Understanding the Self

PSY 100: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
College of Liberal Arts, Sciences and Education

Prepared by: Prof. Ariane Marie P. Zarate and Gwyneth Ann R. Cosejo
MODULE 1
DEFINING THE SELF
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the module, you should be able to:
1. To explain why it is essential to understand the self.
2. Describe the different ways by which society and culture shape the self.
Pre-Activity - Before Reading Questions/This part may also contain motivational activities
1. How do you describe yourself?

2. How is your self related to other selves?
Lesson 1
Defining the Self:
Personal and Developmental Perspectives on Self and Identity
❖ A name no matter how intimately bound it is with the bearer, however, is NOT the person. It is only a
SIGNIFIER.
❖ The SELF is something that a person perennially molds, shapes, and develops.
❖ The SELF is something that a person perennially molds, shapes, and develops.
❖ It was the Greeks who seriously questioned myths and moved away from them in attempting to
understand reality and respond to questions of curiosity, including the question of self.
SOCRATES
❖ Arche – explains the multiplicity of things in the world.

❖ SOCRATES was more concerned with another subject, THE PROBLEM OF SELF.
❖ He is the 1st philosopher who ever engaged in a systematic questioning about the self. To Socrates,
this has become his lifelong mission, the true task of the Philosopher is to know oneself.
❖ During his trial for allegedly corrupting the minds of the youth, Socrates declared without regret that
his being indicted was brought about by his going around to Athens engaging men, young and old, to
question their presuppositions about themselves and about the world particularly about who they are.
❖ Most men in his reckoning were really not fully aware of who they were and the virtues that they were
supposed to attain in order to preserve their souls for the afterlife.
❖ Socrates thought that this is the worst that can happen to anyone.
❖ For SOCRATES, every man is composed of body and soul. This means that every human is DUALISTIC
(composed of 2 important aspects of his personhood).
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❖ For Socrates, this means all individuals have an imperfect, impermanent aspect, the body, while
maintaining that there is also a soul that is perfect and permanent.
PLATO
❖ Socrates’ student basically took off from his master and supported the idea that man is a dual nature
of body and soul.
❖ He added that there are 3 components of the SOUL: RATIONAL, SPIRITED, APPETITIVE.
ST. AUGUSTINE
❖ Augustine’s view of the human person reflects the entire spirit of the medieval world when it comes to
man.
❖ There is an aspect of man, which dwells in the world, that is imperfect and continuously yearns to be
with the divine while other is capable of reaching immortality.
❖ The body is bound to DIE on earth and the soul is to anticipate living eternally in a realm of spiritual
bliss in communion with God.
❖ The goal of every human person is to attain this communion and bliss with the Divine by living his life
on earth in virtue.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
❖ “Man is composed of 2 parts – MATTER and FORM”

❖ “The soul is what animates the body it is what makes us HUMANS”
❖ MATTER- HYLE in Greek. Common stuff that makes up everything in the universe. Man’s body is part of
this form.
❖ FORM – MORPHE in Greek. Essence of a substance or thing. What makes a human person a human
person is his ESSENCE.
RENE DESCARTES
❖ Father of Modern Philosophy

❖ Conceived that the human person as having a BODY and MIND.
❖ The Meditations of First Philosophy – famous treatise. There is so much that we should doubt.
❖ In fact, he says that much of what we think and believe, because they are not infallible, may turn out to
be FALSE.
❖ One should only believe that which can pass the test of doubt.
❖ If something is so clear and lucid as not to be even doubted, then that is the only time when one
should actually by a proposition.
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❖ Descartes thought that the only thing that one cannot doubt is the EXISTENCE OF THE SELF.
❖ Cogito ergo sum – “I think therefore, I am”
❖ Rene Descartes issued the famous line “I think, therefore I am.”
❖ This very common phrase in western philosophy assured in an era of self awareness.
❖ From this perspective doubting yourself is the very reason why you should believe that you exist and
are capable.
❖ In this regard doubt is the very foundation of truth, that we doubt what we have thought of is proof
that we stumbled on knowledge.
❖ The body is nothing else but a machine that is attached to the mind. The human person has it but it is
not what makes man a man. That is the MIND.
DAVID HUME
❖ Scottish philosopher who has a very unique way of looking at man.

