Philosophy - in search for the meaning and
understanding the self. The different views of
purpose in life.
The philosophy of the self, defines the essential
qualities that make one person distinct from all
others. There have been numerous approaches
to defining these qualities. The self is the agent
responsible for the thoughts and actions of an
individual to which they are ascribed. It is a
substance, which therefore endures through
time; thus, the thoughts and actions at different
moments may pertain to the same self.
• Inability to comprehend one's self will
have lots of problems within them
• Most people do not dwell on how should
I live?" because they all blindly follow
culture and norms of today
• Self-knowledge should not be
determined by our belongings, social
status, reputatión, or body. Rather, it is
determined by your soul.
• The state of our soul determines the
quality of our life.
Accept that self-knowledge is important, then
we should have knowledge of what is truly good
and bad
We can only obtain wisdom if we separate
the soul from the body.
• Wealth, status, pleasure, and social
acceptance is not good.
• Poverty, death, pain, and social rejection
is not evil.
If you think otherwise, then this view is
extremely harmful. If we hare the wrong view of
what is good, we will spend our life desperately
pursuing things that, even if we succeed in
obtaining them, will not make us happy,
Virtue- According to Socrates, this is the
supreme "good" Moral excellence.
The philosophical framework for understanding the
self was first introduced by the ancient great Greek
philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
In Particular Socrates suggests: "Know thyself" But
what exactly does "know thyself" mean? What is self
and the qualities that define it? This lesson presents
an overview of the philosophical perspective of the
self to aid students identify one's own self and
eventually to gain self-knowledge and self-
awareness.
It intends to give a wider perspective in
prominent philosophers regarding the nature of the
self are discussed and while there are disagreements
in how philosophers view the self, most of them
agree that self-knowledge is prerequisite to a happy
and meaningful life.
Self from various disciplinal perspectives: philosophy,
sociology, anthropology, and psychology.
THE SELF FROM VARIOUS
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES
Philosophy as a subject presents various
philosophers offering multiple perspectives on just
about any topic including the self. Philosophical,
discussion of the self is a basic search for meaning
and purpose in life. Determination, rationalization,
and identification of the self-set the direction from
which an individual travels to fulfill his or her purpose
in life. The inability to define oneself leads to a lot of
contradictions within the self later on; hence, it is
one of the many imperatives in life to know oneself
and to go on with the business of leading a life
charted by oneself.
Socrates
Many people never consciously contemplate this
question of how one ought to live. Instead the course
of their lives is largely determined by the cultural
values and norms which they unquestionably adhere
to. But according to Socrates, the examination or this
question is very important as it is through striving for
answers to it that one can hope to improve their life.
One of the reasons why most do not consciously
contemplate this question is because it requires that
attain self-knowledge, or in other words, turn their
gaze inward and analyze both their true nature and
the values which guide their life. And such knowledge
is perhaps the most difficult knowledge to obtain.
"once we know ourselves, we may learn how to care
for ourselves, but otherwise we never shall." (First
Alcibiades)
When we turn our gaze inward in search of self-
knowledge, Socrates thought we would soon discover
our true nature. And contrary to the opinion of the
masses, one's true self, according to Socrates, is not
to be identified with what we own, with our social
status, our reputation, or even with our body.
Instead, Socrates famously maintained that our true
self is our soul.
Although many scholars have taken a view similar to
the one put forth by the famous historian of
philosophy Frederick Copelston who wrote that in
calling our true self our soul Socrates was referring to
"the thinking and willing subject"
According to Socrates it is the state of our soul, or
our inner being, which determines the quality of our
life. Thus, it is paramount that we devote
considerable amounts of our attention, energy, and
resources to making our soul as good and beautiful
as possible. Or as he pronounces in Plato's dialogue
the Apology: "I shall never give up philosophy or stop
exhorting you and pointing out the truth to any one
of you whom I meet, saying in my most accustomed
way:
"Most excellent man, are you…not ashamed to care
for the acquisition of wealth and for reputation and
honor, when you neither care nor take thought for
wisdom and truth and the perfection of your soul?"
(Apology 29d)
After coming to the realization that one's inner self,
or soul, is all important, Socrates believed the next
step in the path towards self-knowledge was to
obtain knowledge of what is good and what is evil,
and in the process use what one learns to cultivate
the good within one's soul and purge the evil from it.
Most people dogmatically assume they know what is
truly good and what is truly evil. They regard things
such as wealth, status, pleasure, and social
acceptance as the greatest of all goods in life, and
think that poverty, death, pain, and social rejection
are the greatest of all evils.
However, Socrates disagreed with these answers,
and also believed this view to be extremely harmful.
All human beings naturally strive after happiness,
thought Socrates, for happiness is the final end in life
and everything we do we do because we think it will
make us happy. We therefore label what we think
will bring us happiness as 'good", and those things
we think will bring us suffering and pain as 'evil'. So
it follows that if we have a mistaken conception of
what is good, then we will spend our lives frantically
chasing after things that will not bring us happiness
even if we attain them.
However, according to Socrates if one devoted
themselves to self-knowledge and philosophical
inquiry, they would soon be led to a more
appropriate view of the good. There is one supreme
good, he claimed, and possession of this good alone
will secure our happiness. This supreme good,
thought Socrates, is virtue.
Virtue is defined as moral excellence, and an
individual is considered virtuous if their character is
made up of the moral qualities that are accepted as
virtues. In Ancient Greece commonly accepted
virtues included courage, temperance, prudence, and
justice.
Socrates held virtue to be the greatest good in life
because it alone was capable of securing ones
happiness. Even death is a trivial matter for the truly
virtuous individual who realizes that the most
important thing in life is the state of his soul and the
actions which spring from it.
