MATERIAL

SELF: TO BUY
OR NOT TO
BUY?
AT THE END OF THIS TOPIC, YOU WILL
BE ABLE TO:
◦ 1. Explain the association of self and possessions;
◦ 2. Identify the role of consumer culture to self and
identity; and
◦ 3. Appraise one's self based on the description of
material self.
MATERIAL SELF
◦ A Harvard psychology in the late nineteenth century, William
James, wrote in the book, the principles of psychology in 1890
that understanding the self can be examined through its
different components namely: 1] its constituents; 2] the
feelings and emotions they aroused self-feelings; 3] the
actions for which they prompt the seeking and self-
preservation. The constituents of self are composed of material
self, the social self, the spiritual self, and the pure ego.
The material self, according to William James primarily
is about: our bodies; clothes; immediate family; home.
BODY

◦ the innermost part of material self. You are directly

attached to this commodity that you cannot live
without. You strive hard to make sure that this body
functions well and good. Example is Mariah Carey,
she was reported to have placed a huge amount for
the insurance of his vocal cords and legs.
 CLOTHES

◦ next to the body that was being influenced by the “the

philosophy of dress” by Herman Lotze. William James
believed that an essential part of the material self is clothing.
Lotze stipulated in his book that any time you bring an abject
into the surface of your body, you invest that object into any
consciousness of your personal existence taking in its contours
to be your own and making it part of the self.
 IMMEDIATE FAMILY
◦ the third in the hierarchy. Your parents and siblings hold another
great important part of yourself. What they do or became affects
you. When an immediate family member dies, part of you dies, too.
When their lives are in success, you feel their victories as if you are
the one holding the bacon. In their failures, you are put to chance
or guilt. When they are disadvantage situation, there is an urgent
urge to help like a voluntary instinct of saving one‟s self from
danger.
HOME

◦ Home is the fourth component of material self. Home is

where your heart is. It is the earliest nest of your selfhood.
Your experience inside the home were recorded and
marked on particular parts and things in your home. There
was an old cliché about rooms: “if only walls can speak”.
The home thus is an extension of self, because in it, you
can directly connect yourself.
WE ARE WHAT WE HAVE
ASSIGNMENT

◦ Create a collage of your treasured possessions

including your current clothing style. You may use
symbols or pictures of your treasured possessions. Put
a short note why you treasure each item.