The Philosophical Perspective of the Self

The Concept and Nature of Self

Our names represent who we are. Our names signify us.

However, the name is not the person itself no matter how
intimately bound it is with the bearer. It is only a signifier. Self
is thought to be more than the name. Self is something that a
person perennially molds, shapes, and develops. The self is not
static.
 The rational soul is located in the head; enables the
person to think, reflect, and analyze.
The Philosophical Self
 Philosophy is commonly defined as love of wisdom, but is
 The spiritual soul is located in the chest, enables the
essentially a special form of activity, to philosophize.
person to experience, happiness, joy, sadness, anger, and
other emotional feelings.
 Not scientific, but still tries to use logic to prove
arguments.
 The appetitive soul is located in the abdomen; it drives
the person to experience physical pain, hunger, thirst, and
 As an activity, philosophy requires the cultivation of
other physical wants.
certain quality in man: to wonder.
 The ideal self and perfect self is the rational soul as the
 Philosophy was said to have been born the very moment
true self, therefore, must at all times control the spiritual
the first humans began to experience such childlike
and appetitive soul; if a person is able to harmonize all
wonderments, allowing one to wonder and wonder about
three souls, a well-balanced personality will be attained.
one’s human existence
Therefore, that is the true self.
1. Socrates: Know Yourself
3. Rene Descartes: I Think Therefore I Am
 The core of Socratic ethics is the concept of virtue and
 It states that “the act of thinking proves one’s existence”
knowledge.
 The only thing that one cannot doubt is the existence of
 Virtue is the strong natural tendency to do something.
the self, for even if one doubts oneself, that only proves
that there is a doubting self, a thing that thinks and
 Knowing one’s own virtue is necessary and can be
therefore, that cannot be doubted.
learned. Since virtue is innate in the mind and self-
knowledge is the source of all wisdom, an individual may
 As Descartes says: “What then am I? A thinking thing, that
gain possession of oneself and be one’s own master
doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses; that
through knowledge.
imagines also and perceives.” Hence, a man must use his
own mind and thinking abilities to investigate, analyze,
 Knowing the SELF is how much applied introspection to
experiment, and develop himself.
our personalities has been taken and if we can witness our
strengths and weaknesses.
4. David Hume: The Self is the Bundle Theory of Mind
 One can know only through the senses and experiences.
 Introspection=self-analysis, self-observation or
Self is nothing else but a bundle of impressions. For
examination.
Hume, they can all be categorized into two: impressions
and ideas.
 In the modern world, we all believe in truth, we know
ourselves better than anyone else does.
 Impressions are experiences or sensation that forms the
core of our thought.
2. Plato: The Ideal Self, The Perfect Self
 For Plato, the soul is the self. Soul or reason is the driving
 Ideas are thoughts and considered as the copies of our
force of the body; gives identity of the self. The soul is
impression.
divided into three:
 Rational soul
 Spiritual soul
 Appetitive soul

 Perception is either an impression or an idea.

 Therefore, the self is a bundle or collection of various

perceptions. The self is simply a collection of all
experiences with a particular being.