In order to become virtuous Socrates maintained that
we must arrive at knowledge of what virtue really is.
Knowledge of the nature of virtue, in other words, is
the necessary and sufficient condition for one to
become virtuous.
This explains why Socrates went about conversing
with his fellow Athenians, always in search of the
definition, or essence, of a specific virtue. He thought
that when one arrived at the correct definition of
virtue, one would come to realize that virtue is the
only things which is intrinsically good. And since
human beings naturally desire the good, as it alone
secures happiness, with this knowledge one would
have no choice but to become virtuous.
To summarize this idea, it is useful to express it in a
simple formula: knowledge = virtue = happiness.
When we arrive at knowledge of virtue, we will
become virtuous, i.e we will make our souls good
and beautiful. And when we perfect our souls, we will
attain true happiness.
If all individuals naturally desire happiness, and if it is
only by becoming virtuous that one can attain
happiness, then a simple question arises: Why do so
many people fail to become virtuous and instead
commit evil acts, thereby preventing themselves from
attaining that which they really want? To put it
bluntly, the answer to this question is that most
people are ignorant. If one truly knew what they
were doing was evil, they would refrain from such an
action. But because all evil acts are committed out of
ignorance, Socrates held that all evil acts are
committed involuntarily. Socrates did not mean that
when one committed an evil act they did so in some
sort of state of complete unawareness, but rather
that such an individual was unaware that their action
was evil. In Plato's dialogue the Protagoras
Socrates says. Socrates says. "My own opinion is
more or less this: no wise man believes that anyone
sins willingly or willingly perpetuates any base or evil
act; they know very well that every base or evil
action is committed involuntarily." (Protagoras)
An individual who commits an evil act is one who is
ignorant of the fact that virtue alone is the one true
good, Such an individual instead false assumes that
wealth, power, and pleasure are the greatest goods
in life, and therefore, if necessary, will use evil
means to attain these goods. In other words, they
are ignorant of the fact that by committing such evil
acts they are tarnishing their soul and thus
condemning themselves to a perpetual unhappiness.
Socrates was truly convinced that philosophy must
obtain practical results for greater wellbeing of
society. And for Socrates, the very first step towards
realization of this goal is the acquisition of wisdom
through "knowing one's Self. As Socrates famously
said, "ultimate wisdom comes from knowing oneself.
For Socrates, every man is composed of body
and soul. This means, every person is dualistic, that
is, he is composed of 2 important aspects of
personhood. For Socrates, this means all individuals
have an imperfect, impermanent aspect to him, and
the body, while maintaining that there is also a soul
that is perfect and permanent.
His teachings were only portrayed through the
writings of his junior, Plato. He was sentenced
to death by drinking poison at age 70 because
he was "corrupting" the minds of the youth, and
offending those in power for using the Socratic
method towards them. His ideas were:
• The soul is immortal
• Learning philosophy is taking care of the
soul.
• True happiness are virtues. Virtues:
Courage, temperance, prudence, and
justice.
Socratic Method- inquiring people to have
them think critically.
There are two existences;
1. Visible- pertains to our bodies that belong to
the physical remains. Our body changes.
2. Invisible- our soul, belongs to the ideal
realm. The soul is constant.
Plato
Student of Socrates. Author of Socratic
Dialogue Greek philosopher "Ignorance. The
root and stem of every evil.”
Plato was considered to be the greatest student of
Socrates. In fact, it was Plato who wrote his
philosophy. As well known, Socrates did not write
anything. It was Plato who systematically articulated
Socrates philosophy through his famous dialogues,
which also chronicled Socrates's life.
Plato as student of Socrates basically took off from
his master and supported the idea that man is a dual
nature of body and soul. In addition to what
Socrates, Plato added that there are 3 components of
the soul: the rational soul, the spirited soul and
appetitive soul.
Soul is the most divine aspect of the
human being, not spiritual but rather one
that has an intellectual connotation.
Three parts of the soul- sometimes in harmony,
sometimes in conflict.
• Appetitive (sensual) - satisfying the
basic biological needs such as food,
drink, sex. The portion of each of us that
wants and feels many things, most of
which must be deferred if we are to
achieve self-control.
• Rational (reasoning)- think deeply,
make wise choices. The thinking portion
within each of us, which discerns what is
real and not, judges what is true and
what is false, and makes the rational
decisions.
• Spirited (feeling)- understands the
demands of the passion, the part that
loves honor and victor. The active
portion; its function is to carry out the
dictates of reason.
Plato emphasizes that justice in the human person
can only be attained if the 3 parts of the soul are
working harmoniously with one another. This is a
similar conception of good and bad as the Buddhists
have: Rather than bad being sin, it is considered a
matter of ignorance. So, someone who does
something bad requires education, not punishment.
The soul is drawn to the good, the ideal, and so is
drawn to God. We gradually move closer and closer
to God through reincarnation as well as in our
individual lives.
DUALISM: There's the body, which is material,
mortal, and "moved" (a victim of causation).
Then there's the soul, which is ideal, immortal,
and "unmoved" (enjoying free Will). The soul
includes reason, of course, as well as self-
awareness and moral. Plato says the soul will
always choose to do good, if it recognizes what
is good.
Aristotle St. Augustine
Greek Philosopher- "We are what we do "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our
repeatedly." heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

Aristotle undeniably diverged from Plato in his “St. Augustine of Hippo". One of the Latin
view of what a human being most truly and Father of the church. Influenced by Plato's
fundamentally is. Plato, at least in many of his ideas. He adopted Plato's view that the self is an
dialogues, held that the true self of human immaterial but rational soul. Body possessed
beings is the reason or the intellect that senses such as memory, imagination, reason
constitutes their soul and that is separable from and mind.
their body. Aristotle, for his part, insisted that
Augustine took from Plato the view that the
the human being is a composite of body and
human self is an immaterial soul that can think.
soul and that the soul cannot be separated from
Plato held that after death, the souls eternal
the body.
truths, a sort of heaven beyond space and time.
