Chapter 1.

THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

Lesson 1. Philosophical Perspective of the Self
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. Explain the role of philosophy in understanding the concept of self;
2. Discuss the different concepts of the self from the philosophical perspective;
3. Differentiate the various concepts of the self and identity their similarities; and
4. Develop your own philosophy of the self.
Know thyself.
----SOCRATES----

The Philosophers
1. Socrates (Greek Philosopher) – an unexamined life is not worth living
-the self is synonymous with the soul.
-he is the first to focus on the full power of reason on the human self the
“who we are, who we should be, and who we will become.
-he suggests that man must live an examined life and life of purpose and
value.
The Socratic Method- the so called “Introspection” – it is a method of carefully examining one’s
thoughts and emotions.

Two Dichotomous Realms

a. Physical realms – changeable, transient, and imperfect
-the body belongs to the physical realms.
b. Ideal realms – unchanging, eternal, and immortal
-the soul belongs to the ideal realms.
2. Plato – the self is an immortal soul
-believes also that the self is synonymous with the soul like Socrates.
-he believes that genuine happiness can only be achieved by people who consistently
make sure that their Reason is in control their Spirit and Appetites.
-he claims that the sensible world is dependent on the ideal world where the concepts
of the soul belong.

The idea of the three-part soul/ self

a. Reason – it is a divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, and
achieve a true understanding of eternal truths.

b. Physical Appetite – includes basic biological needs.

c. Spirit or Passion – includes basic emotions.

The two concepts of worlds

a. The world of forms – the non-physical ideas.
b. The world of sense – the reality.
3. Aristotle – the soul is the essence of the self
 -believes that the soul is merely a set of defining features and does not consider
the body and soul as separate entities. Suggests that anything with life has a
soul.
- suggests that the rational nature of the self is to lead a good, flourishing, and
fulfilling life (self-actualization).

Three kinds of Souls

a. Vegetative soul – includes the physical body that can grow.
b. Sentient soul – includes sensual desires, feelings, and emotions.
c. Rational soul – includes the intellect allows man to know and understand things.
4. St. Augustine – the self has an immortal soul
-African philosopher, regarded as the St. Augustine of Hippo in the Catholic church.
-believes that the physical body is radically different from and inferior to its inhabitant,
the immortal soul.
-he came to view the body as “spouse” of the soul, both attached to one another by a
“natural appetite
-in his work Confessions – he described that human kind is created in the image and
likeness of God.
-He is convinced that the self is known only through knowing God.
-he espouses the significance of reflection, as well as the importance of prayers and
confessions to arrive at a justification for the existence of God.
-for him, “knowledge can only come by seeing the truth that dwells within us.”
-he discovers the truth on the existence of God, he develops the fundamental concept
of the human person, and thus provides the philosophical principle, “I am doubting, therefore I
am.”
-integrates the ideas of Plato.
5. Rene Descartes – I think therefore I am
- A French philosopher, father of modern philosophy.
-He wants to penetrate the nature of reasoning process and understand its relationship
to the human self. He introduces the idea of idea of thinking soul.
-the Latin phrase Cogito Ergo Sum – “I think therefore I am” the keystone of Descartes’
concept of self
-He is confident that no rational person will doubt his or her own existence as a
conscious, thinking entity-while we are aware of thinking about ourselves.
-He suggests that the act of thinking about the self or being self-conscious is proof that
there is self.

Two dimensions of human self

a. The self as a thinking entity – introduces the idea of the thinking self or soul as non-
material, immortal, conscious being, and independent of the physical laws of the
universe.
b. Physical body – includes the material, mortal, non-thinking entity, fully governed by the
physical laws of nature.
6. John Locke – the self is consciousness
-English philosopher, the human mind at birth is tabula rasa or a blank slate. He feels that the
self, or personal identity is constructed primarily from sense experiences or more specifically
what people see, hear, smell, taste, and feel
-conscious awareness and memory of previous experience are the keys to understanding the
self. Believes that the essence of the self is its conscious awareness of itself as a thinking,
reasoning, and reflecting identity.
-he proposes that people could use the power of reason to gain knowledge and consequently
use this knowledge to understand experiences.
7. David Hume – there is no self
-Scottish philosopher, he suggests that if people carefully examine their sense
experience through the process of introspection, they will discover that there is no self.

Two distinct entities

a. Impressions – are the basic sensations of people’s experience.
b. Ideas – are thoughts and images from impressions so they are less lively and vivid.
2. Immanuel Kant – we construct the self
-German philosopher, it is the self that makes experiencing an intelligible world possible
because it is the self that is actively organizing and synthesizing all of our thoughts and
perceptions.
-the self, in the form of consciousness, utilizes conceptual categories which he calls
transcendental deduction of categories, to construct an orderly and objective world that is
stable and can be investigated scientifically.
8. Sigmund Freud – the self is multilayered. He is an Australian psychoanalyst.

