Understanding the Self

MODULE 2: CONCEPT AND NATURE OF SELF

I. The Philosophical View of the self
II. The Christian Biblical View of the Self
III. The Physchological View of the Self
IV. Freudian Stage of Physhosexual Development
i. THE PHILOSOPICAL VIEW OF THE SELF
SOCRATES: KNOW YOURSELF
● "tells each man to bring his inner self to light".
● A bad man is not virtuous through ignorance.
● Self-knowledge is one of the most important
virtue a man can have.
● The man who does not follow the good fails to
do so because he does not recognize it.
DAVID HUME: THE SELF IS THE BUNCH THEORY
OF MIND
● No single impression of the self exists rather, the self
is just the thing to which all the impressions of a man
is ascribed.
II. THE CHRISTIAN BIBLICAL VIEW OF THE SELF
● The self is the crown of creation.
● Then God said, “Let us make man in our image,
according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the
sea, the birds of the sky, the whole of earth, and the
creatures that crawl on the earth”. So, God created
man in His own image; He created him in the image
of God; He created them male and female.

PLATO: “THE IDEAL SELF, THE PERFECT SELF” BIBLICAL VIEWS:

● Man was omniscient or all-knowing before he came ● Spiritual
to be born into this world. ● Social
● He should live a life of virtue in which true human ● Physical
perfection exists. ● Emotional
● Happiness in the fruit of virtue ● Rational
● Aesthetic
IMMANUEL KANT: RESPECT FOR SELF ● Moral
● Man is the only creature who goerns and directs ● Sentiment
himself and his actions. ● Intellectual
● “respect others as you would respect yourself”. ● Political
● All man are persons gifted with the same basic rights ● Sensual and Sexual
and should treat each other as equals. ● Religious
● Economic
RENE DESCARTES: “I THINK, THEREFORE I AM” ST. AUGUSTINE: LOVE AND JUSTICE AS THE
(COGNITO ERCO SUM”) FOUNDATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL SELF
● A virtuous life is a dynamism of love.
● Self is a thinking entity distinct from the body.
Constant following of a turning towards love while a
● Although the mind and body are independent from
wicked life is a constant turning away
each other and serve their own function, man should
from love.
always use his thinking abilities to
● Loving God means loving one’s fellowmen;
● investigate, analyze, and experiment.
and loving one’s fellowmen denotes never
doing any harm to another.
JOHN LOCKE: PERSONAL IDENTITY
● Doing unto others as you would have them do
● Personal identity as a matter of psychosocial unto you.
continuity.
● Being conscious(memory) and not on the substance
of either the soul or the body.
● Evolves over the course of an individual’s life such as
the color of your skin, choices made, how he/she
spends time, and what they believe.

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III. THE PHYSCHOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE SELF ● Failure to complete a stage can result in a reduced
SIGMUND FREUD: THE PHYSCHOANALYTIC ability to complete further stages and, therefore, an
THEORY OF THE SELF unhealthier personality and sense of self.
● The human psyche (personality) is structured into
three parts.
● These three structures are systems and not physical
parts of the brain.
ID (Internal Desires)
● Internal drives or instinctive drives.
● The body’s primitive biological drives and
urges which are concerned only with
achieving pleasure and self-satisfaction.
● In lives completely in the unconscious.
EGO ( Reality)
● It is the “I” part of the individual that gives
him/her the sense of his/her own identity.
● The rational part of the personality.
SUPEREGO ( CONSCIENCE)
● Criticisms, prohibitions, and inhibitions form a
person’s conscience, its positive aspirations, and
ideals that represent one’s idealized self-image or
“ego-ideal”.

FREUDIAN STAGES OF PHYSCHOSEXUAL

DEVELOPMENT

ERIK ERIKSON: THE PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES OF

SELF- DEVELOPMENT
● According to the theory, successful completion of
each stage results in a healthy personality and the
acquisition of basic virtues.
● Basic virtues are characteristic strengths that the ego
can use to resolve subsequent crises.
● These crises are psychosocial because they involve
the psychological needs of the individual conflicting
with the needs of society.