Aristotle's philosophy of self was constructed in
Augustine said that these forms were ideas in
terms of hylomorphism in which the soul of a
the mind of the perfect eternal God. He said
human being is the form or the structure of the
that what was required was that we love the
human body or the human matter, i.e., the
perfect eternal God.
functional organization in virtue of which human
beings are able to perform their characteristic While Plato emphasized the importance
activities of life, including growth, nutrition, perfecting reason and following it, Augustine
reproduction, perception, imagination, desire, emphasized the importance of the WILL,
and thinking. the ability to choose between good and
evil. He introduced the concept of freewill which
As the soul, in Aristotle's view, is an activity of
means that humans are morally responsible for
the body, it cannot be immortal (when a knife is
their actions. The fundamental religious duty is
destroyed, the cutting stops). More precisely,
to love and serve God; if we can succeed in this,
the soul is the "first activity" of a living body.
we will also choose the good and avoid the evil.
This is a state, or a potential for actual, or
The goal of every human person is to
'second', activity. "The axe has an edge for
attain communion and bliss with the Divine
cutting" was, for Aristotle, analogous to
by living his life on earth in virtue. He created
"humans have bodies for rational activity," and
a new concept of individual identity: the
the potential for rational activity thus constituted
idea of the self.
the essence of a human soul.
Human nature, as created by God, is good, and
Aristotle used his concept of the soul in many of
the free will that He originally gave us places us
his works; the De Anima (On the Soul) provides
higher in the metaphysical ladder of beings than
a good place to start to gain more
nonhuman animals or plants. (The angels and,
understanding of his views.
of course, God Himself are above us.)
Aristotle also believed that there were sections
Aspects of the self: (according to St. Augustine)
of the soul:
1. Aware of self
• the calculative and scientific parts on the
2. Recognize self as holistic
rational side used for making decisions,
3. Aware of its unity.
• the desiderative,
• the vegetative parts on the irrational side
responsible for identifying our needs
Thomas Aquinas
"Beware the man of a single book."
According to him, Man composed of two
parts, matter (everything anything that is
made up from the universe) and form
(essence of a substance).
Self-knowledge depends on each of our
experiences. We are agents that interact with
our environment. "The things that we love tells
us what we are".
Aquinas is usually thought to have a theory of
"indirect" self-knowledge, according to which
the mind only knows itself in a second-order act
that reflects on a first-order act directed toward
extramental objects.
Aquinas said that indeed man is composed
of 2 parts: matter and form.
Matter or hyle in Greek, refers to "common
stuff that makes up everything in the universe.
Man's body is part of theis matter. Form or
morphe in Greek refers to the essence of a
substance or thing. "It is what makes what it is."
To Aquinas, just as Aristotle, the soul is what
animates the body; it is what makes us human.
For Aquinas, we don't encounter ourselves as
isolated minds or selves, but rather always as
agents interacting with our environment.
Aquinas begins his theory of self-knowledge
from the claim that all our self-knowledge is
dependent on our experience of the world
around us.
Rene Descartes
French Philosopher, mathematician and
scientist. First thinker to emphasize the use of
reason to describe, predict and understand
natural phenomena based on observation and
empirical evidence. Doubt is a principal tool of
disciplined inquiry. One must not doubt
existence of self. "Cogito ergo sum - I think
therefore, I am" where in self is combination of
two entities, cogito is the thing that think (mind)
and extenza is extension of the mind (body).
Hyperbolical/ metaphysical doubt- Rene's
method of being skeptical of the truth to
determine which belief could be ascertained as
true. Genuine merit is obtained when we apply
scientific disciplines to reach the truth
Claims of the self: (by Rene)
• Constant, not prone to change and not
affected by time.
• The immaterial soul remains the same
throughout time.
• Immaterial soul is the source of our
identity.
David Hume
Scottish philosopher "No man ever threw away
life while it was worth living.
"Empiricist. According to him,self is
nothing else hut a bundle of impressions.
"there is no self." Collection of different
perceptions, rush of sensations
Hume's Thesis: There is no soul, it is an illusion
created by our unfounded trust in cause and effect.
Because our consciousness is constantly changing
there is no "self" which the same remains Hume
begins by setting up the theory of self which arques,
that there is permanent soul: "There are some
philosophers, who imagine we are every moment
intimately conscious of what we call our Self: that we
feel its existence and its continuance in existence;
and are certain, beyond the evidence of a
demonstration, both of its perfect identity and
simplicity.
Empiricism - a knowledge can only be possible
if it is sensed or experienced. And by
experiences, (not constant and invariable)
• Impressions- objects of our
experience/sensation, core of our
thoughts, products of our experience
with the world
• Ideas- copies of impressions, less lively
and vivid as our impressions.
Since self is not concluded by experiences that
are not constant and invariable, he believes that
there is a “self”.
Immanuel Kant
German philosopher, “We construct the self"
He counters the beliefs of Hume. Man perceives
around them are not just randomly infused into
the human person without an organizing
principle that regulates the relationship of all
these impressions. We don't just experience it;
we try to make sense of our experiences.
Without the self, one cannot organize the
different impression that one gets in relation to
his own existence.
"What can I know? What ought I do? What can
I hope?" Not many philosophers would turn to
Kant for a positive view about the metaphysics
of the self (the referent of "I). On the contrary,
most of Kant's interpreters read him as warning
that any attempt to give a positive account of
the self's nature is doomed to failure, and as
building his theories without metaphysical
assumptions about the self.
