THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
> Philosophy - Philosophy is a way of thinking about topics like ethics, thought, existence, time, meaning, and value. The goal is to gain a
Philosophical Perspective
A. Socrates (470-399 BC)
B. Plato (423-347)
C. Aristotle (384-322 BC)
D. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
E. Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
F. John Locke (1632-1704)
Sociological Perspective
better understanding. The hope is that by studying philosophy, we will learn to think more clearly, act more wisely, and thus help to
improve the overall quality of our lives.
> Philosophia (coined by Pythagoras) – Love of Wisdom/Friend of Wisdom
Socrates philosophy of the self: Know Thyself
 The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
 Man must stand and live according to his nature.
 Man has to look at himself: to find what? By what means?
 Knowledge is inherent in man, not outside. Wisdom is learning to recollect.
 Knowledge of oneself can be achieved through the Socratic’s method of inquiry.
-he was originally named Aristocles, but was called Plato by one of his teachers because of the breadth of
his shoulders or his speech.
-Father of Idealism and a believer in rationalism philosophy.
His Philosophy of Self
 under the usual haphazard method childrearing, accidents of birth often restrict the opportunities for self-development.
 Faulty upbringing prevents ourselves from achieving everything of what they are capable.
 The promise of easy fame or easy wealth distracts some of the most able and young people from the rigors of intellect
pursuits.
 Men with the best ability and natural disposition must receive the best education.
 The highest goal of the self in education is knowing of the good. Good is apprehended by intuitions.
 The reality must be something in the ideal order, not necessarily in the things themselves, but rather above them, in a world
by itself.
 Ideas are the foundation and justification of scientific knowledge. Reality does not change, for the ideas in ourselves is
immutable.
 Of all the ideas, the ideas of the beautiful shines out through the phenomenal veil more
- Was an ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and a teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on
diverse subjects such as physics, poetry, biology, and zoology, logic, rhetoric, politics, government and
ethics.
-Among the most important works are physics, metaphysics, ontology, NIcomachean ethics, Polotics, De
Amina and Poetics.
Basic Concepts of Aristotle on the Self
 Ultimate reality in ideas is knowable only through reflection and reason. Ultimate reality in physical objects is knowable
through experience.
 In living creatures, from is identified with the soul, plants had the lowest kinds of souls, animals had higher souls which
could feel and humans alone had rational, reasoning souls.
 The universe had never had a beginning and would never end, it is eternal, but the self has an end.
 Everything in nature has its end and function, and nothing is without its purpose. The self is created for a purpose.
 If there were no changes in the universe? There would be no time since the counting of motion depends for its existence on
a counting mind. If there were no human minds to count there would be no time.
 Mind and body are unified but they are not the products of physiological conditions of the body, the soul manifests its
activity in certain faculties which corresponds with stages of biological development. In human, the soul manifests its
activity in human reason.
- His name is Thomas of Aquin or Aquino who was a philosopher and theologian in the scholastic
tradition known as Doctor Angelicus or Doctor Universalis.
- He is the father of the Thomistic School of Philosophy and foremost classical proponent of natural
theology. He is best known for his work Summa Theologica.
-He is one of the thirty-three Doctors of the Church and considered as the greatest church theologian.
Theory of Self-knowledge
 the reality is, 1 we all lack self-knowledge to some degree, and the pursuit of knowledge is a lifelong quest-often as a
painful one.
ex. You are healthy you have work, but suddenly stripped away by a major challenge in life.
 Reality of self –ignorance,
1. ignorance result from a (2) lack of experience. 3. we already are ourselves.
For Aquinas,
-we don’t encounter ourselves as isolated minds or selves, but rather always as agent interacting with our
environment.
-Aquinas begins his theory of self-knowledge from, 2. all our self-knowledge depend on our experience
of the world around us.
-he argues, our awareness of ourselves triggered and shaped by our experience of objects in our
environment.
-that mind mental “putty” shapes when activated in knowing something.
-By itself (3) mind is dark and formless, but in the moment of acting, it is lit up to itself from inside and
sees itself engaged in that act.
Other concept of the self
 human beings have the natural capacity to know many things without special Divine revelation even though
such revelation occurs from time to time.
 We are able to know about God through his creation. Thus, we can speak of God ‘s goodness as applied to humans is
similar to but not identical with, the goodness of God.
 Man must observe four (4) cardinal virtues as prudence, temperature, justice and fortitude. These virtues are revealed in
nature, and are binding on the self.
 There are three theological virtues that should also be observed by the self: faith, hope and charity.
 Human beings have no duty of charity to animals because they are unlawful to use them for food, but this does not give men
license to be cruel to them.
 Rational thinking and the study of nature, like revelation, are valid ways to understand God for God reveals himself through
nature, so for a man to study nature is to study God.
 Man uses his reasons to grasp the truth about God and to experience salvation through that truth.
 The goal of self-existence is union and eternal fellowship with God.
 Father of modern Philosophy and the first modern rationalist.
 Known for the principle of “Cogio Ergo Sum” (I think, therefore I exist).
 He believed that an individual’s mind is separate from the body and the outside self. This is known as mind body dualism.
 He said that mind (a thinking, non-extended thing) is completely different from that of the body (an extended, non-thinking
thing) and therefore, it is possible for one to exist without the other.
 Innate ideas or “pure” that is attributes in human mind. These pure ideas is known “apriori” that are present in all human
existence.
 Tabula rasa- the mind in its hypothetical primary blank, or empty state before receiving outside impressions.
-shape by experience and sensation and reflections being the two sources of all ideas.
