Professional Documents
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Province of Cotabato
Municipality of Makilala
MAKILALA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Makilala, Cotabato
CHAPTER ONE
Defining the Self: Personal and Developmental
Perspectives on Self and Identity
Intended Learning Outcomes:
responsibility of Reason (the divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make
Republic of the Philippines
Province of Cotabato
Municipality of Makilala
MAKILALA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Makilala, Cotabato
wise choices, and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths) to sort things out
and exert control, restoring a harmonious relationship among the 3 elements of
our selves.
Rational soul – forged by reason and intellect, has to govern the affairs of the
human person
Spirited soul – in charge of emotions, should be kept at bay
Appetitive soul – in charge of base desires like eating, drinking, sleeping, and
having sex
- In his Theory of Forms, Plato introduces the concepts of the 2 worlds: the world
of forms (non-physical ideas) and the world of sense (reality). While the world of
forms is real and permanent, the world of sense is temporary and only a replica of
the ideal world. The sensible world is dependent on the ideal world where the
concept of the soul belongs. Since the soul is regarded as something permanent,
man should give more importance to it than the physical body which resides in the
world of sense.
Thomas Aquinas
- Most eminent 13th century scholar and stalwart of the medieval philosophy
- Adapting some ideas from Aristotle, Aquinas said that man is composed of 2
parts: matter and form. Matter, or hyle in Greek, refers to the “common stuff that
makes up everything in the universe”. Man’s body is part of this matter. Form, or
morphe in Greek, refers to the “essence of a substance or thing”. It is what makes
Republic of the Philippines
Province of Cotabato
Municipality of Makilala
MAKILALA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Makilala, Cotabato
it what
Republic of the Philippines
Province of Cotabato
Municipality of Makilala
MAKILALA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Makilala, Cotabato
it is. In the case of the human person, the body of the human person is something
that he shares even with animals. Just as in Aristotle, the soul is what animates the
body; it is what makes us humans.
Perceptions
Preconscious Memories
Level
Stored Knowledge
Fears
Unconscious Unacceptable
Level Violent Motives Sexual Desires
Irrational Wishes
Immoral Urges
Shameful
Selfish Needs
Experiences
Edmund Husserl
- The Father of Phenomenology
- We experience our self as a unity in which the mental and physical are seamlessly
woven together
- Both Husserl and Merleau-Ponty agree that our living body is a natural synthesis
of mind and biology.
Republic of the Philippines
Province of Cotabato
Municipality of Makilala
MAKILALA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Makilala, Cotabato
ACTIVITY 1
Instruction: Explain the questions briefly. Be guided with the given rubric.
1. Among the following philosophical perspectives, which do you agree the most?
Defend your answer
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3. Describe yourself as you would. Not by what others say but how you see yourself, as
a person, child, student, and other roles you play. Write at least two (2)
paragraphs.
Republic of the Philippines
Province of Cotabato
Municipality of Makilala
MAKILALA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Makilala, Cotabato
Sociology – the science of society and social interactions taking place. It focuses attention on
all kinds of social interaction involving social acts, social relationships, social
organizations, social structures, and social processes. The social facts it gathers include the
recurrent and repetitive forms of behavior: the attitudes, beliefs, values, norms, and social
institutions which make up the social order.
Sociology studies not only the structure and function of social organization but also
the changes which take place within it.
Charles Horton Cooley in 1902 introduces the looking-glass self to highlight that the
people whom a person interacts with become a mirror in which he or she views himself or
herself. Self-identity or self-image is achieved through a threefold event which begins by
conceiving an idea of how a person presents himself or herself to others, how he or she
analyzes how others perceive him or her, and how he or she creates an image of himself or
herself. Since these perceptions are subjective, a person might have wrong interpretations of
how other people evaluate him or her. It would be critical if he or she thinks that others judge
him or her unfavorably because he could develop a negative self-image (Kendall, 2013;
Macionis, 2015; Schaefer, 2014 as cited by Go-Monilla & Ramirez, 2018)
The theory of the social self, according to Mead, includes the concepts of “self”,
“me”, and “I”. Self emerges from social interactions, our response with others, and
deep understanding about oneself with others. Self is not there since the day we were
born, but it is developed from time to time through social experiences and activities.
The “me” and the “I” have a didactic relationship, like a system of checks and
balances. The “me” exercises societal control over one’s self. The “me” is what prevents
someone from breaking the rules or boundaries of societal expectations. The “I” allows the
individual to still express creativity and individualism and understand when to possibly bend
and stretch the rules that govern social interactions. The “I” and the “me” make up the self.