This broad interpretive approach, which is "anti-
metaphysical interpretation," often sees Kants
Wittgenstein's claims that the self or subject
"doesn't belong to the world, but is a limit of the
world.
" Kant's discussions of the self, shows he thinks
that, if there were any such thing, it would have
to be something outside of appearances, in the
realm of things in themselves. Since that is a
realm, we could only cognize a priori, a
metaphysics of the self would have to be an a
priori metaphysics of a thing in itself. But one of
Kant's central doctrines is that we have no
cognition of things in themselves, and he
explicitly carries this doctrine over to the case of
the self: "I... have no cognition of myself as I
am, but only as I appear to myself" (B158).
Since a metaphysics of the self would have to
involve some sort of claim concerning the nature
of the self in itself, it would seem that Kant has
ruled out the possibility of any such doctrine's
being legitimate.
Gilbert Ryle
20th Century British philosopher
Denied the concept of an internal, non-physical
self (does not believe of soul) but truly
emphasizes on how the person acts, manifests
and what is seen. According to him, self is not
one entity but a convenient name to refer to all
behaviors that people make.
"Man need not be degraded to a machine by
being denied to be the ghost in a machine" Ryle
rejects Descartes' theory of the relation between
mind and body, on the grounds that it
approaches the investigation of mental
processes as if they could be isolated from
physical processes.
In order to demonstrate how this theory
misleading, he explains that knowing how to
perform an act skillfully may be not only a
matter of being able to reason practically, but
also a matter of being able to put practical
reasoning into action.
Practical actions may not necessarily produced
by highly theoretical reasoning or complex
sequences of intellectual operations. The
meaning of actions may be explained not by
making inferences about hidden mental
processes, but by examining the rules that
govern those actions.
According to Ryle, mental processes are merely
intelligent acts. There are no mental processes
distinct from intelligent acts. The operations of
the mind are not merely represented by
intelligent acts; they are those intelligent acts.
Thus, acts of learning, remembering, imagining,
knowing, or willing are not merely clues to
hidden mental processes or complex sequences
of intellectual operations; they are the way in
which those mental processes or intellectual
operations are defined. Logical propositions are
not merely clues to modes of reasoning; they
are those modes of reasoning
Sigmund Freud
The Psychoanalytic Theory, Philosopher,
physiologist, and psychologist, Created
Psychoanalysis is a practice devised to treat
those who are mentally ill through dialogue "The
mind is an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of
its bulk above water”
He was an Austrian neurologist who developed
psychoanalysis, a method through which are
analyst unpacks unconscious conflicts based on
the free associations, dreams and fantasies of
the patient. His theories on child sexuality, libido
and the ego, among other topics, were some of
the most influential academic concepts of the
20th century.
Freud proposed that the conscious mind (everything
we are aware of) is seen as the tip of an iceberg; the
unconscious mind is the repository of primitive
wishes and impulses kept at bay and meditated by
the preconscious area.
Freud developed a more structural model of the
mind, comprising the id (child in us), the
unconscious level - the pleasure principle containing
the two biological instincts: Eros (love), helps
people to survive and directs sustaining activities or
the life instincts known as libido and Thanatos
(death) instincts; ego (adult) follows the reality
principle both unconscious and conscious, this
satisfies the demands of the id in a safe and
acceptable way; superego (parent), the psychic
apparatus, the morality principle, motivates us to
behave in a socially reasonable and acceptable
manner, this can make the person feel quilty.
However, in cases where there is conflict between
the id and superego, the ego has to serve as a
referee and mediate the conflict, thus this can deploy
defense mechanisms to prevent overwhelming
anxiety.
Psyche is the totality of the human mind, both
conscious and unconscious
Three levels of consciousness;
• Conscious- awareness of present
perceptions, feelings, thoughts,
memories, fantasies at any moment.
• Pre-conscious- data that can be readily
be brought to consciousness.
• Unconscious- data retained but not
easily available to the individual
conscious awareness or scrutiny.
Internal structure of the mind:
• Id (pleasure principle)- satisfying the
need, evade difficulties and thinks of
only the pleasure.
• Super ego (moral principle)- morally
right and wrong, develops at age 5 or 6,
learned from others, imposed by society.
(laws, culture).
• Ego- governing the two principle;
pleasure and moral principles.
Merleau-Ponty
The mind and body are so intertwined
that they cannot be seperateed from one
another. One cannot find experience that is not
an embodied experience." The living body, his
thoughts and emotions and experiences are all
one.
"I sense, therefore I am" Merleau-Ponty
believed the physical body to be an important
part of what makes up the subjective self.
This concept stands In contradiction to
rationalism and empiricism. Rationalism asserts
that reason and mental perception, rather than
physical senses and experience, are the basis of
knowledge and self.
Mind or consciousness cannot be defined
formally in terms of self-knowledge
or representation, then, but is essentially
engaged in the structures and actions of the
human world and encompasses all of the diverse
intentional orientations of human life.
THE SELF FROM THE
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Discusses the self from the perspectives of
sociology and anthropology.
The theory of Herbert Mead on the Social Self
will be explored as well as the different
socialization agents. It will also discuss the role
of culture in the development of the self,
including the contemporary culture which
influence the people today.
Societies shape the development of their
members in very different ways. Each society
teaches its concepts, values and accepted
behaviors to its children. This instruction is
largely accomplished by social institutions such
as the home, school, and church.
Mead and the Social Self
George Herbert Mead, a sociologist from the
late 1800s, is well known for his theory of the
social self, which includes the concepts of 'self,
'me', and "I'. Mead's work focuses on the way in
which the self is developed.
Mead's theory of the social self is based on the
perspective that the self emerges from social
interactions, such as observing and interacting
with others, responding to others' opinions
about oneself, and internalizing external
opinions and internal feelings about oneself.
