Understanding The Self Reviewer There is a close connection between the
psychological and physiological states.
For Mid Term
Philosophy- From Greek “Philosophia” which means
love of wisdom. The study of general and fundamental
problems concerning matters such as existence,
knowledge, values, reason, mind and language. The
term was probably coined by Pythagoras (c. 570-495
B.C.E)
Philosophical methods- Questioning, critical discussion,
rational argument, and systematic presentation.
Socrates
Asserted that man must stand and live
according to nature(Nativism)
First philosopher engaged in a systematic
questioning about the self
Philosopher’s task is to know oneself
Man is composed of body (imperfect, non-
permanent) and soul (perfect, permanent).
Man must look at himself with 2 fundamental
questions:
To find what (invitation to introspection, must
be connected to the Platonic theory of
reminiscence)
And by what means (knowledge of oneself is
achieved only through Socratic method of
dialogue between soul and itself.
“An unexamined life is not worth living”
Plato
Soul has 3 components (Magnum Opus):
 Rational- Reason, Intellect, Govern the affairs of
the human person.
 Spirited- Emotions
 Appetitive- Desires
Justice can be attained if they are working
harmoniously.
Aristotle
The perfect expression of realization of a
natural body is Aristotle’s definition of soul.
Metaphysicians before him believes that the
soul has a full disregard to the bodily
environment.
He regards that the soul or mind is not the
product of the physiological conditions of the
body, but as the truth of the body – the
substance in which only the bodily conditions
gain their real meaning.
The soul manifests its activity to certain
faculties. Which are:
 Nutrition
 Movement
 Reason
Sense Perception- a faculty of receiving the
form of outward objects independently of the
matter of which they are composed.
Perception- involves a movement and kind of
qualitative change.
“A movement of the soul through the medium
of the body.”
Object of the senses may be either of the
following:
 Special (object of sight)
 Common (motion or figure)
 Incidental/inferential (Immediate
sensation)
Touch is the most rudimentary among the five
special senses.
Hearing is the most instructive
Sight is the most ennobling.
All of the organs in the senses never acts
directly, but is affected by a medium like air.
The heart is the common central sense organ.
Imagination- the movement which results upon
an actual sensation.
Memory- defined as the permanent possession
of the sensuous picture as a copy which
represents the object of which it is a picture.
 Recollection- calling back to mind the residue of
memory.
Reason- the source of the first principles of
knowledge.
Passive reason- receives, combines, and
compares the objects of thought.
Active reason- makes the world intelligible, and
bestows on the materials of knowledge those
ideas or categories which make them accessible
to thought.
Augustine
Man is a bifurcated nature
Body- dies on earth
Soul- living eternally in a realm
The goal of every human person is to attain
communion and bliss with the Divine.
Time cannot be infinite because God created it
“Si fallor,sum” (“If I am mistaken, I am”)
Evil- the absence of good
Descartes
Outlined four main rules for his thinking:
 Never accept anything except clear and
distinct ideas.
 Divide each problem into as many parts are
needed to solve it.
 Order your thoughts from the simple to the
complex
 Always check thoroughly for oversights
Epochal:
 “Discourse on the method” (1637)
 “Meditations on First Philosophy” (1641)
 “Principles of Philosophy”
“Cogito ergo sum”
“Je pense, donc je suis” (I think therefore, I
am)
The method of doubt
Wax Argument- revolves around the idea that the
senses can be misleading and that reason and
deduction is the only reliable method of attaining
knowledge, which is the essence of Rationalism.
Body works like a machine
The first to formulate the mind-body problem
Dualism (the mind controls the body, but that body
also influences the otherwise rational mind.)
John Locke
One of the proponents of liberal political
philosophy, the philosophy of individual rights
and government.
Views are based on natural rights
Natural law- human beings are subjected to a
moral law.
Morality- is fundamentally about duty, the duty
each individual has to abide by the natural law.
His approaches are much similar to Thomas
Hobbe’s.
Hume
Influenced by the scientific revolution and by in
particular to Isaac Newton.
Proposes that the dispute about the
compatibility of freedom and determinism has
been continued over two thousand years by
ambiguous terminology.
Defines concept of necessity as “the uniformity,
observable in the operations of nature; where
similar objects are constantly conjoined
together, and liberty as “a power of acting or
not acting” according to the determinations of
the will.”
Not only the freedom and determinism, but
also the liberty that requires also necessity has
compatibility.
The liberty of Spontaneity- human beings
evaluate situation based upon certain
predetermined events from that form a choice,
and that choice is made spontaneously.
Kant Humanity as an end in itself

