UNDERSTANDING THE SELF (GEC 1)
TERMINOLOGIES • a subjective picture of one's own physical
SELF
• an individual's temporary behavior or
character
• the union of elements (such as body,
emotions, thoughts, and sensations) that
constitute the individuality and identity of a
person
• personal interest or advantage
• the enforce person or entire person of an
individual
• the realization or embodiment of an
abstraction
• material that is part of an individual organism
IDENTITY
• the distinguishing character or personality of
an individual
• the relation established by psychological
identification
• the condition of the human being the same
with something described or asserted
• the sameness of essential or generic
character
INFERIORITY
• being off little / less important / less in value
• the condition of being lower in status or
quality than another or others
INFERIORITY COMPLEX
• an intense personal feeling of inadequacy,
often resulting in the belief that one is in some
way deficient, or inferior, to others
SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
• person/s who are important to once well-
being
SELF-IMAGE
• one's conception of oneself or of one's role
• the personal view, or mental picture, that we
have of ourselves
• an “internal dictionary” that describes the
characteristics of the self
• idea that one has of one’s ability,
appearance, and personality
BODY IMAGE
• visual representation of one’s self body
• a mental picture of impression or something
appearance established both by self-
observation and by noting the reactions of
others
• mental conception held in a common group
SELF-DETERMINATION
• free choice of one's own act or state without
external compulsion
SELF-AWARENESS
• an awareness of one's own personality or
individuality
• conscious knowledge of one’s own
character, feelings, motives, and desires
SELF-ACTING
• acting or capable of acting of or by itself
SELF-ACTUALIZATION
• to realize fully one's potential
SELF-ACCEPTANCE
• the act or state of accepting oneself and
recognizing one's own abilities and limitations
SELF-ABUSE
• abuse of one's body or health
• behavior which causes damage or harm to
oneself
SELF-PITY
• pity for oneself
• a self-indulgent dwelling on one's own sorrows
or misfortunes
SELF-INDULGENT
• indulgent of one's self of misfortune or misery
• characterized by doing or tending to do
exactly what one wants, especially when this
involves pleasures or idleness
SELF-AVOWED
• openly acknowledged or declared by
oneself as being such
SELF-CONCEPT
• the mental image one has of oneself
SELF-WORTH
• a sense of one's own value as a human being
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SELF-ESTEEM
• a confidence and satisfaction in oneself
SELF-RESPECT
• a proper respect for oneself as a human
being
• regard for one's own standing or position
SELF-DISCIPLINE
• correction or regulation of oneself for the
sake of improvement
SELF-IDEAL
• individual’s perception
FEELING OF ANXIETY
• characterized by an overwhelming sense of
apprehension and the expectation that
something will happen
• class of mental disorder characterized by
chronic disorder and it is also deliberating
anxiety
HIGH SELF-ESTEEM
• pre-requisite of self-actualization
SELF-DEPRECATOR
• under evaluation of one’s self
• expressing disparagement or undervaluation
of oneself
SELF-EFFICACY
• an individual's belief in his or her capacity to
execute behaviors necessary to produce
specific performance attainments
SELF-EXPECTANCY
• part of one's identity that is that person see's
what he/she want to do
SELF-EXPRESSION
• the expression of one's own personality;
assertion of one's individual traits
SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY
• principle that refers to a belief of or an
expectation in particular outcome or just a
factor contributes to its fulfillment
SELF-HELP
• a self-method or action or process of
bettering oneself or overcoming one's
problems without the aid of others
• the coping with one's personal or emotional
problems without professional help
ROLE
• a socially expected behavior pattern usually
determined by an individual's status in a
particular society
SELF-ROLE
• test of a socially
ASCRIBED ROLE
• the social status of a person that is assigned
at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life
• the status is a position that is neither earned
by the person nor chosen for them
ASSUMED ROLE
• a behavior pattern adopted by a person in
the belief that such behavior is expected for
a particular position or status
• taking on a role is also a method for dealing
with uncertainty about how to behave
SELF-CARE
• care for oneself
• health care provided by oneself often without
the consultation of a medical professional
CHAPTER 1:
DEFINING THE SELF: PERSONAL AND
DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVES ON SELF AND
IDENTITY
LESSON 1: THE SELF FROM THE VARIOUS
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES
a. DEFINING THE SELF
NAMES
• before entering to any formal institutions
of learning, articulating, and writing our
names is one of the things that were
taught in us as kids
• names represent who we are; not just
randomly pick of combination of numbers
and letters
• it supposed to designate us in the world
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• even death can’t stop this bond between
the person and their name
• a name is not the person itself no matter
how intimately bound it is with the bearer;
it’s only a signifier
SELF
• thought to be something else more than
name
• something that a person constantly molds,
shapes, and develops
• not a static thing
• everyone is tasked to discover one’s self
b. THE SELF FROM THE VARIOUS PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVES
PHILOSOPHY
✓ from Greek: φιλοσοφία, philosophia (philo
means love & sophia means
wisdom/knowledge), “love of wisdom”
✓ the desire for truth by formulating never-
ending questions to provide answers to
every inquiry about the nature of human
existence
✓ used originally by the ancient Greeks, the
term meant the pursuit of knowledge for
its own sake & comprised all areas of
speculative thought (including the arts,
sciences, and religion)
✓ philosophical questions (unlike those of
the sciences) are usually foundational
and abstract in nature
✓ done primarily through reflection and
does not tend to rely on experiment
MUCH OF PHILOSOPHY CONCERNS WITH THE
FUNDAMENTAL NATURE OF SELF
✓ The Greeks were the ones who seriously
questioned myths and moved away from
them to understand reality and respond
to perennial questions of curiosity,
including the question of the self.