The social aspect of self is an important
distinction because other sociologists and
psychologists felt that the self was based on
biological factors and inherited traits.
According to Mead, the self is not there from
birth, but it is developed over time from social
experiences and activities.
According to Mead, three
activities develop the self:
• Language develops self by allowing
individuals to respond to each other
through symbols, gestures, words, and
sounds. It allows individuals to take on
the "role of the other" and allows people
to respond to his or her own gestures in
terms of the symbolized attitudes of
others.
• Play develops self by allowing
individuals to take on different roles,
pretend, and express expectation of
others. Play develops one's self-
consciousness through role- playing. This
process of role-playing is key to the
generation of self-consciousness and to
the general development of the self. "All
the world's a stage, and all the men and
women merely players."
• Games develop self by allowing
individuals to understand and adhere to
the rules of the activity. Self is developed
by understanding that there are rules in
which one must abide by in order to win
the game or be successful at an activity.
In the game, the individual is required to
internalize the roles of all others who are
involved with him or her in the game and
must comprehend the rules of the game.
According to Mead's theory, the
self has two sides or phases: 'me'
and "I.'
• The 'me' is considered the socialized
aspect of the individual. The 'me'
represents learned behaviors, attitudes,
and expectations of others and of
society. A phase of the self that is in the
past. The "me" represents the
expectations and attitudes of others (the
generalized other). It has been
developed by the knowledge of society
and social interactions that the individual
has gained. It allows the individual to still
express creativity and individualism and
understand when to possibly bend and
stretch the rules that govern social
interactions. One must participate in the
different social positions within society
and only subsequently can one use that
experience to take the perspective of
others and thus become self-conscious.
• The 'I', therefore, can be considered the
present and future phase of the self. The
'l' represents the individual's identity
based on response to the 'me', or the
person's individuality.
The 'me' and the 'l' have a didactic
relationship.
The Socialization Process
Humans learn the expectations of society
through socialization. By interacting with others,
they learn about the norms, cultures, values,
etc. Socialization is different based on race,
gender and class.
Agents of Socialization
• The Family. The family is the basic unit
of the society. It the first and primary
venue of sociality for children. Families
introduce children to the expectations of
society. Socialization is different based
on race, gender and class.
• The Media. Media is the means where
people can gain information as well as
entertainment. It may be in the form of
print, radio, television and the internet.
The average young person (age 8-19)
spends 6 3/4 hours per day immersed in
media in various forms, often using
multiple media forms simultaneously.
Television is the dominant medium,
 although half of all youth use a computer
daily.
• Peers. Peers are individuals whom you
share one or more characteristics with
such as age, social status, economic
status, occupation, or education.
Interactions with them are usually on a
level of equality and are very influential
to one's attitudes, emotions, and
behavior. For children and adolescents,
peer culture is an important source of
identity. Through interaction with peers,
children learn concepts of self, gain
social skills, and form values and
attitudes.
• Religion/Church. Church is a
fellowship of individuals believing in one
god. It may also refer to a structure
where people gather to worship, pray
and do religious activities. It a place
where people learn about God and how
to live a righteous life. Children tend to
develop the same religious beliefs as
their parents. Very often those who
disavow religion return to their original
faith at some point in their life, especially
if they have strong ties to their family of
origin and after they form families of
their own.
• Sports. Sports are activities involving
physical exertion and skill in which an
individual or team competes against
another or others for entertainment
(Oxford Languages). Through sports,
men and women learn concepts of self.
Men learn that being competitive in
sports is considered a part of
"manhood."
• Schools. Schools are institutions
dedicated to educate individuals. In
schools we learn about essential things
for us to be successful in our career,
personal and social life. In school,
teachers and other students are the
source of expectations that encourage
children to think and behave in particular
ways. Research finds that teachers
respond differently to boys than to girls,
with boys receiving more of their
attention.
THE SELF AND THE
ANTHROPOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE
The Self embedded in Culture
Cultural Anthropology is the study of human
culture and society. It is the study
of people - their origin, their development, and
contemporary variations, wherever and
whenever those have been found (Ferraro,
2008).
Culture on the other hand refers to the major
way in which human beings adapt to their
environment and give meaning to their lies. It
Includes human behavior and ideas that are
learned rather than genetically transmitted, as
well as the material objects produced by a group
of people (Nanda and Warren, 2007).
How we see ourselves shapes our lives, and is
shaped by our cultural context.
o Self-perceptions influence how we think
about the world, our social relationships,
health and lifestyles choices, and another
people's well-being. Culture has such a
great influence on our lives and is
contributing greatly to our self-concept.
The influence might either be negative or
positive depending on the type of culture
we have been brought up in. Culture
contributes a great deal in shaping our
individual personality or the SELF.
o The impact of culture on the self is
based on our cultural beliefs and values.
It also depends on the kind of education
we receive or the kind of culture we are
growing up into. It is sometimes argued
that the concepts of the self, the person,
or the individual are culturally variable
because people are not always
considered to be persons everywhere.
Culture is something shared that
characterize a group collectively just like
identity.
o The Origins of Self explores the role that
selfhood plays in defining human society,
and each human individual in that
society. It considers the genetic and
cultural origins of self, the role that self
plays in socialization and language, and
the types of self we generate in our
individual journeys to and through
adulthood.
Culture plays a vital role in the development of
an individual. Haviland, et al. (2005) defines
culture as "consisting of the abstract ideas,
values, and perceptions of the world that
inform and are reflected in people's
behavior. Culture is shared by members of
a society and produces behavior that is
intelligible to other members of that
society. Culture are learned rather than
inherited biologically, and all the different
parts of a culture function as an integrated
whole." Anthropologist Clifford Geertz states
that "…..culture provides the link between what
men are intrinsically capable of becoming and
what they actually, one by one, in fact become."