Three layers of self

a. Conscious self – governed by the reality principle, the conscious part of the self is
organized in ways that are rational, practical, and appropriate to the environment.
b. Unconscious self - part of the self contains the basic instinctual drives
-it is characterized by the most primitive level of human motivation and
human functioning which is governed by the pleasure principle.
c. Preconscious self – contains material that is not threatening and is easily brought to
mind
9. Gilbert Ryle - the self is the way people behave
-British philosopher, believes that the self is best understood as a pattern of
behavior, the tendency of disposition of a person to behave in a certain way in certain
circumstances. His concepts of the human self thus provide the philosophical principle; I act
therefore I am.
10. Paul Churchland – the self is the brain
-Canadian philosopher, advocates the idea of eliminative materialism or the idea
that the self is inseparable from the brain and the physiology of the body.
11. Maurice Merleau-Ponty – the self is embodied subjectivity
-French philosopher, he argues that all knowledge about the self is based on the
Phenomena of experience. The I is a single integrated core identity.
 -in his book Phenomenology of Perception – he says that people are aware of is
contained with the consciousness.
-for him, the I is a single integrated core identity, a combination of the mental,
physical, and emotional structures around a core identity of the self.
Consciousness – is a dynamic form responsible for actively structuring conscious ideas and
physical behavior.
12. Immanuel Kant – a German philosopher, it is the self that makes experiencing an intelligible
world possible because it is the self that is actively organizing and synthesizing all our thoughts
and perceptions.
-the self is the product of reason, a regulative principle, because the self regulates
experience by making unified experiences possible.

Lesson 2. Sociological Perspective: The Self as a Product of Society

Learning Outcomes
At the end of lesson, you should be able to:
1. Recognize what sociology talks about understanding the self and other;
2. Discuss how individuals view the self as a product of socialization;
3. Explain George Herbert Mead’s theory of the social self;
4. Discuss the self as a product of modern and postmodern societies; and appreciate your
own social experiences that have been particularly helpful in understanding the self.
“Understanding of the self only arise in relationship, in watching yourself in relationship to
people, ideas, and things; to trees, the earth, and the world around you and within you.
Relationship is the mirror in which the self is revealed. Without self-knowledge there is no basis
for right thought and action.”
----Jiddu Krishnamurti
Sociology – a scientific study of social groups and human relationships generates new insights
into the interconnectedness between the self and other people.

Sociologists:
1. Charles Horton Cooley (1902) – introduce the looking-glass self – this is to highlight that
the people whom a person interacts with become a mirror in which he or she views
himself of herself. Self-identity or self-image is achieved through a threefold event.

Threefold Event
a. How a person presents himself or herself to others?
b. How he or she analyzes how others perceive him or her, and
c. How he or she creates an image of himself or herself.
2. George Herbert Mead – supports the view that a person develops a sense of self through
social interaction and not the biological preconditions of that interaction.
- The Mead’s theory of the social self – this explains that the self has two divisions the I and the
Me. The I is the subjective element and the active side of the self. The Me is the objective
element of the self that represents the internalized attitudes and demands of other people and
individual’s awareness of those demands.
-For Mead, the self is not present at birth. It develops only with social experience in which
language, gestures, and objects are used to communicate meaningfully.

Mead details the development of the self in a three-stage process:

 a. Preparatory stage (0-3 years old), children imitate the people around them, especially
family members with whom they have daily interaction. During this stage, children are
just preparing for role-taking.
b. Play stage (3-5 years old), children start to view themselves in relation to others as they
learn to communicate through language and other symbols. At this stage, the self is
developing
c. Game stage (8-9 years old), children understand not only their own social position but
also those of others around them. During this stage, the self is now present.

The Self as a Product of Modern and Postmodern Societies

1. Gerry Lanuza’s (2004) article, The Constitution of the Self, discusses the relationship
between society and the individual. For him, in modern societies the attainment and
stability of self-identity are freely chosen. It is no longer restricted by customs and
traditions.
2. Jean Baudrillard – French sociologist, exposes the negative consequences of
postmodernity to individuals in the society. For him, consumption structures the
postmodern society.

