symbols that they accept, socially
transmitted through communication and
imitation from generation to generation
o Cultural Anthropologist: Focus in knowing
what makes one group’s manner of living
particularly to that group and forms an
essential part of the member’s personal and
social identity
Continuation of THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ANTHROPOLOGY…
• While it is worth noting that personality, and other
internal factors make up an individual, it is
undeniable that each individual is still a product of
culture
Theory of Cultural Determinism
Human nature is determined by the ideas,
meanings, beliefs and values learned as
member of a society
o Who or what a person is maybe
determined by the kind of culture he is
born into and grew up in
o Having different cultures, Culture
Anthropologists suggest that there is no
universal or right way of being human. The
right way is always based on culture. Since
culture vary, there is no one way of
understanding human nature
o The theory has positive and negative
implications
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
Human beings can be People have no control
shaped to have the life over what they learn.
they prefer. There is no They blindly accept the
limit placed on the learning their culture
human ability to be or expose them to. They
to do whatever they set are seen as helpless
their minds and hearts and do only what their
into culture instructs them to
do
• Culture can manifest itself in different levels of
depth
Symbols: Words, gestures, and symbols that have
recognized meaning in a particular culture
o Example: Rings that signify commitment
o Symbols are considered as the most
superficial level of culture
Heroes: Persons from the past or present who have
characteristics that are important in a culture. They
may be real or fictitious and are models of behavior
o Example: Real – Jose Rizal
Fictitious – Darna
Rituals: Activities, may be religious or social,
participated in by a group of people for the fulfillment
of desired objectives and are considered to be
socially essential
o Example: Religious ceremonies such as
baptism, wedding, or social ceremonies
such as birthdays and graduations
Values: Considered to be the core of every culture.
Values are unconscious, and can neither be
discussed nor be directly observed but can only be
inferred from the way people act and react to
circumstances and situations
o Example: “Mano Po”

THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology
• Derived from the Greek word psyche which
means soul and logos, which means the study of,
literally means the study of the soul
• Deals with the description, explanation, prediction
and control of behavior
• Topics such as the mind-body issue in philosophy,
as well as the nature-nurture controversy have
been the subject of various theories, as such
concepts affect human behavior
WILLIAM JAMES
• American philosopher and psychologist who is
known for his Theory of the Self which breaks the
self into the I & the Me
o Professor of Psychology and Philosophy at
Harvard University
o Was considered as one of the great
pragmatists
▪ A philosophical perspective which
embraces the concept of action
over doctrine (i.e., getting things
done)
o Explained his theory of the self in his book
The Principles of Psychology
William James’ Theory of the Self (The ‘Me’ and the ‘I’)
• All human thoughts are owned by some personal
self
• All thoughts are constantly changing or are never
static
• There is a continuity of thoughts as its focus shifts
from one object to another
• Thoughts deal with objects that are different from
and independent of consciousness itself
Me Self: The sum total of one’s experience – it is all that
a person can call his/her own
• This simply means that the Me self is the widest
possible sense of a person. This includes his
body, psychic powers, clothes, house,
relatives, friends, ancestors, descendants,
land, reputation, etc.
• Divided into 3 components:
o The Material Self: Consists of the things
or object that belong to the person or
entities that a person belongs to (e.g.,
the person’s body, his family clothes,
his money)
o The Social Self: The person is in a
particular social situation (The person
known by others)
▪ Example: Changes in behavior
due to the social situation
o The Spiritual Self: Self that is more
concrete or permanent when
compared to the material and social
selves. This is considered as the most
subjective and intimate part of the self.
Furthermore, the spiritual self is always
engaging in the process of
introspection (Self-observation)
I Self: Aspect of the self that does the knowing
• James also called the I Self as the Pure Ego,
which is, according to him, the person’s sould
or mind
• Considered as the totality of the person’s
identity. It takes into account the past, present,
and future selves of the person
By understanding both the Me and the I Self, we can
acknowledge that the self is partly known, and
knower
The Global Self
• Represents the overall value that a person places
himself upon
o This means that the groups of people that
you interact with everyday strongly
influences you, and the global self is the
product of all experiences that you had in
the society which accounts for the kind of
person you presently are

MURRAY BOWEN
• American psychiatrist who conceptualized the
theory of the Differentiated Self
Differentiated Self
• Emphasizes the person’s capability to develop
and sustain his/her unique identity
o The differentiated self is still affected by the
presence of others, but has the ability to
separate feelings and thoughts
o Enables the person to develop and sustain
his unique identity, make his own choices,
and accept responsibility for his behavior
and still be able to stay emotionally
connected with his family and friends
o Two forces were observed to affect a
person, specifically, togetherness and
individuality, wherein a balance should be
maintained to ensure sound relation with
others
▪ Too much togetherness may lead
to friction and conflict, and may
prevent the development of one’s
sense of self
▪ Too much individuality on the other
hand may lead to estranged
feelings towards significant others
▪ By being able to acknowledge a
person has his/her own personality,
one may be able to attain self-
fulfillment
CARL ROGERS
• American psychologist who proposed the Person-
Centered Theory
• Self-Concept: How one thinks or perceives one
self. He further elaborated that there are 2 types
of Self-Concept
o Real Self-Concept: All information and
perception the person has about himself.