THE SELF ACCORDING TO ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS
PRE-SOCRATES
✓ group of early Greek philosophers (like
Milesians Thales, Anaximander, and
Anaximenes, Xenophanes of Colophon,
Parmenides, Heracleitus of Ephesus,
Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Democritus, Zeno
of Elea, and Pythagoras)
✓ to denote that some of them preceded
Socrates while other existed around
Socrates’ time
✓ arché (from Ancient Greek: ἀρχή) – origin or
source /the “soul”/ the primal matter
✓ the soul’s movement is the ultimate arché of
all other movement
✓ arché has no origin outside itself and cannot
be destroyed
✓ explains the multiplicity of things in the world
1. SOCRATES – “UNEXAMINED LIFE WAS NOT
WORTH LIVING” (469 – 399 B.C.)
o considered as Father of Western
Philosophy
o first philosopher who ever engaged in a
systematic questioning about the self
o one of his students named Plato kept his
teachings and beliefs alive in his writing
documenting Socrates incarceration and
eventually his execution
o concerned with the problem of the self
o become his life-long mission, “the true
task of the philosopher is to know oneself”
o he famously declared that “the
unexamined life was not worth living”
o underwent a trial for ‘corrupting the
minds of the youth’ but he succeeded
made people think about who they are
o he thought that “the worst thing that can
happen to anyone is to live but die
inside”
o for him, “every man is composed of body
and soul”, this means that “every person
is dualistic” because he is composed of
two important aspects of his personhood
o for him, “all individuals = imperfect and
impermanent (body) + perfect &
permanent (soul)”
2. PLATO – “THE SELF IS AN IMMORTAL SOUL” (427
– 347 B.C.)
✓ he was Socrates’ former student and he
basically took off from his master and
supported the idea that “man is a dual
nature of body and soul”
✓ he added that “humans have tripartite
souls: the rational or reasoning, the spirited
or feeling, and appetitive or sensual soul”;
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the human soul becomes just and virtuous
if these 3 souls were acquired
✓ in his magnus opus entitled “THE
REPUBLIC”, he emphasizes that “justice in
the human person can only be attained if
the three parts of the soul are working
harmoniously with one another”
THREE (3) COMPONENTS TO THE SOUL
a. RATIONAL (REASONING) SOUL: Forged by
reason and intellect must govern the
affairs of the human person
b. SPIRITED (FEELING) SOUL: In charge of
emotion should be kept at bag
c. APPETITIVE (SENSUAL) SOUL: in charge of
base desires like eating, drinking,
sleeping, and having sex are controlled
as well
3. ARISTOTLE – “THE SOUL IS THE ESSENCE OF THE
SELF” (427 – 347 B.C.)
