UNDS 111: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE
ON SELF
PRELIMS LECTURER: MA’AM LOURDES BAYUDAN
PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVE ON SELF
PHILOSOPHY
● Philos (love) + Sophos (wisdom) = Love for wisdom
● Is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge,
reality, and existence, especially when considered as
an academic discipline.
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES:
1. SOCRATES
● We only know Socrates because his
illustrious students (from Plato to Aristotle)
spoke eloquently and generously about his
knowledge, wit, wisdom and intellect.
● Socrates left no known writings, his highly
regarded student Plato, though, wrote
extensively about Socrates.
● “gnothi seauton”= “know thyself.”
● If you know who you are, all basic issues
and difficulties in life would be gone in a
simple snap of a finger. If you know who you
are, then everything would be clearer and
● simpler. One could now act according to his
own self-definition without any doubt and
self-contradiction.
● “Socractic method” or the art of
questioning.
● Continuously asking and evaluating who we
are we as a person will also be able to
understand our strengths and weaknesses,
the things that we like and dislike, how we
want people to treat us and how we want
ourselves to be treated, so by knowing these
things we can act in accordance to what we
know we are and live our lives following our
knowledge of ourselves.
● “Possession of knowledge is a virtue and
that ignorance is a vice, that a person’s
acceptance of ignorance is a source or a
springboard for the acquisition of
knowledge later on”.
● Answers will always be subjective.
● There is really no right or wrong answers to
the questions posited by Socrates, the
quality and quantity of answers is dependent
on the respective person
● Historically, he is known as the first martyr of
education,knowledge and philosophy. For
lighting up the minds of his students, he was
literally charged with corruption of minors.
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Socrates is even considered to be so ugly,
that only his own mother could love.
● THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH
LIVING
● One’s True Self should not be identified with:
a. What one owns
b. One’s social status
c. Reputation
d. One’s body
● The state of the SOUL – the person’s inner
being – determines the quality of one’s life
● Discovery of ONE’S TRUE SELF is one that
is lived in accordance with knowledge,
wisdom, and virtue.
2. PLATO
● He is the acknowledged author of the
groundbreaking book “The Republic” which
became the bedrock of democracy as we
now know it today.
● This book talks about justice, balance,
equality, how best to rule and how to prepare
for ruling. It talks about statecraft, how to run
a country, how to govern with the best
interest of people at heart.
● Believes in the division of body and soul.
a. Appetitive Soul - needs and wants
that are to be satisfied.
b. Spirited Soul - courageous part of
the person; one who wants to do
something or right the wrongs.
c. Rational Soul - “the conscious
mind”; decides, plans, and thinks.
● Also notable for the popular Allegory of the
cave.
● THE FORMS
3. ST. AUGUSTINE
● Follows the notion that everything is better if
we devote ourselves to God.
● The Roman Catholic Church has written tons
of papers about St. Augustine, in fact the
concept of modern church is predicated on
his writings. St. Augustine is credited with
the invention of the idea of “original sin”.
● He even developed the concept of the
church being the city of god. That a city
governed by the church is a city governed by
god.
● The physical body is bound to die on earth
while the soul is to anticipate living eternally
in communion with God.
● People need to establish their relationship
with god through being virtuous.
 ● Existence comes from a higher form of
sense in which bodily senses may not
perceive or understand.
● The more one doubts and question his life
means that, that person is actually living
● Continuously questioning and finding the
truth will allow us to find the best answer to
who we are and what our role is in the world.
4. RENE RESCARTES
● COGITO ERGO SUM = “I THINK
THEREFORE I AM”
● Father of modern philosophy because of his
radical use of systematic and early scientific
method to aid his ideas and assumptions.
● Belief in modern dualism or the existence
of body and mind and it’s implication to one’s
existence were presented with the evidence
from experiments as well as philosophical
reasoning.
● Proponent of the “Methodical Doubt” which
simply meant a continuous process of
questioning what we perceive and accepting
the fact that doubting, asking questions are a
part of one's existence.
● Defined the roles of the mind and body to
the notion of one’s existence and sense of
self.
5. JOHN LOCKE
● English Philosopher, Physician
● Father of Classical liberalism
● His work on the self is most represented by
the concept “Tabula Rasa” which means a
Blank Slate (ignorance).
● The process of the mind to absorb
information and accumulate knowledge may
imply that as a person to be able to be whom
we want to be, with the right stimulations,
enough experiences, as well as awareness
that by primarily knowing nothing will enable
one to be open to any kind of learning and
does not limit any possibilities for growth.
6. DAVID HUME
● Scottish Philosopher
● Focused his work in the field of Empiricism,
Skepticism, and naturalism.
● The notion of self, one’s identity and
behavior does not exceed the physical realm
and that the “Self” is only the accumulation