(Answers the question “Who am I?”)
o Ideal Self-Concept: What the person aims
for himself to be (Answers the question
“Who do I want to become?”, and is born
out of one’s experiences, standards, and
the demands of the society)
• Rogers stated that there should be congruence
(sameness, quality) between the real self and the
Ideal self for the person to be happy and satisfied
with life
EDWARD TORY HIGGINS
Self-Discrepancy Theory
• People use internalized standards which they
compare themselves (Self-Guides)
o These self-guides provide guidance as to
how one should present himself/herself,
and when the person diverts from said self-
guide, it leads to emotional discomfort
called self-discrepancy
MULTIPLE AND UNIFIED SELVES
Multiple Selves Theory
• Suggests that there are individual different aspects
of the self. This means that the self is a whole,
made up of different parts
o These different parts of the self manifests
when the situation calls for it
o A psychologically healthy individual is able
to make sense of these aspects of
themselves, and is able to integrate them
into a single unified self
Unified Being
• Connected to consciousness, and is aware
• This person is considered to be well-adjusted, and
is capable of accepting successes and failures
and the other perceived unfairness in life
o They continue to adjust, adapt, evolve and
survive as an individual with an integrated,
unified multiple selves
D.W. WINNICOTT
• English pediatrician and psychoanalyst who
studied Child Development
o He looked into the significance of play in
child development, and stated that
children/people have true and false selves
o True and False Selves: Present in all
individuals. They should be functional for
the advantage of both the person himself
and his society.
 TRUE SELF FALSE SELF Features of Human Agency
• Creative • Lacks spontaneity • Intentionality: Actions performed by the person
• Spontaneously • Dead and empty with full awareness of his behavior. This involves
experiencing each • The mask that hides planning with awareness of possible
day of their lives the true person for consequences of actions
• Appreciate being fear of pain of o Example: Kenneth went online to apply for
alive rejection and failure a passport because he wants to travel
• High level of • At times, enable the outside his country
awareness in the person to form • Forethought: A person’s anticipation of likely
person of who he is superficial but outcomes of his behavior. This allows for several
• Recognizes his productive social actions which may lead to a possible outcome
strengths relationships o Example: Kenneth chose an interview date
• Accepts his for his passport application where most
limitations likely he will be on-leave
• Enjoys winning and • Self-Reactiveness: A process in which the person is
success motivated and regulates his behavior as he
• Learns from mistakes observes his progress in achieving his goals
o Example: Kenneth saves a larger portion of
ALBERT BANDURA his salary in the bank so he can have
• Known as the proponent of the Social Cognitive enough cash to travel to Japan
Theory • Self-Reflectiveness: A process of looking inward
and evaluating one’s motivations, values, life
Social Cognitive Theory goals, and other people’s effect on him/her
• Wherein the person is seen as proactive and o Example: Kenneth believes that he has to
agentic which means that the man has the enjoy and experience life a little while still
capacity to exercise control over their lives able and capable
o Human Agency: The essence of being
human Self-Regulation
• Gives emphasis to learning through observation. • The process of conscious personal management
• Suggests that human beings are proactive, self- that involves guiding one’s own thoughts,
regulating, self-reflective, and self-organizing behaviors, and feelings to reach goals
o Believed that human nature was plastic o This allows the person to set goals that are
and flexible better, and higher than before through
introspection
Triadic Reciprocal Causation Paradigm
• Explains as to how man is affected by the
interaction of the environmental, behavioral and
personal factors
 THE SELF IN WESTERN AND EASTERN THOUGHT
• Through the process of introspection and
reflection, a man decides to search for his purpose
in life and the role he plays in this world
The Individualistic Self
• A person who makes most of his life, going into the
world with the life he chooses, making decisions,
acting upon these choices and taking full
responsibilities of the consequences
o Aware that he is not alone and exists with
others
o Sees himself as capable of living his own
life, doing things he loves, making mistakes
and learning from it
o Aware of his rights and limitations of his
freedom
o Sets goals and works hard to achieve them
o Independence and self-reliance form
development of the self in Western cultures
o Expected to have the ability to stand
alone
The Collective Self
• Emphasizes the cultures of the East is focused with
the collective self of individuals
• Where the identity of the individual is lost and does
not exist except as a part of the group
• Establishes strong familial bonds bound by
customs, traditions, and beliefs of a group
o This means that family and society have a
major impact on how individuals act and
behave in society
o Group members depend on each other
o In such cases, individual freedoms may be
sacrificed for the benefit of the group
o Examples of issues decided by the group:
gender roles, marriage, practices and
patriarchy
o In society, collectivism fosters nationalistic
attitude as what the group believes
In contemporary society, both individualistic and
collective self may exist in an individual resulting from
influences and intermarriages between people of the
East and the West.