✓ he was Plato’s former student
✓ humans are combinations of body
(matter) and soul (form) > soul actualizes
body (matter)
✓ soul – the principle which causes
movement; movement – life is a
movement
✓ “the self holds 2 realms of existence:
physical and metaphysical realm”
✓ “the soul is imprisoned in a carcass and
has a capable of a happier life when
embodied”
✓ for Aristotle, “the main goal of the self is to
lead a good, flourishing and fulfilling life”
TWO (2) REALMS OF EXISTENCE
a. PHYSICAL REALM: the human body has
physical function and multitudes of sense
of perception, opinions, and reality that
agrees
b. METAPHYSICAL REALM: vital force of self or
self-existence
THE SELF ACCORDING TO MEDIEVAL
PHILOSOPHERS
1. ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO – ”THE SELF HAS AN
IMMORTAL SOUL” (354 A.D. – 430 A.D.)
o he agreed that “man is of a bifurcated
nature”
o believed in the “immorality of the soul”
o “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”
o “the body can only thrive in the imperfect
and physical reality that is the world”
o “the soul can also stay after death in an
eternal realm with the all-transcendent
God”
o “the goal of every human person is to
attain this communion and bliss with the
Divine by living his life on earth in virtue”
2. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS – “THE SELF HAS A SOUL
THAT HUMAN MAKES HIM A HUMAN” (1227 –
1274)
o he is the Patron Saint of Students and
Universities
o most eminent 13th century scholar and
stalwart of the medieval philosophy
o Aquinas said that “man’s body is
composed of two parts: matter and form”
o matter (Greek: hyle / ὕλη) refers to the
"common stuff that makes up everything
in the universe" and the body of man is
part of this matter
o form (Greek: morphe / έντυπο) refers to
the "essence of a substance or thing"
o “the body of the human is like
animals/objects, but what makes a
human is his essence”
o to Aquinas, ”the soul is what animates the
body”
THE SELF ACCORDING TO MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHERS
1. RENE DESCARTES – “COGITO ERGO SUM”
(1596 – 1650)
o considered as the Father of Modern
Philosophy
o conceived of “the human person as
having a body and a mind”
o he claims that “there is so much that we
should doubt”
o “if something is so clear and lucid as not
to be doubted, that’s the only time one
should believe”
o “cogito ergo sum” / “I think therefore, I
am”
o “the self = cogito (the thing that thinks) +
extenza (extension of mind/body)”
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o in his view, “the body is a machine o “the self organizes different impressions
attached to the mind; it’s the mind that that one gets in relation to his own
makes the man” existence”

2. JOHN LOCKE – ”THE SELF IS CONSCIOUSNESS”
(1632 – 1704)
o an English philosopher and physician who
believed that the source of authentic
knowledge of reality must pass the test of
sensory experience
o also believed that “knowledge cannot be
innate because mind is like blank sheet of
paper (tabula rasa) at birth”, upon which
life experiences are written
o he felt that “the self is constructed
primarily from sense experience”
3. DAVID HUME – “THERE IS NO SELF” (1711-1776)
o a Scottish philosopher that has a unique
way of looking at man
o as an empiricist, “one can only know what
comes from the senses & experiences”
o “the self is not an entity beyond the
physical body”
o to him, “the self is nothing but a bundle of
impressions and ideas”
o impression – basic objects of our
experience/sensation; forms the core of
our thoughts
o idea – copies of impressions; not as “real”
as impressions
o according to Hume, self is "a bundle or
collection of different perceptions, which
succeed each other with an
inconceivable rapidity, and are in a
perpetual flux and movement"
5. GILBERT RYLE – “THE SELF IS THE WAY PEOPLE
BEHAVE” (1900 – 1976)
o a British philosopher who solves the mind-
body dichotomy that has been running
for a long time in the history
o blatantly deny the concept of an internal,
non-physical self
o for Ryle, “what truly matters is the behavior
that a person manifests in his day-to-day
life”
o he suggests that “the self is not an entity
one can locate and analyze but simply
the convenient name that people use to
refer to all the behaviors that people
make”
6. MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY – “THE SELF IS
EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY” (1908 – 1961)
o a phenomenologist who asserts that “the
mind-body bifurcation is a futile endeavor
and an invalid problem”
o Merleau-Ponty says that “mind and body
are so intertwined that they cannot be
separated from one another”
o “one’s body is his opening toward his
existence to the world”
o “the living body, his thoughts, emotions,
and experiences are all one”

4. IMMANUEL KANT – ”WE CONSTRUCT THE SELF”

(1724 – 1804)
o a German philosopher who thinks of “the
self as a mere combination of impressions”
o he agrees with Hume that everything
starts with perception/sensation of
impressions
o there is a mind that regulates these
impressions
o “time and space are ideas that one
cannot find in the world, but is built in our
minds”; “apparatus of the mind”