This leads us to the importance of culture in
understanding who we are as human beings.
• Man acquires his knowledge, beliefs,
morals, customs, and other habits and
capacities from his interactions with
others in the society where he belongs.
We learn our cultural practices and
traditions by listening, talking, and
interacting with other people.
• As a child we learn appropriate behavior
by observing and copying the behavior of
adults. We express our feelings and
make judgements of what is right
or what is wrong based on our
interpretation of adults' behavior.
This serves to guide our own behavior
and perceptions throughout life.
• Thus, our shared beliefs, values,
memories, and expectations bind us
together who grow up in the same
culture.
Anthropology - has explored various meanings
of culture, self and identity to better understand
the self. - holds a holistic view of human nature.
It is considered with how cultural and biological
processes interact to shape the self.
Contemporary Anthropologist Culture and self
are complementary concepts that are to be
understood in relation to one another.
➢ Anthropology considers human
experience as an interplay of "nature"
referring to genetic inheritance which
sets the individual's potentials. -
meaning to all of the genes and
hereditary factors that influence who we
are - from our physical appearance to
our personality characteristics "nurture"
referring to the sociocultural
environment - meaning to all the
environmental variations that impact
who we are, including our early
childhood experiences, how we were
raised, our social relationship, and our
surrounding culture.
Anthropology is providing insights into the
nature of self-based on continuous
understanding of the basic element of culture
The Self and person in Contemporary
Anthropology
Contemporary culture refers to current,
shared themes, beliefs and values of the society.
It includes present practices, trends, as well as
political and social beliefs. At present, television,
print media, advertisements and internet
influence the language, traditions, beliefs,
knowledge and even our personalities. We are
fond of artists, love teams and other performers
whom we appreciate and (consciously or
unconsciously) imitate their way of talking,
fashion style, expressions, and even
relationships and way of life. Magazines and
other print materials tends to present and set
acceptable clothing, accessories, cosmetics, etc.
Look at the picture on your right.
The internet provides us with diverse
entertainment, allowed us to easily connect with
others, provided latest information, etc. Whether
we are aware or not, all these affect our self-
concept and our individuality as a whole. With
this, Clifford Geertz seems to be right when he
said, "Culture is also not a force or causal agent
in the world, but a context in which people live
out their
Two ways in which the concept of self is
viewed in different societies:
1. Egocentric - suggests that each person
is defined as a replica of all humanity but
capable of acting independently from
others
2. Sociocentric - the self is viewed as
dependent on the situation or setting.
In sociocentric, the membership of a
person in a particular social group defines the
boundaries of the self.
In egocentric, the self is viewed as
autonomous and distinct individual with inherent
characteristics.

- From the similarities and differences in
characteristics among individuals, people
construct their social identities.
- The identity toolbox refers to the
"features of a person's identity that he or
she chooses to emphasize in
constructing a social self".
- Self-identification may be attained by:
kinship, family membership, gender, age,
language, religion, ethnicity, personal
appearance, and socioeconomic status
- Some characteristics such as kinship,
gender and age are almost universally
used to differentiate people.
- Other characteristics such as ethnicity,
personal appearance, and socioeconomic
status are not always used in every
society
- Family membership could be the most
significant feature to determine the
person's social identity.
- Another important identity determinant
that is often viewed as essential for the
maintenance of a group identity is
language.
- In other societies, religious affiliation is
an important marker of group identity.
- Personal naming, a universal practice
with numerous cross-cultural variations
establishes a child's birthright and social
identity. A name is an important device
to individualize a person and to have an
identity.
- Changes in one's identity usually involve
rites of passage that prepares individuals
for new roles from one stage of life to
another.
THE SELF AS PSYCHOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE
Discuss the self as a cognitive construct, the
theory of William James on Me and I self, the
real versus ideal self and other dichotomy of self
with emphasis on promoting alignment or
congruence.
Psychology is the scientific study of behavior
and mental processes and how they are affected
by an organism's physical state, mental state,
and external environment. Its explanation of
behavior and other practices are anchored on
the biological, learning, cognitive, sociocultural,
and psychodynamic perspectives. These
approaches reflect different questions about
human behavior, different assumptions about
how the mind works, and, most important,
different kinds of explanations of why people do
what they do. (Wade and Tavris, 2000)
• The "Self", as one of the foundations of
human behavior, is one of the central
subjects of psychology. It is defined in
psychology as "our sense of personal
identity and of who we are as
individuals." Psychology explains self by
focusing on the individual and the
cognitive functions at the same time
recognizing other factors that contributes
to its development.
The Self as a Cognitive
Construction
▪ As a child develops his ability to think,
reason, decide and other cognitive
functions, he/she also develops his/her
self-concept. The self-concept is the
belief and feelings that we have about
ourselves. This includes our beliefs about
our personality traits, physical
characteristics, abilities, values, goals,
and roles, as well as the knowledge that
we exist as individuals.
▪ Throughout childhood and adolescence,
the self- concept becomes more abstract
and complex and is organized into a
variety of different cognitive aspects of
the self, known as self-schemas - a
cognitive structure involving some
aspects of the self that is
considered important to the
individual. Children have self-schemas
about their progress in school, their
appearance, their skills at sports and
other activities, and many other aspects.
In turn, these self-schemas direct and
inform their processing of self-relevant
information, much as we saw schemas in
general affecting our social cognition.
▪ Self-awareness refers to the extent to
which we are currently fixing our
attention on our own self-concept.
William James and the Me-Self
and I-Self
William James, a renowned American
psychologist, developed a theory of self-
consciousness in his work, Principles of
Psychology, which was published in 1890.