THE SELF IN WESTERN THOUGHT
• Plays a central role in almost all perspectives of
intellectual inquiry
• Has been an area of interest by the French and
English philosophers
• An entity whose proof of existence is most
challenging by Greek philosophers of Socrates
and Plato
• Descartes emphasized that the self exists
regardless of his environment, and that the
cognitive basis of a person’s thoughts are proof of
the existence of the self
• Kant, on the other hand, emphasized that Self is
capable of actions that entities it to have rights as
an autonomous agent. This then inspired the
recognition of human rights as important in the
expression of individual freedom
Ecological Self
• Sees the self as a process that is undergoing
development, wherein different factors such as
race, gender, social status, education and culture
affect self-development
o This means that the self is seen as dynamic,
different, and unique and is constantly
exposed to an ever-changing world
THE SELF IN CONFUCIAN THOUGHT
Confucius
• The name for which Kong Zhongi of China was
known in the West
o Born in Zhou Dynasty period (551 BCE) in
small state of Lu
o Grew up poor even though he descended
from a scholarly family
o Zhou Dynasty was characterized by
political, social, and moral disintegration of
China
o Through scholarly study, Confucius came
to be known as Master Kong and as Great
Sage and Teacher
• Confucius’ philosophy came to be known as
humanistic social philosophy
o This emphasizes man in society he finds
himself in
• According to Confucius, society and communities
serves as the main source of values of both human
beings and society in general
o “-that although the way of humans is
grounded in the way of heaven and
operates in harmony with the way of
nature, it is to the ideals of the human way
that people must turn for guidance in
reforming and renewing society.” –
Confucius
• Philosophical Concept of Confucianism: Centered
on ren which can be understood as human
goodness
o This human goodness, is what supposedly
separates man from animal
o Involves thinking and feeling which serves
as the foundation of human relationships
o Emphasizes Chinese culture’s perspective
that feelings, or the heart is the more
important than the head, or that of thinking
o Confucius never gave a specific definition
for ren, but believed that it is simply a
reflection of a person’s own understanding
of humanity
o Going against ren means abandoning
what is truly human
• Confucius believed that ren can only be realized
through:
Li (Propriety: State or quality conforming to
conventionally accepted standards of behavior
or morals)
o Self-mastery involves self-development
o Self-mastery is characterized by self-
control and the will to redirect impulses
and change socially accepted
expressions of human nature
o Li conforms to the norms of humanity
o Confucius believes that everyone has
duties and responsibilities, hence, five
relationships: Father and son, Ruler and
subject. Older and younger brother,
Husband and wife, Friend and friend.
(These acts and rituals, whether religious or
cultural highlight the social and public
character of human action.)
Xiao (Filiality: Relation, or attitude of a child to a
parent)
o This is the virtue of reverence and respect for
the family
o Parents should be revered to their parents by
exerting efforts to take care of themselves
(Example: Exerting effort to be healthy)
o Reverence for parents and family is further
demonstrated by bringing honor to the family,
making something of himself to earn the
respect of others
o If the person is having difficulty giving his family
honor, he should do his best not to disgrace
the family
o Relationship that exists in the family reflect how
the person relates to others
o Family is the reflection of a person
o How the person interacts socially, and values
acted upon can be traced back to his family
environment which forms the bases of the
person’s moral and social virtue
Yi (Rightness: The right way of behaving)
o Unconditional and absolute
o Right is right and what is not right is wrong
o There are no gray areas
o Actions must be done because they are the
right actions. (Example: Obedience to parents
which is expected from children because it is
morally right and obligated to do so)
In summary, Li, Xiao and Yi are virtues observed in a
person whose humanity is developed, morally
cultivated and aware. According to Confucianism,
virtuous people result in a well-rounded, civilized,
humane society.