of different impressions.
● REASON IS THE SLAVE OF PASSION
● There is no permanent “self”
● The self is a collection of a person’s different
impressions and perceptions.
7. IMMANUEL KANT
● Became critical of Hume’s ideas
● He posited the idea that there is a
connection between reason and
experience. In order to have solid rationality,
one must have a variety of experience and
exposure.
● He further contended that there is a
correlation between experience and
rationality. You cannot have one without the
other.
● Subscribe to the idea of metaphysics, that
which is beyond matter.
● Transcendental Apperception (collection of
experiences)
● We are not only an object that perceives and
reacts to whatever it is that we are
experiencing, we also have the capabilities
to understand beyond those experiences
and be able to think and have a clear
identification who we are and establish a
sense of self that is unique and distinct from
others.
8. SIGMUND FREUD
● Austrian Psychologist and Physician
● Father of psychoanalysis (past experiences)
and is known for his work on human nature
and the unconscious.
● Posited that sex and aggression with the
unconscious mind as the platform.
● Present self or personality is greatly shaped
by the person’s past experiences.
● Utilized introspection as a tool
● Introduced the levels of consciousness:
Unconscious, preconscious, conscious
a. Id - pleasure principle
b. Ego - reality principle
c. Superego - morality principle
● And those actions are driven by the idea of
resisting or avoiding pain, and are molded
from our need for pleasure or being happy.
● Freud’s Model of the Minds
9. GILBERT RYLE
● Behavioristic approach to self
● The main concept of Gilbert Ryle is that
there is a relationship between the body and
the mind. Conversely, the body affects the
mind and the mind affects the body.
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 ● While the focus of other philosophers is
veered towards the separation of the mind
and body, for this.
● British philosopher – self is taken as a whole,
with body and mind combination.
● The self is an integrated whole made up of
different parts and systems
● “I act therefore I am”
● He also posited the concept of ghost in the
● machine. By extension, things take a life of
their own. In his contemporary times, every
machine assumed a life of its own – more
than what it was intended for.
10. PAUL CHURCHLAND
● Canadian philosopher
● According to Churchland, Folk Psychology
(dreams,soul, mind) will eventually be
discredited by scientific inquiry. Indigenous
notions, theories, concepts and ideas will be
supplanted by scientific method.
● The “self” is defined by the movements of
the brain.
● The main philosophy of Churchland is
predicated on “eliminative materialism”.
Principally, eliminative materialism
contention is that people’s common sense
understanding of the mind is false and that
most of the mental states that people
subscribe to, in turn, do not actually exist.
11. MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
● French philosopher
● Known for his works on existentialism and
● phenomenology.
● The self, regarded that the body and mind
are not separate entities, but rather those
two components are one and the same.
● Phenomenology of Perception according to
Merleau- Ponty is divided into three (3)
divisions.
a. The Body
b. The Perceived World
c. People in the World
THE SELF IN THE LENS OF
SOCIETY AND CULTURE
SEPARATE
● It is distinct from other selves, it is always unique and
has its own identity.
INDEPENDENT
● It is distinctive with its own thoughts, characteristics
and volition and does not require any other self to
exist.
SELF-CONTAINED
● It is consistent and unitary.
PRIVATE
● It means isolated from the external world. (feelings,
emotions, private thoughts).
GEORGE HERBART MEAD AND THE SOCIAL SELF
● “A person with regards to who they are develops from
one’s social interaction with other people.”
● Mead was considered as the father of American
pragmatism (behavior practices reactions)
● He rejected the notion of the biological determination
of the self.
● Nature vs. Nurture
● Nature
a. Biological
b. Genetics
c. innate
● Nurture
a. Environmental
b. Influences
● THE SELF is established through the construction
and reconstruction of the idea of who we are as a
person during the process of social experience.
● The establishment of the sense of self, socialization is
a lifetime endeavor, and the people one interacts with
will change throughout a person’s life inconsideration
to the social environment one belongs to like school,
home, work.
● And such interactions will concretize the identity and
sense of self.
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● The idea of “self” may be based on the general
attitudes and behaviors of other people or the ANTHROPOLOGICAL
individuality of the person that manifests as a
response to those attitudes and behaviors of others. PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF
SOCIOLOGY VS. ANTHROPOLOGY
MEAD’S I AND ME COMPONENT SOCIOLOGY
● “I” – is the reaction of the individual to the attitude of ● Studies development, structure, interaction and
others. operation of the human society.
● “ME” – are characteristics, behavior, and or actions
done by a person that follows the “generalized ANTHROPOLOGY
others.” ● Studies human beings and their predecessors over
time, concerning their evolution, culture,
characteristics, relations.
● It is a systematic exploration of human biological and
cultural diversity.
● Studies the human species and its immediate
ancestors.