Earliest psychologist who study the self
James discusses the composition of what
makes the Self, and breaks it down into "I"
and "Me" and explaining the differences and
importance of each. The "Me" is explained as
being the material, social, and spiritual
components of the ego. The theory also details
self-esteem describing it as the ratio of an
individual's actual behavior in contrast to their
pretensions.
William James Theory of Self
The self is divided into two main categories:
"Me" Self and "I" Self
➢ "ME" Self refers to the aspects of
someone that come from that person's
experiences or known as the "empirical
self.
Three sections:
❖ The Material Self. Consists of
things that belong to us or that
we belong to. Things like family,
clothes, our body, and money are
some of what makes up our
material selves. The material self
refers to tangible objects, people,
or places that carry the
designation my or mine. It is not
the physical entities themselves,
however, that comprise the
material self. Rather, it is our
psychological ownership of them
(Scheibe, 1985). This is what we
mean when we talk about the
extended self. It includes all of
the people, places, and things
that we regard as "ours.
Two subclasses of the material self:
▪ The bodily self. This
includes our body and its
parts. Example, "My
eyes."
▪ Extracorporeal (beyond
the body) self. Rosenberg
(1979) has referred to the
extracorporeal self as the
extended self. This refers
to other people (my
children), pets (my dog),
possessions (my car),
places (my home town),
and the products of our
labors (my painting) that
we consider ours.
❖ The Social Self. Refers to how
we are regarded and recognized
by others. Our social selves are
who we are in a given social
situation. For James, people
change how they act depending
on the social situation that they
are in. James believed that
people had as many social selves
as they did social situations they
participated in.
❖ The Spiritual Self. For James,
the spiritual self was who we are
at our core. The spiritual self is
more concrete or permanent than
the other two selves. The spiritual
self is our subjective and most
intimate self. Aspects of an
individual's spiritual self includes
things like their personality, core
values, and conscience that do
not typically change throughout
their lifetime. The spiritual self is
our inner self or our psychological
self. It is comprised of our self-
perceived abilities, attitudes,
emotions, interests, values,
motives, opinions, traits, and
wishes.
➢ "I" Self. This is classified as the
thinking self. For James, the "I" part of
self was the thinking self, which could
not be further divided. He linked this part
of the self to the soul of a person, or
what is now thought of as the mind.
True vs False Selves
Donald Winnicott in his book "Ego
Distortion in Terms of True and False Self,
Published in 1960 said, "We all wear masks. Our
social masks enable us to survive and to interact
appropriately in a wide variety of interpersonal
contexts. We show a different side of ourselves
to different people in our lives: significant
others, family members, friends, professional
colleagues, and acquaintances". He further
explains that the false self develops through
early environmental failure wherein true self-
potential unrealized and hidden. The idea is that
infants depend on their primary caregiver not Real and Ideal Self-Concepts
only to meet their most basic needs for survival,
but also for reliable, accurate, and empathic
Carl Rogers came up with his conception of
self through the interventions he used for his
emotional responses.
clients as he practices the Person - Centered
Therapy. This approach is a non-directive
There is a natural human tendency to protect
intervention because it believes that all
our authentic selves from the scrutiny of the
people have potential to solve their own
outside world. When we protect our true selves,
problems. Rogers believe that people must
we are able to avoid being rejected or hurt.
be fully honest with themselves in order to
There is a downside to this protection though –
have personal discovery on oneself. In this
we may miss out on the opportunity to have
concept of self, he came up with three sides of
genuine connections with other people.
a triangle.
• Perceived Self (self-worth) It is how
Some of us may relate to both ourselves and
the person sees self and others see him.
others from a dominantly false self-position. If
• The real self (Self-Image). It is who
we have been relating to the world in this way
we actually are. It is how we think, how
for many years, it can feel "normal."
we feel, look, and act. It can be seen by
others, but because we have no way of
❖ Authentic Self: The sense of self based
truly knowing how others view us, the
on spontaneous authentic experience
real self becomes our self-image.
and feeling of being alive, having "real
• The ideal self is how we want to be. It
self". Lack of disparity between values
is an idealized image that we have
and lived values. Unique combination of
developed over time, based on what we
your vast multitude of talents, skills,
have learned and experienced. May
interests, and abilities
include components of what our parents
have taught us, what we admire in
❖ False Self: Putting on a facade with
others, what our society promotes, and
others may result in an internal
what we think is in our best interest.
sensation of being depleted, drained, or
emotionally numb. Possible tendencies to
turn to mood-altering substances in Importance of Alignment
order to feel "different". Actions may feel If the way that I am (the real self) is
forced, alienated, or detached aligned with the way that I want to be (the
ideal self), then I will feel a sense of mental
While there are clear distinctions between well-being or peace of mind.
characteristics of acting from the authentic self Real Self= peace of mind
vs the false self, it is important to remember Ideal Self = Peace of mind
that the false self, or social mask, serves If the way that I am is not aligned with how I
many adaptive (i.e., useful) purposes. We want to be, the incongruence, or lack of
need to be able to utilize aspects of the false alignment, will result in mental distress or
self in a variety of social contexts. The anxiety.
difference between utilizing the false self in an Real Self= Anxiety
adaptive way versus a maladaptive way has to Ideal Self = Depression, Mental Health
do with both our awareness of its attributes and Issues
sense of congruence between our social masks The greater the level of incongruence between
and our core values. the ideal self and real self, the greater the level
of resulting distress
When we are aware of the many sides of
ourselves, we are able to gain a sense of
ownership and mastery over when and how we
choose to show these sides. When we are in
control of what part of ourselves, we choose to
show, the false self is no longer foreign and
detached: our social masks become congruent
and integrated. We are whole.