❖ The SELF is not an entity over and beyond the physical body.
❖ Empiricism – school of thought that discuss the idea that knowledge can only be possible if it is sensed
& experienced.
❖ Men can only attain knowledge by EXPERIENCING.
❖ To David Hume, the SELF is nothing else but a bundle of impressions.
❖ IMPRESSIONS – the basic object of our experience or sensation. Form the core of our thoughts.
Products of our direct experience with the world.
❖ IDEAS – copies of impressions.
❖ SELF according to Hume, is simply “A bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each
other with an inconceivable rapidity & are in a perpetual flux & movement.”
❖ In reality, what one thinks as unified self is simply a combination of all experiences with a particular
person.
IMMANUEL KANT
❖ Kant recognizes the veracity in Hume’s account that everything starts with perception and sensation of
impressions.
❖ There is necessarily a mind that organizes the impressions that men get from the external world.
❖ Without the self, one cannot organize the different impressions that one gets in relation to his own
experience.
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❖ Kant suggests that the “SELF” is an actively engaged intelligence in man that synthesizes all knowledge
& experiences. Thus, the self is not just what gives one his personality. It is also the seat of knowledge
acquisition for all human persons.
GILBERT RYLE
❖ He solves the mind-body dichotomy that has been running for a long time.
❖ For Ryle, what truly matter is the behaviors that a person manifests in his day-to-day life.
❖ The SELF is not an entity one can locate and analyze but simply the convenient name that people use
to refer to all the behavior that people make.
MAURICE MERLEAU PONTY
❖ Mind and body are so intertwined that they CANNOT be separated from one another.
❖ One’s body is his opening toward his existence in the world.
❖ For him, the Cartesian problem is nothing else but plain misunderstanding.
❖ The living body, his thoughts, emotions and experiences are all ONE.
Lesson 2
Defining the Self:
Self, Society and Culture
❖ Self is distinct from other selves. The self is always UNIQUE and has its own identity.
❖ One cannot be another person. Self is also self-contained and independent because in itself it can
exist.
❖ Self is unitary in that it is the center of all experiences and thoughts that run through a certain person.
❖ SELF is private. Each person sorts out information, feelings and emotions and thought processes within
the self.
MARCELL MAUSS
❖ According to Marcel Mauss, every self has 2 faces: PERSONNE and MOI
Moi – person’s sense of who he is, body and basic entity; biological givenness.
Personne – composed of the social concepts of what it means to be who he is.
HERBERT MEAD & LEV VYGOTSKY
❖ For them, human persons develop with the use of language acquisition and interaction with others.
❖ They treat the human mind as something that is made, constituted through language as experienced in
the external world and as encountered in dialogues with others.
❖ Vygotsky believes a child internalizes real-life dialogues that he has had with others, with his family,
primary caregiver or his playmates.
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SELF in Families
❖ The impact of family is still deemed as a given in understanding the self.
❖ The kind of family that we are born in and the resource available to us (spiritual, economic, etc) will
certainly affect us and the kind of development that we will have as we go through life.
❖ Human beings are born virtually helpless and the dependency period of a human baby to its parents
for nurturing is relatively longer than most other animals.
❖ In trying to achieve the goal of becoming a fully realized human, a child enters a system of relationship,
most important of which is the FAMILY.
❖ Babies internalize ways and styles that they view from their Family. Notice how kids reared in a
respectful environmental becomes respectful as well and the converse if raised in a converse family.
Without a FAMILY, biologically and sociologically, a person may not even survive or become a
HUMAN PERSON.
Parenting Style
SELF-IDENTITY
❖ The SELF IDENTITY is NOT restricted to the present. It includes PAST selves and FUTURE selves.
❖ Refers to global understanding a person has of themselves. Composed of relatively permanent self-
assessments, such as personality attributes, knowledge of one’s skills & abilities, one’s occupation and
hobbies and awareness of one’s physical attributes.
SELF-CONCEPT
❖ The knowledge about himself. Can be influenced not only by observing one’s own self and behavior
objectively, but also by observing the reactions that other people have to you and your behavior, or
imagining what other people might think of you, or what you would think of yourself if you saw
yourself from outside.
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Components of Self-Concept
➢ SELF-ESTEEM – judgment of personal performance compared with self-ideal. Derived from a sense of
giving and receiving love and being respected by others.
➢ ROLE PERFORMANCE – level of self-esteem is dependent upon the self-perception of adequate role
performance in various social roles.
(ROLE – refers to set of expected behaviors determined by familial, cultural, and social norms)
➢ BODY IMAGE – attitude about one’s physical attributes and characteristics, appearance, and
performance.
➢ PERSONAL IDENTITY or SELF-IDENTITY – what sets one person apart as a unique individual. IDENTITY –
includes name, gender, family status and roles.
SELF-IMAGE
❖ The way you think about yourself and your abilities or appearance.
❖ One’s conception of oneself or one’s role.
BIG 5 FACTOR THEORY