SUB-DISCIPLINE OF ANTHROPOLOGY

MEAD’S THREE STAGES OF SELF DEVELOPMENT

1. PREPARATORY STAGE (Birth – 2 years old)
● The infant simply imitates (modeling) the
actions and behaviors of other people that
the infant interacts with.
● Egocentric
2. PLAY STAGE (2-6 years Old)
● This is where children begin to interact with
others with which certain rules apply, these
rules often do not adhere to any set of CULTURE
standards but rather are rules that are set by ● Defined as the customary behavior and beliefs that
the children themselves. This also where are passed on through enculturation (Kottak, 2008).
they practice real life situations through
pretend play and is the on-set of
consciousness.
● The development of the self in this stage
occurs through the preliminary experiences
that serve as practice for the child.
3. GAME STAGE (6-9 years Old)
● Characterized by the ability of the children to
reorganize the rules of the game and be CONFORMITY
able to identify their roles of the others that ● A change in behavior or belief as the result of real or
are playing with them. imagined group pressure e.,g, norms, identity, gender
● They learn the implications of their actions role.
as well as the understanding or taking into ● Sense of Belongingness.
account how one can take into account the
viewpoint of the society on the attitudes and OBEDIENCE
actions. ● Acting in accord with a direct order or command.
● Compliance to an explicit command.
● Authority

COMPLIANCE
● Conformity that involves publicly acting in accord with
an implied or explicit request while privately
disagreeing.
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ACCEPTANCE ● Ex. What would you feel if you got a high
● Conformity that involves both acting and believing in score in math?
accord with social pressure. D. OTHER PEOPLE’S JUDGMENTS
● What people think well of us, it helps us think
NORMATIVE INFLUENCE well of ourselves.
● Conformity based on a person’s desire to fulfill others’ ● Looking-glass self - tendency to use others
expectations, often to gain acceptance. as a mirror for perceiving ourselves.
● Salient when we are in public. E. THE CULTURE
● Concern for social image (normative influence) ● In Cultural psych, self and culture are seen
produces. as mutually constitutive.
● Culture and self construct each other!
INFORMATIONAL INFLUENCE ● Culture transforms us and then we transform
● Conformity occurs when people accept evidence the culture.
about reality provided by other people.
● Salient when we feel incompetent & when task is SELF & CULTURE
difficult INDIVIDUALISM
● The desire to be correct (informational influence) ● The concept of giving priority to one's own goals over
produces. group goals & defining one’s identity in terms of
attributes rather than group identifications.
SPOTLIGHTS & ILLUSIONS ● Can result in an independent self (identity as a unique
SPOTLIGHT EFFECT individual).
● The belief that others are paying more attention to
one’s appearance and behavior than they really are. COLLECTIVISM
● Center stage ● Giving priority to the goals of one’s group and defining
● observed/explicit one’s identity accordingly.
● Can result in an interdependent self (identity in
ILLUSION IF TRANSPARENCY relation to others).
● The illusion that our concealed emotion are “leak out”
and can be easily read by others.
● Glass
● Implicit

TAKE NOTE:
● Social surroundings affect our self-awareness -
When we feel “Out-of-place” or O.P.
● Self-interest colors our social judgment - We tend
to blame other people for something bad or credit
ourselves for something good.
● Self-concern motivates our social behavior - We
agonize our self-appearance to make a good
impression.
● Social relationships help define our self - My
relationship with my mom vs. with my friends.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL SELF