Ethical theory is based on the belief that reason
should be used to determine how people ought
to act.
Postulated that reason should be used to
determine how to behave.
Act in such a way that you treat humanity,
whether in your own person or in the person of
another, always at the same time as an end and
never simply as a means.
Formula of autonomy

Good will and Duty Expresses the idea that an agent is obliged to
follow the Categorical Imperative because of
The only virtue that can be unqualifiedly good is their rational will, rather than any outside
a good will. influences.
Creates the basis of an ethical law through Moral laws must only arise from a rational will.
concept of duty.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Perfect and imperfect duties
Offers profound resources thinking about the
Duties arise because failure to fulfil them would
nature of subjectivity.
either result in a contradiction in conception or
in a contradiction in the will. Subjectivity- emerges with the emergence of
meaning in the world on the basis of the self-
Former- classified as perfect duties (always hold
articulating character of living movement.
the truth)
Mind- always interrelated with perception. It is
Latter- imperfect (flexible, can be either
also the very matrix of intelligence and meaning
beneficial or not)
or on how it perceives or how it constitutes
Perfect duties are more important than meaning to our experiences.
imperfect duties.
Sociology
Categorical Imperative
Came from a Latin word “socious” meaning companion
 Primary formulation of Kant’s ethics is or society and Greek word “logos” meaning study.
the categorical imperative, from which
he derived four further formulations. The study of society and human behavior.
 Hypothetical imperative- One we must The scientific study of human relationships and
obey if we want to satisfy our desires. significant social phenomena arising from continuous
 Categorical imperative- binds us interaction of men in a particular setting or locale
regardless our desires. (Pasigui.et.al,2011)
Universalizability PIONEERS IN THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY
 Act only according to that maxim which 1978-1857 Aguste Positivism States that
Combe knowledge can be
you can at the same time will that it
“Father of derived only from
should become a universal law. Sociology” sensory experience,
 Kant argued that the objective law of meta physical
speculations and
reasons is a priori, existing externally intuitive insights.
from rational being. 1802-1876 Harriet Book:  Examines
Martineau religions,politics
 Rational morality is universal and Society in etc.
cannot change depending on America  Gives special
attention to
circumstances. status
distinction(
gender and
race)
  Spoke out in Cultural relativism- the idea that a person’s belief,
favor of the
rights of values and practices should be understood based on the
women person’s own culture rather than be judged against the
1820-1903 Herbert Parallelism Propose that living
Spencer organisms evolve
criteria of another.
over time in order to
survive the ROLE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
conditions of
environment  It helps you to critically think about something
1858-1917 Emile Sucide: 3 types of suicies:
Durkheim Applied in all  Egoistic suicide-  It bridges the gap
cases of death resulted from  Answer some of the unknown
resulting too little social
directly or integration  Provide a lesson in life that one must be open
indirectly from  Altruistic to differing opinions, ways of life etc.
a positive or suicide- too
negative act of much
the victim integration
Edward Sapir
himself, which  Anomic suicide-
he knows will involve an  Founder of Ethnolinguistic
produce this
result
imbalance of  Suggested that language is an instrument used
means and
needs by man to perceive our world.
 Fatalistic
suicide- Future Edward Burnett Tylor
is pitiless
blocked and
whose passion
 Founder of cultural anthropology
are violently  Most important work is the Primitive culture
choked.
1864-1917 Max Weber Catholicism vs. It was religion that
(1871)
Protestantism encourage social
change Lewis Henry Morgan