Sociology is the systematic and scientific study of human behavior in groups and society.
Sociologists study various aspects of social life, including behavior in large organizations and small groups, deviant
behavior, and the characteristics of political and religious institutions and social movements; sociologists study the social-psychological

A. Charles Horton Cooley
B. George Herbert Mead
C. Albert Bandura
D. Karl Marx
Psychological Perspective
A. Sigmund Freud
B. William James
C. Confucius
Anthropological Perspective
A. Ruth Fulton Benedict
B. William Graham Summer
explanations for behavior.
Ex: A person that goes to a football game to watch the people rather than the game.
  Self-alienation/estrangement
- when a person feels alienated from others and society as a whole.
-a person may feel alienated by his work by not feeling like he has meaning to his work, therefore losing
their sense of self at the workplace.
> Psychology - The psychology of the self is the study of the cognitive or affective representation of one's identity. In modern
psychology, the earliest formulation of the self-derived from the distinction between the self as “I,” the subjective knower, and the self as
“me,” the object that is known.
> Psycological Perspective - the emphasis is on observing behaviors. A psychological perspective, in essence, is a specific approach to
observing and understanding human behavior that may include various theories.
He was Jewish –German physician and psychologist. He was considered as a father of psychoanalysis
Known for his works
Id (unconscious mind) makahayop- it is a pleasure principle
Ego (conscious mind) makatao- functions in the reality.
Super-ego (Conscience) maka diyos- voice of God
“Therefore, the unconscious self is governed solely by the pleasure principle. The conscious self, on the other hand, is govern by the reality
principle.”
1. William James constructed “the stream of thought” or “the stream of Consciousness”.
He also wrote the “principle of Psychology”
-that understanding the self can be examine through different components.
Components (its constituents, the feelings and emotions the arose, the actions to which they prompt –self-seeking and self-preservation)
Constituent and component of the self
2. Material self
3. Social self
4. Spiritual self
5. Pure ego
> William James describes self as – A man’s self is the sum total of all he can his.
> Philosopher study world while scientist study phenomena
  He transliterated Kong Fu Zi or Kung –Fu-Tzu or frequently referred to as kongz.
  Confucius thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy as Confucianism. His teaching was embodied in
Analecto of Confucius, Classic Rites and Spring and Autumn Animals.
Summary of his teaching
1. The family ourselves is a basis for an ideal government.
2. Being an ideal government, there should be a strong solidarity among the family members.
3. Children should respect their elders. Living or dead.
4. Husband should respect their wives.
5. Politicians and rulers should be good models of the citizen.
6. Nature self is essentially good. Man can be honest and trustworthy and humane towards others.
7. Do not do to others what you do not want others done to yourself. The golden rule.
8. All men should observe carefully their duties toward state.
9. Every self must possess five (5) virtues: kindness, uprightness, decorum, wisdom, and faithfulness.
Anthropological Perspective concentrates on the investigation of the whole spectrum of human diversity and the utilization of that
knowledge to benefit people of different origins.
 A classical liberal American social scientist and an anthropologist.
 He taught social science at YALE, where he held the nation’s first profession ship in sociology.
 He was on of the most influential teachers at Yale or any other major school.
 Summer wrote widely within social sciences, with numerous books and essay on American history, economic, history,
political theory, sociology, and anthropology.
 He supported laissez faire economics, free markets, and the gold standard.
 He adopted the term “ethnocentrism” to identify the roots of imperialism, which he strongly opposed.
 He was a spokesman against imperialism and in favor of forgotten man of the middle class, a term he coined.

I vs. Me
Ideal Self vs. Real Self
True Self vs. Fake Self
Individualistic Self vs. Collectivist Self
THE COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTION OF SELF
I Me
Is the response of the individual to the attitude of the community.
The I acts creatively, though within the context of Me.
Ideal Self
- it is how we want to be. It is an idealized image that we have
developed over time, based on what we have learned and
experienced.
- it also includes components of what our parents
have taught us, what we admire in others, what our society
promotes, and what we think is in our best interest.
True Self
-Also known as a real self, authentic self, original self and
vulnerable self.
-Winnicott used true self to describe a sense of self based on
spontaneous authentic experience and feeling of being alive,
having a real self.
Individualistic Self
-identifies primarily with self, with the needs of individual being
satisfied before those of the group.
-looking after and taking care of oneself, being self-sufficient,
guarantees the well-being of the group Independent and self-
reliance, are greatly valued.
-in general people tend to distance themselves psychologically
and emotionally from each other.
-one may choose to join in the groups, but groups membership is
not essential to one’s identify or success.
-Individualist characteristics are often associated with men and
people in urban settings.
What is learned in interaction with others & environment
Disciplines the I by holding it back from breaking the law of
community.
Real Self
- is who we actually are. It is how we think, how we feel, look
and act.
- it can be seen by others but because we have no way of truly
knowing how others view us, the real self is our self-image.
Fake Self
- As fake self, ideal self, perfect self, superficial
self, and pseudo self, are psychological concept
often used in connection with narcissism.
- Contrast, Winnicott was as a defense façade one
which in extreme cases could leave its holder
lacking spontaneity and feeling dead and empty,
behind a mere appearance of being real.
Collectivist Self
- One’s identity is, in large part a function of one’s membership
and role in a group.
Ex. Family or work team.
- The survival and success of the group ensures the will being of
the individual, so that by considering the needs and feeling of
others, one protest oneself.
- Collectivist characteristics are often associated with women and
people in rural setting.