5. Immanuel Kant: Respect for Self

 Persons have a duty to respect themselves, which consists
in regarding themselves as equal in moral status to other
persons. The self is not just what gives one his
personality. It is also the seat of knowledge acquisition
for all human persons.
 Central to Kant's ethical theory and philosophy is the
claim that all persons are owed respect just because they
are persons, that is, free rational beings.
 As Kant would say: “A human being regarded as a person,
that is, as the subject of morally practical reason, is
exalted above all price…as an end in himself he possesses
a dignity by which he exacts respect for himself from all
other beings in the world.”
 Self-consciousness and the acquisition of knowledge are
formed through inner self and outer self.
6. Gilbert Ryle: The Mind-Body Dichotomy
 The mind does not exist and therefore can't be the seat of
self. Ryle believed that self comes from behavior.
 We're all just a bundle of behaviors caused by the physical
workings of the body.
 For Ryle, what truly matters is the behavior that a person
manifests in his day-to-day life. 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.
7. Thomas Aquinas: Matter and Form
 Claims that all our self-knowledge is dependent on our
experience of the world around us.
 Matter refers to the common stuff that makes up
everything in the universe.
 Forms refers to the essence of the substance of things. It
is what makes it what it is.
 “What makes a human person a human person is his
essence.”
8. Augustine: Love and Justice as the Foundation of the Self
 An aspect of man dwells in the world and is imperfect and
continuously years to be with the Divine and the other is
capable of reaching immortality.
 The body is bound to die on earth and the soul is to
anticipate living eternally in communion with God.
 He believes that a virtuous life is the dynamism of love.
 Loving God means loving one’s fellowmen; and loving
one’s fellowmen denotes never doing any harm to
another.
The Psychological Perspective of the Self
Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalytic Theory of Self
According to Sigmund Freud, human personality is complex and
has more than a single component. In his famous
psychoanalytic theory, Freud states that personality is
composed of three elements known as the id, the ego, and the
superego. These elements work together to create complex
human behaviors.
Each component adds its own unique contribution to
personality and the three interact in ways that have a powerful
influence on an individual. Each element of personality
emerges at different points in life.
According to Freud's theory, certain aspects of your personality
are more primal and might pressure you to act upon your most
basic urges. Other parts of your personality work to counteract
these urges and strive to make you conform to the demands of
reality.
The Id
According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy,
making it the primary component of personality.
The id is the only component of personality that is present from
birth. This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and
includes instinctive and primitive behaviors.
The Ego
According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures
that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner
acceptable in the real world. The ego functions in the
conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind. The ego is the
component of personality that is responsible for dealing with
reality.
The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives
to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate
ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and benefits of an
action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses.
The Superego
The last component of personality to develop is the superego.
According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around
age five. The superego holds the internalized moral standards
and ideals that we acquire from our parents and society (our
sense of right and wrong).
The superego provides guidelines for making judgments. The
superego has two parts:
The conscience includes information about things that are
viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviors are
often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments,
or feelings of guilt and remorse. The ego ideal includes the
rules and standards for behaviors that the ego aspires to.
Id Ego Superego
Unconscious Preconscious, Internalized Moral
Conscious, Standards
Unconscious
Pleasure Principles Reality Principle Moral Principle
Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erikson believed that personality developed in a series of
stages. Unlike Freud's theory of psychosexual stages, however,
Erikson's theory described the impact of social experience
across the whole lifespan.
Erikson was interested in how social interaction and
relationships played a role in the development and growth of
human beings. Erik Erikson was an ego psychologist who
developed one of the most popular and influential theories of
development.
While his theory was impacted by psychoanalyst Sigmund
Freud's work, Erikson's theory centered on psychosocial
development rather than psychosexual development. The
stages that make up his theory are as follows:
Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust
Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt
Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority
Stage 5: Identity vs. Confusion
Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair
For Erikson’s Psychosocial Development, the first stage is the
Infancy – Trust versus Mistrust. Once accomplished, the
basic strength will be Hope. Failure to accomplish this
stage will lead to Withdrawal or retreat from the world.
Next is early childhood, parallel with Freud’s Anal Stage -
Autonomy versus shame and doubt. According to Erikson,
children not only gain pleasure from mastering bladder control
but, also by mastering other body functions such as walking,
throwing, and holding. The basic strength is Will, core
pathology is Compulsion.
a. Play Age (3-5 years)
is initiative versus guilt. Parallel with Freud’s Phallic Stage. In
this stage, children are asked to assume responsibility for their
bodies, behaviors, toys, and pets. Developing a sense of
responsibility enables them to be initiative and taking an action
with a purpose. Basic strength is Purpose, core pathology is
Inhibition (too much guilt).
b. School Age (6-11 years)
c. the industry versus inferiority stage. Parallel with
Freud’s Latency Stage. Children may acquire industry, means
willingness to remain busy with something and to finish a job.
Basic strength is competency, core pathology is Inertia (non-
productive, fantasies, regression like).
d. Adolescence (12-20 years)
the identity versus identity confusion, is the fifth
developmental stage and the most crucial. Adolescence is the
time of trial and error, faced with finding out who they are,
what they are all about, and where they are going in life. Basic
strength is Fidelity (faith in one’s ideology. E.g., political,
spiritual, and social), core pathology is Role Repudiation: non-
workable identity by a.) Difference – extreme lack of self-trust;
b.) Defiance – rebelling against authority.
e. Young Adulthood (20’s – 30’s)
is the intimacy versus isolation stage. Face the developmental
task of forming intimate relationship with others. Intimacy is
the ability to fuse one’s identity with that of another person
without fear of losing it or without losing one’s individuality.
Isolation means inability to take chances with one’s
identity by sharing true intimacy. Basic strength is Love
(commitment, cooperation, and friendship), core pathology is
Exclusivity (blocks one’s ability to cooperate, complete, or
compromise.
f. Adulthood (40’s – 50’s)
is the generativity versus stagnation. A chief concern is to assist
the younger generation in developing and leading useful
lives – this is what Erikson means by generativity. The
feeling of done nothing for the next generation is self-
absorption or Stagnation. Basic strengths are Care. Core
pathology is Rejection.
Sociological and Anthropological Perspective of the Self
What makes us human?
Humans are becoming aware of themselves because of the
social pressure that the mind made themselves think of what is
to be regarded. In other words, one can only find the definition
of the self through socializing but to make it profound
concerning the self, one must see the origin of its identity to
where the self belongs.
Sociology
●The basic insight of sociology is that human behavior is
shaped by the groups to which people belong and by the social
interaction that takes place within those groups.
Anthropology
●Anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures
and their development.
Sociological Perspective of the Self
What is the place of the self in the society? The self is socially
constructed in the sense that it is shaped through interaction
with other people. As with socialization in general, the
individual is not a passive participant in this process and have a
powerful influence over how this process and its consequences
develop.
a. The Social Self Theory by George Mead
Mead believes that the self is born of society. It builds on social
experience. The self is inseparable from society and bound up
with communication.
The dual nature of the self - The belief that an individual
experience the self as both subject and object, the I and ME.
●“I” is spontaneous and unpredictable.
●“ME” socializes to think beyond yourself.
b. The Looking Glass Self by Charles Cooley
Cooley believes that the sense of self depends on seeing one’s
self reflected in interactions with others.
● The looking glass self refers to the notion that the self
develops through our perception of other people’s evaluation
and appraisal of us.
● The image of the self that you have is based on how
the self believes how other people perceive them.
c. Constructing Situations and Drama by Erving Goffman
Goffman believes that people routinely behave like actors on
stage. The everyday social life of the self becomes theatrical.
1. He proposed the interaction order concept wherein, the
self thinks of what to do in the immediate presence of others.
2. The concept of dramaturgy focuses on how the self takes on
roles and act them out to present a favorable impression for
their “audience”.
3. There is an impression management process wherein the self
is concerned with controlling how others view him/her.
Anthropological Perspective of the Self
a. The Self Embedded in Culture
1. What is culture? It refers to the shared values, beliefs, and
norms of a specific group of people. Culture, therefore,
influences the way we learn, live and behave.
2. To whom does culture belong? One might say that culture