 Principal founder of Scientific Anthropology

Anthropology  Ancient Society (1877)
 How does culture play a significant role in
The science of human beings it is especially the study of
developing the self?
human beings and their ancestors through time and
 Through the cultural evolution that was
space in relation to physical character, environmental
discussed in the Ancient Society. What you
and social relations and culture.
repeatedly done, that is who you are.
Branches of anthropology
PSYCHOLOGY
 Sociological Anthropology- deals with material
Refers to the scientific study of behavior and mental
remains of human activities of the past in order
processes.
to reconstruct how different cultures adjust to
varying situations. Behavior- includes all of our outward or overt actions
 Linguistic Anthropology- studies the history, and reactions such as talking, facial expressions, and
foundation, structure, and physiology of movement.
people’s definitive traits called language.
Mental Processes- Refers to all the internal, covert
 Applied Anthropology- the direct application of
activity of our minds such as thinking, feeling, and
anthropological ideas to current problems.
remembering.
 Forensic Anthropology- used in the
identification of crime victims and other Behavior and mental processes in animals and humans
information vital to criminal justice system. are studied using the scientific method so that their
 Physical Anthropology- explains the difference results will be as precise as possible.
in human color in more complex manner such
as culture, way of life and environment.
GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY
1. Description – labeling something to further
understand it.
2. Explanation- Explaining the behavior that is
being understood.
3. Prediction- Determining what future tendencies
may occur.
4. Control- Modifying behaviors intends to change
a behavior from an undesirable to a desirable
one.
5. Improve- Individuals undergo a process to be a
better person.
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHTS IN PSYCHOLOGY
Theories about Psychology includes:
1. Structuralism (1879)
Founded by Wilhelm Wundt
Set up the first psychology laboratory in 1879 to
study the building blocks of the mind.
Structuralism refers to a perspective that
focused on the basic elements that constitute
the foundation of perception, consciousness,
thinking, emotions, and other kinds of mental
states and activities.
2. Functionalism (1900)
William James
Focuses on what the mind does and how
behavior functions.
3. Psychoanalysis (1900)
Sigmund Freud
Gives emphasis on the influence of sexual and
aggressive impulses on the way people think,
feel, and behave.
4. Gestalt Psychology (1912)
Max Wertheimer
Focuses on how people consider individual
elements together as units or wholes.
5. Behaviorism (1913)
John B. Watson
Focuses on how stimulus-response would produce a
behavior.
OTHER APPROACHES IN PSYCHOLOGY
6. Humanistic Approach (1960)
Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
The humanistic perspective held the view that
people have free will and the freedom to
choose their own destiny.
7. Cognitive Approach (1950-1960)
Focuses on how an individual think, remember,
store, and use information.
8. Bio-psychosocial Approach (1977)
Theorize by psychiatrist George Engel
Human and animal behavior is seen as a direct
result of events in the body. Hormones,
heredity, and diseases are considered to be
some of the biological causes of behavior.
THE SELF IN WESTERN AND EASTERN THOUGHT
Individualistic- refers to independency and separate
existence (Western)
Collectivist- imbedded in a larger social context of
obligations and relationships. Thus, being dependent on
the others and environment. (Eastern)
This relates to modern research in 2 ways:
1. Anthropological analysis suspects that the “self” is
actually a Western cultural artifact that has no meaning
in other cultures.
2. Addresses the way the self and its implications differ
across cultural contexts.
Approach-avoidance motivation- Focuses on
advancement, accomplishment, and aspirations.
Human development
Refers to the study of the human cycle from conception
to death.
Focuses on the continuous chronological processes or
changes which are cumulative.
 4. Adolescence (13-20)- overall appearance are
changing

Signs of Physical Maturation

Pre-natal Development
Puberty denotes two physical changes that denotes the
Chromosomes- are rod shaped structures that contain
change of childhood to adulthood:
all basic hereditary information of an organism.
Bodily changes-height and weight
Genes- are smaller units that are composed of
sequences of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) through Sexual changes-sexual organs
which information is transmitted.
Menarche-menstruation

5.Early Adulthood (20-30)- adult height has been

XX- results to a female child reached.

XY- results to a male child 6. Middle Adulthood (30-50)- concerns about health
became present
Genetic Defects
7. Late Adulthood (50-60)- sensory organs become less
Phenylketonuria- refers to a child who is not able to
sensitive.
produce an enzyme that is required for normal
development. This results to profound mental 8. Old Age (60+)
retardation caused by accumulation of poisons.
Brain cells deterioration.
1. Down syndrome- zygote receives an extra
chromosome

2. Sickle-cell anemia- abnormal shape of red blood cells.

3. Tay-Sachs Disease- the body is not capable of

breaking down fats.

Stage of pre-natal development

Fertilization- sperm cell penetrates the female’s ovum.

Stages:

1. Germinal Stage (week 1 and 2)-zygote develops and

multiply

2. Embryonic Stage (week 3 to 8)- development of the

neural tube or the spinal cord.

3. Fetal Stage (2-9 months)- organs are now intact

Stages of Post-Natal Development

1. Infancy (birth to 2 years)- growth is rapid(40% energy

is devoted to growth)

2.Early childhood (2-6 years)- child starts to look like an

adult.

3.School Age (7-12 years)- Puberty is present