❖ OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE – suggests characteristics that include having broad range of interest &
willing to try out even most unusual ideas. They are intellectually curious, sensitive to beauty and tend
to hold unconventional beliefs.
❖ CONSCIENTIOUSNESS - Tend to be self-disciplined, dutiful and prefer planned behavior.
❖ EXTRAVERSION – gain energy when exposed to the external world. They tend to be action oriented,
enthusiastic, visible to people and are capable of asserting themselves.
❖ AGREEABLENESS – trustworthy, helpful, kind, generous and do not hesitate to compromise their
interest with others.
❖ NEUROTICISM – tendency to experience anger, depression anxiety and other forms of negative
emotions. Also called EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY.
SELF UNDERSTANDING
❖ Compare and contrast how the self can be influenced by the different institutions in the society.
❖ Represents the sum total of people’s conscious perception of their identity as distinct from others.
Importance
➢ Key competency for individuals to function efficiently in organization.
Activity - After Reading Questions/Discussion Questions:
1. What is the importance of understanding the self?

2. What is the relationship between self, society and culture?
3. How do parenting styles affect the development of a person?
Learning Tasks:
1. Reflective essay – Who am I?
2. Essay - The effects of Parenting types to ones’ personality
3. Online Quiz
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Institutional Rubrics for Essay:
Excellent Very Satisfactory Satisfactory Fair Poor

Indicators
(20) (17) (14) (11) (8)
Answers are Answers are Answers are not Answers are Answers are
Score comprehensive, accurate and comprehensive partial or incomplete.
________ accurate and complete. Key or completely incomplete. Key
complete. Key points are stated stated. Key points are not Spelling,
ideas are clearly and supported. points are clear. Questions punctuation,
stated, explained, addressed, but are not and
and well Very few spelling not well adequately grammatical
supported. and punctuation supported. answered errors create
errors, minor distraction,
Free from grammatical Most spelling, Most spelling, making
spelling, errors punctuation, punctuation, reading
punctuation or and grammar and grammar difficult
grammatical are correct are correct
errors allowing allowing
reader to reader to
progress though progress though
essay. Few essay. Some
errors remain. errors remain.
Excellent Very Satisfactory Satisfactory Fair Poor

Indicators
(15) (13) (11) (9) (7)
Answers are Answers are Answers are not Answer are Answers are
complete. Key points are stated stated. Key points are not
ideas are clearly and supported. points are clear. Questions
stated, explained, addressed, but are not
and well Very few spelling not well adequately
supported. and punctuation supported. answered
errors, minor
Free from grammatical Most spelling, Most spelling,
spelling, errors punctuation, punctuation,
punctuation or and grammar and grammar
reader to reader to
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Indicators Excellent Very Satisfactory Satisfactory Fair Poor

(10) (8) (6) (4) (2)
errors, minor
reader to reader to
Indicators Excellent Very Satisfactory Satisfactory Fair Poor

(5) (4) (3) (2) (1)
errors, minor
reader to reader to
Page 8 of 9
References:
Chafee, J. (2013). Who are you? consciousness, identity and the self. In the Philosopher’s way: thinking
critically about profound ideas. Pearson Education, Inc.
Magalona, E. (2018). Understanding the self-developing life skills. Manila International Book Fair.
Otig, V. (2018). A holistic approach in understanding the self: a workbook-textbook for college students.
Malabon city: Mutya Publishing House, Inc.
Palean, E. (2018). Introspection: understanding the self. Mandaluyong City: Books Atpb Pub. Inc.
Santos, R. (2016). Personal development. Rex Book Store.
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PSY 100: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

College of Liberal Arts, Sciences and Education

1. How do you describe yourself?

❖ Arche – explains the multiplicity of things in the world.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

❖ “Man is composed of 2 parts – MATTER and FORM”

❖ Father of Modern Philosophy

❖ Scottish philosopher who has a very unique way of looking at man.

MAURICE MERLEAU PONTY

HERBERT MEAD & LEV VYGOTSKY

BIG 5 FACTOR THEORY

Activity - After Reading Questions/Discussion Questions:

1. What is the importance of understanding the self?

Institutional Rubrics for Essay:

Excellent Very Satisfactory Satisfactory Fair Poor

Excellent Very Satisfactory Satisfactory Fair Poor

Indicators Excellent Very Satisfactory Satisfactory Fair Poor

Indicators Excellent Very Satisfactory Satisfactory Fair Poor

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