 THE SELF IN WESTERN AND
ORIENTAL/ EASTERN THOUGHT
Discuss the self from the eastern and western
thought. It will discuss individualism and
collectivism as opposing cultures that
influence the development of the self. Certain
religious beliefs that are known to have
influenced these thoughts will also be explored.
Different cultures and varying environment
tends to create different perceptions of the "self
and one of the most common distinctions
between cultures and people is the eastern vs.
western dichotomy wherein eastern represents
Asia and western represents Europe and
Northern America. Oftentimes we associate
western thought with individualism and
eastern/oriental with collectivism. In this lesson
we learn more of their differences in terms of
culture, values, norms, and practices.
The Social Construction of the Self in
Eastern and Western Thought
Individualism
• Individualist culture is a culture in which
the goals of the individual take
precedence over the goals of the group.
• It is characterized by individual
autonomy; self-oriented; personal goals;
unique and independent; individual
privacy; nuclear family; individual
rewards (equity); competition
Examples of Countries with Generally
Individualistic Cultures
United States Australia UnitedKingdom Canada
Netherlands Hungary (post-communist
generation) New Zealand Italy Belgium Sweden
Ireland Norway Switzerland Germany
Collectivism
• Collectivist culture is a culture in which
the goals of the group take precedence
over the goals of the individual.
• It is characterized by group unity and
harmony; group-oriented; group goals;
conforming and interdependent; group
belongingness; extended family; equal
distribution of reward (equality);
cooperation
Examples of Countries with Generally
Collectivistic Cultures
China Taiwan India Pakistan Bangladesh
Indonesia Afghanistan Malaysia Egypt Cyprus
Ghana Nepal Argentina Armenia
In other words, in an individualist
culture, members are responsible for themselves
and, perhaps, their immediate families. In a
collectivist culture, members are responsible for
the group as a whole. In an individualist culture,
success is measured by how far one stands out
from the crowd. Ex: self-made millionaires,
employees of the month, standing out.
In a collectivist culture, success is measured by
one's contributions to the group as a whole. Ex:
loyalty to company or country, specialized skills,
fitting in.
Also applies on a personal level. That is, one can
personally be collectivist while his or her culture
is individualist. Cooperation versus competition.
Importance of in-group and out-group members
Individualism
• Individualist culture is a culture in which
the goals of the individual take
precedence over the goals the group. It
means that, members are responsible
for themselves and, perhaps, their
immediate families. Success is
measured by how far one stands
out from the crowd Ex. Self-made
millionaires, employees of the months,
standing out.
• The "I" identity the individuals identify
primarily with self, with the needs of the
individual being satisfied before those of
the groups.
• The individual is acts and makes his own
choices, looks after and taking care of
oneself and being self-sufficient
• Independence and self-reliance are
greatly stressed and valued.
• In general, they tend to distance
themselves psychologically and
emotionally from each other. One may
choose to join groups, but group
membership is not essential to one’s
identity or success.
• Individualistic doers are self-assured and
very independent people. They are quiet
and realist, very rational, extremely
matter of fact people.
 • They strongly cultivate their
individualism and enjoy applying their
abilities to new tasks. But they are also
very spontaneous and impulsive persons
who like to follow their sudden
inspirations.
• Individualistic people are susceptible to
loneliness
Individualism: Individual autonomy;
self-oriented; personal group goals,
unique and independent; individual
privacy; nuclear family; individual
rewards (equity); competition
Collectivism
• Collectivist culture is a culture in which
the goals of the group take precedence
over the goals of the individual. It
means that the members are responsible
for the group as a whole. Success is
measured by one's contributions to the
group as à whole Ex. loyalty to company
or country, specialized Skills, fitting in
• The "WE" identity
• Collectivist vies the group as the primary
entity, with the individuals lost along the
way.
• The survival and the success of the
group ensures the well-being of the
individual, so that by considering the
needs and feelings of others, one
protects oneself
• Harmony and the interdependence of
group members are stressed and
• It sees the group as the important
element, and individuals are just
members of the group. The group has
his own values somehow different from
those of the individual members.
• Each person is encouraged to be an
active player in society, to do what is
best for society as a whole rather than
themselves.
• Rules promote unity, brotherhood, and
selflessness
• Working with others and cooperating is
the norm; everyone supports each other.
• Collectivist people can have strong fear
of rejection
Collectivism: Group unity and
harmony; group-oriented; conforming
and interdependent; group
belongingness; extended family; equal
distribution of reward (equality);
cooperation
Religious Beliefs
The following religious beliefs have generally
influenced the culture of different countries as
well as the self, specifically.
Confucianism
• This can be seen as a code of ethical
conduct, of how one should properly act
according to their relationship with other
people, thus it is also focused on having
a harmonious social life (Ho 1995, 116).
• The cultivated self in Confucianism is
what some scholars call a "subdued self”
wherein personal needs are repressed
for the good of many, making Confucian
society also hierarchical for the purpose
of maintaining order and balance in
society.
Taoism
• Living in the way of the Tao or the
universe. Taoism rejects having one
definition of what the Tao is, and one
can only state clues of what it is as they
adapt a free-flowing, relative, unitary, as
well as paradoxical view of almost
everything.
• The self is not just an extension of the
family or the community; it is part of the
universe, one of the forms and
manifestations of the Tao (Ho 1995,
120)
Buddhism
• This believes that the self is seen as an
illusion, born out of ignorance, of trying
to hold
and control things, or human-centered needs,
thus the self is also the source of all
these suffering (Ho 1995, 121).
In general, Confucianism and Taoism
still situate the self within a bigger context. The
person, in striving to a better person, does not
create a self above other people or nature but a
self that is beneficial to his/her community as
well as in order and in harmony within
everything else. As for Buddhism, the self, with
all its connections and selfish ideas, is totally
taken, not just out of the center of the picture,
but out of the whole picture as a whole.