A. THE ROLES WE PLAY
● Whether we are a college student, parent, or
salesperson our sense of role affects the
way we see our self.
● Ex. leader, officer, kapatid, bestfriend
B. SOCIAL COMPARISONS
● Evaluating one’s abilities and opinions by
comparing oneself with others
● Ex. Smart or dull?, rich or poor? Good
looking or kind?
C. SUCCESS & FAILURE CULTURE & SELF-ESTEEM
● Our daily experiences of success and failure ● Self-esteem - overall self-evaluation or sense of self-
gives us a sense of social self. ● worth

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 ● Americans tend to have high self-esteem with UNDERSTANDING THE SELF CAN BE SEPARATED INTO
disengaged emotions– feeling effective, superior THREE CATEGORIES
and proud. (Kitayama & Markus, 2000)
● Asians tend to have high self-esteem with positive
social engagement– feeling close, friendly, &
respectful. (Kitayama & Markus, 2000)

GROWING INDIVIDUALISM
“THE ME GENERATION”
● “So, yes, we have all that data about narcissism and
laziness and entitlement. But a generation’s
greatness isn’t determined by data; it’s
determined by how they react to the challenges
that befall them. And, just as important, by how
we react to them. Whether you think millennials are
the new greatest generation of optimistic
entrepreneurs or a group of 80 million people about to
implode in a dwarf star of tears when their
expectations are unmet depends largely on how you
view change. Me, I choose to believe in the children.
God knows they do.” -Joel Stein, May 2013

JOSE RIZAL
● Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa kanyang
pinanggalingan ay di makakarating sa kanyang THE MATERIAL SELF
paroroonan ● Constituted by our bodies, clothes, immediate family
and home. It is in this that we are attached more
deeply into and therefore we are most affected by the

PSYCHOLOGICAL investment we give to these things.

PERSPECTIVES THE SELF THE SOCIAL SELF

● Based on our interactions with society and the
PSYCHOLOGY reaction of people towards us. It is our social self that
THE SELF IS is thought to have multiple divergences or different
● Cognitive - Mental capacities versions of ourselves.
● Affective - Emotional capacities (feelings, emotions,
mood) THE SPIRITUAL SELF
● The “ME” - The person that is known by your friends, ● Most intimate because it is more satisfying for the
family, people around you etc. person that they have the ability to argue and
● The “I” - The person knower discriminate one’s moral sensibility, conscience and
indomitable will.
THE SELVES AND IT SELVES
● Introduced by William James in is “The Principles of CONCEPTION OF SELF
Psychology (1890) and he is the father of american ● Developed by Carl Rogers
psychology. ● The perceived Self (How the person sees self and
● The “ME-SELF” - phenomenal self, the experienced others sees them)
self or the self as known ● The Real Self (How the person really is)
● The “I-SELF” - the self-thought or the self-knower ● The Ideal Self (How the person would like to be)
● Heavily influenced by Charles Darwin’s Human
Evolution theory.

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 THE PERSON SEEKING CONGRUENCE

THE SELF IN WESTERN AND

EASTERN THOUGHT
INDIVIDUALISM VS COLLECTIVISM

CONCEPT OF UNIFIED AND MULTIPLE SELF

WESTERN AND EASTERN

WESTERN IDEAS
1. Self is a social construction
2. Self is an interpersonal unit
3. Self takes form in communication
● Although Freud has argued that self has multiple
4. Self is phenomenal and non-phenomenal
parts, he still believed that ultimately we are a
UNIFIED BEINGS.
EASTERN IDEAS
● Ego remains at the helm of mind, guiding the Id and
1. Man follows virtues of love, righteousness, wisdom,
Superego and staying at the center, thus, having a
propriety and loyalty to promote harmony in society.
flexible sense of self allows for multiple “selves” -
Confucianism
Kenneth Gergen (Proponent of modern Psychology)
2. Detachment (Theravada) and compassion
(Mahayana) is the path towards nirvana. Buddhism
REMEMBER:
3. Attainment of liberation in the identification of Atman
● Multiple selfhood is part of what it means to be
(the spiritual essence of all individuals) and Brahman
human, and forcing oneself to stick to one
(the spiritual essence of the universe) through the
self-concept maybe unhealthy
Four Yogas. Hinduism
4. Concept of Kapwa, recognition of shared identity, an
TRUE SELF AND FAKE SELF
inner self shared with others; Two levels or modes of
● True self is rooted from childhood. It is based on
social interaction – ibang-tao or “outsider” and hindi
spontaneous authentic experience and feeling of
ibang-tao or “one-of-us”. Filipino Psychology
being alive .
● Fake Self is our defensive facade, sometimes
overlapping or contradicting our original sense of self.
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