does not define who you are, but that is not true. Culture plays
a larger role in society. For example, when you were a child,
you grew up according to what are your family’s culture. In
other words, culture shapes the self to see our very own self
and others.
3. What is the place of the self in the culture? The self is
embedded in culture by which it may be sourced by blood or
by its surroundings. The behavior of oneself is the most
transparent result of cultural inheritance and cultural
environment.
b. The Cultural Identity Theory
● Explains why a person acts and behaves the way he or
she does. It makes sense of how an individual is influenced by
the cultural contexts he or she is situated.
● For example, an Asian living in Europe, meets another
person from Asia. Of course, they identify each other. They
both know that they have come from similar culture, so they
feel a sense of belongingness to each other.
The Eastern and Western Self
People in Western philosophy frequently hold the viewpoint
that each person is distinct from the others. One person's
actions and experiences have no bearing on those of other
people or the rest of the world.
However, the self is frequently viewed as an illusion in Eastern
philosophy. In other words, Eastern philosophy does not accept
the notion that individuals are distinct from one another and
the rest of the world.
The Self in Eastern Thoughts
 dominant school of thought in the west. In Western thoughts,
It can be assumed that religious traditions are the mainstream the world was created with a materialistic viewpoint that
core of eastern philosophy and accepting the concept of a emphasizes rational realism and strives to understand the true
superior being was a necessity for being religious. In religious nature of things by examining its characteristics and traits. The
traditions, the eastern self is a follower that should live in a way only thing that distinguished humans from other creatures was
that the superior being demands. Every single aspect of a their capacity for thought and awareness. The only animal that
follower's life will be defined by the concepts of obedience, can be examined by the individual is the human. Right here is
submission, and dedication. The ultimate aim of a follower is when the western world's voyage into the depths of their own
the contentment and the satisfaction of the worshiped superior innermost "self" labyrinth began. The centrality of the idea of
being. How? By eliminating their will and following the individuality may be seen by examining ancient Greece and its
commandments of the superior being. As an eastern, the political structure, which was based on a form of democracy.
concept of the "self" stands for something which always exists So, what does this have to do with the self? It can be seen, that
somewhere out of you. You are not an individual person in Western thoughts there are manifestations of what we now
anymore, but a servant who serves along with other servants of refer to as humanism. Western civilizations place a high
the superior being. So, in the east, the community of the importance on the happiness and well-being of the individuals.
followers is always more important than individuals. One major The west is an inward orientation, to put it simply. The ultimate
religious tradition in Asia is Hinduism. purpose of life is for you to find happiness in this planet. Hence,
the Western perspectives about self are inherently dualistic.
Similar to how there are numerous Christian denominations,
there are numerous Hindu sects with various beliefs. The
Brahman and the Atman, however, are two crucial ideas that
are present in all forms of Hinduism. In essence, the Brahman is
the sacred, the divine spirit, or the universe and the human
soul, or the self, is the Atman. According to Hinduism, the
Atman is fundamentally a component of the Brahman. Imagine
a single water drop high in the sky, inside of a cloud. It
descends in the form of rain together with other drops, then
travels to a river where it combines with other drops. This one
drop of water eventually goes out to the ocean where it blends
in with the other ones. It eventually evaporates and travels to
the atmosphere, where it rejoins a cloud.

The Hindus believe that this drop of water represents the

Atman, and the cycle it goes through is comparable to that of
reincarnation, or the idea that humans die and are repeatedly
born. It gets nearer to the Brahman with each death and
rebirth. When the individual has sufficiently matured, the cycle
of reincarnation will eventually come to an end. They stop
being born again and are thus entirely merged with the
Brahman. It's as if the water drops just dissolved into
everything—the air, the ground, and the water—instead of
condensing into a cloud, falling to the ground, and evaporating.
So, what does this have to do with the self? We already figured
out that Hindus think very differently about the self: they think
in terms of centuries and lifetimes, whereas we think about
ourselves in terms of who we are today and tomorrow. In
Hinduism, the self, or the Atman, is just part of a larger whole,
the Brahman, which encompasses everything. The self, or the
Atman, is tied to everything, or as one sacred Hindu text says it,
''Thou are thou.''

The Self in Western Thoughts

The Western philosophy of the self can be associated with the

concept of rational atheism. The religious tradition is not a