(https://study.com/academy/lesson/george-herbert-mead-the-self-me-I.html)
Gerry Lanuza (2004) – discusses the relationship between society and the individual in the
article, “The Constitution of the Self”. According to him, the attainment and stability
of self-identity are freely chosen in modern societies. It is no longer restricted by
customs and traditions. While this newfound freedom offers infinite possibilities for
self-cultivation, problems such as alienation and dehumanization of the self also
appear which hinder the full development of human potentials. There is a need to
discover the “authentic core” of the self for the individual to freely work towards self-
realization. Whereas the dissolution of traditional values and communities in modern
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Province of Cotabato
Municipality of Makilala
MAKILALA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Makilala, Cotabato
society has led the individual to construct a solid and stable self-identity, the
postmodern individual welcomes all possibilities for self-improvement. In
postmodern societies, self-identity continuously changes due to the demands of
multitude of social contexts, new information technologies, and globalization.
Anthropology – is the study of what makes us human. Anthropologists take a broad approach
to understanding the many different aspects of the human experience, which we call
holism. They consider the past, through archaeology, to see how human groups lived
hundreds or thousands of years ago and what was important to them. They consider
what makes up our biological bodies and genetics, as well as our bones, diet, and
health. Anthropologists also compare humans with other animals (most often, other
primates like monkeys and chimpanzees) to see what we have in common with them
and what makes us unique.
1. I-Self – reflects what people see or perceive themselves doing in the physical world (e.g.,
recognizing that one walking, eating writing)
2. Me-Self –is a more subjective and psychological phenomenon, referring to individual’s
reflections about themselves (e.g., characterizing oneself as athletic, smart,
cooperative). Other terms such as “self-view”, “self-imagine”, “self-schema”, and
“self-concept” are also used to describe the self-referent thoughts characteristic of
the Me-Self
3 Concepts of Me-Self:
1. The material self (e.g., tangible objects or possessions we collect for ourselves)
2. The social self (e.g., how we interact and portray ourselves within different groups,
situation, or persons)
3. The spiritual self (e.g., internal dispositions)
Republic of the Philippines
Province of Cotabato
Municipality of Makilala
MAKILALA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Makilala, Cotabato
Multiple Selves – the idea of multiple selves is a concept that descries ho differing aspects of
ourselves exist within one person, rather than describing multiple people residing
within one body, one person’s self is seen to include a range of selves - or parts of
one self.
Unified Selves – the self is sometimes understood as a unified being essentially connected
to consciousness, awareness and agency.
True Selves – the child’s real feelings, needs, desires, and thoughts
False Selves – the side of us that has changed its behavior, repressed feelings and pushed aside
in order to survive
Republic of the Philippines
Province of Cotabato
Municipality of Makilala
MAKILALA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
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The Self as Proactive Agentic – defined as the aspect of human personality that is determined
by future assessment of one’s goals, objectives and actions.
- Functions are adversely affected by degenerating planning, selecting and
implementing the capabilities of an individual
- People are not only agents of action but also self-examiners of their own
functioning. Efficacy beliefs are the foundation of human agency. Self-efficacy is
the individual’s belief that he is capable to perform a task which influences
whether he will think pessimistically or optimistically and in ways that are self-
enhancing or self-hindering. Efficacy beliefs also play a central role in self-
regulation which is the ability of an individual to control his behavior without
having to rely on others for help
1.1.5 The Social Construction of the Self in Western and Oriental/Eastern Thought
Hinduism – The Hindu concept of self is expounded in Vedanta, a major school of Indian
thought based on Upanishads, the classical Indian philosophical treatises. It has been
stated that Brahman is an absolute reality, and Atman (soul or spirit), the true
knowledge of self, is identical to Brahman. Vedanta characterizes human suffering as
the result of failure to realize the distinction between the true self (permanent and
unchanging) and the non-true self (impermanent and changes continually). The goal
of the person is to have knowledge of the true reality – Brahman.
The law of karma – the most important doctrine of Hinduism. Individual actions will lead to
either good or bad outcomes in one’s life. If you do good things, you will be rewarded, and if
you do bad, you will be punished. The individual is the only one responsible for the
consequences of his actions.
Hindus believe that Atman, being an immortal soul, continues to be reincarnated from
lifetime to lifetime until it is freed from the cycle of rebirth and reaches a state of nirvana or
non-birth. Karma does not end with a body’s death, so its influence may extend through
incarnation of the soul. Individuals cannot change the fact that they are exactly what they are
supposed to be in life. In the present lifetime, they can change what they will become in
future lives.
It is vitally important the both East and West appreciate each other’s attempts to
understand the self. The chart below categorizes the Western and Eastern conceptualizations
of self, perspectives, and approaches:
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