Lesson 3. An Anthropological Conceptualization of Self: The Self as Embedded in

Culture
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. Recognize what the field of anthropology can contribute to the understanding of the self;
2. Understand how culture and self are complementary concepts;
3. Discuss the cultural construction of the self and social identity;
4. Explain the concept of identity struggles; and
5. Develop insights on how to achieve a sense of self, situated in multicultural and dynamic
situations.
“We are a product of biological endowments, culture, and personal history. Culture, ideology,
and cultural events along with transmitted cultural practices influence each of us. We are each
the product of our collective interchanges… We are each a molecule in the helix of human
consciousness joined in a physical world. We form a coil of connective tissue soldered together
by cultural links.”
------Kilroy J. Oldster
Anthropology – is concerned with how cultural and biological processes interact to shape
human experience. Possesses a holistic and integrated approach in examining human nature.
Contemporary anthropologist – believes that culture and self are complementary concepts that
are to be understood in relation to one another.
James L. Peacock (1989) – “anthropology encroaches on the territory of the sciences as well as
the humanities, and transcends the conventional boundaries of both while addressing
questions from the distant past and the pressing present----perhaps with implications for the
future”
Anthropology - considers human experience as an interplay of “nature,” referring to genetic
inheritance which sets the individual’s potentials, and “nurture,” referring to the sociocultural
environment (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, & McBride, 2013).
Triandis (1989) – for him, anthropology has contributed indirectly to the understanding of the
nature of self through ethnographic investigations (e.g., sampling method, sentence
completion, interviews) – it discusses that cultural variations may affect one’s mental state,
language, and behavior.
Peacock (1986) – for him, the most important contribution of anthropology is providing insights
into the nature of self-based on continuous understanding of the basic elements of culture.

The Cultural Construction of Self and Identity

Edward Tylor – British Anthropologist, he defines Culture as “that complex whole which
includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by man as a member of society.”
Martin Sokefeld – German Anthropologist, he believes that the concept of self is a necessary
supplement to the concept of culture in anthropology and should be regarded as a human
universal.
In Social Anthropology, the concept of identity was used mostly in the context of “ethnic
identity,” pointing out the sameness of the self with others, that is, to a consciousness of
sharing certain characteristics with in group.
Identity – is understood as a disposition of basic personality features acquired mostly during
childhood and, once integrated, more or less fixed (Sokefeld,1999).
Peacock (19860) – believes that the individual is neither a robot nor an entirely independent
self-willed little god but a cultural individual---existing in freedom but also embodying that
cultural mold in which he is cast in his particular society and historical epoch.

Two ways of self

a. Egocentric – the view of self is seen as an autonomous and distinct individual
b. Sociocentric – the view of self is contingent on a situation or social setting.
Christie Kiefer – for him, Japanese possess a sociocentric view of the self in which the
membership of a person in a particular social group defines the boundaries of the self.
Japanese – social interaction should be characterized by restraint.
Francis Hsu – Chinese American anthropologist, attributes a sociocentric view of the self to the
Chinese.
Identity toolbox – refers to the features of a person’s identity that he or she chooses to
emphasize in constructing a social self.
Some characteristics such as kinship, gender, and age are almost universally used to
differentiate people. Other characteristic, such as ethnicity, personal appearance, and
socioeconomic status are not always used in every society.
Another important identity determinant that is often viewed as essential for the maintenance
of a group identity is Language.
In other societies, religious affiliation is an important marker of group identity (Robbins, 2012).
Arnold van Gennep – believes that changes in one’s status and identity are marked by a three-
phased rite of passage.

Three phased Rite of Passage

a. Separation phase – people detach from their former identity to another.
b. Liminality phase – a person transitions from one identity to another
c. Incorporation phase – the change in one’s status is officially incorporated.
Rite of Passage – help a person adjust from one social dimension of his or her life to the others.
Anthony Wallace and Raymond Fogelson – coined the term “identity struggles” to characterize
interaction in which there is a discrepancy between the identity a person claims to possess and
the identity attributed to that person by others.
Katherine Ewing’s “illusion of wholeness” – this exhibit how individual selves throughout the
world continuously reconstitute themselves into new selves in response to internal and
external stimuli.

The Self as Embedded in Culture

Clifford Geertz (1973), an American anthropologist, offers a reformulation of the concept of
culture which favors a symbolic interpretative model of culture. He defines culture as a system
of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which people communicate,
perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life.
He agrees with Max Weber, that “man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he
himself has a spun”

Two Important Ideas

1. culture should not be perceived only as “complexes of concrete behavior patterns.”
2. man is precisely the animal most desperately dependent upon such extra genetic, outside-
the-skin control mechanism, such cultural programs, for ordering his behavior.
Robbins (2012), considered human beings as cultural animals as they create the meanings of
objects, person, behaviors, emotions, and events, and behave in accordance with meanings
they assume to be true.

Lesson 4: Psychological Perspective of the Self

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to;
1. define and describe the different psychological concepts of self;
2. differentiate the various concepts of the self and identity their interrelationships;
3. explain how the concepts of self-influence behavior; and apply concepts of self in one’s life to
develop self-awareness and self-understanding.
“For a young person, it is almost a sin, or at least a danger, to be too preoccupied with himself;
but for the ageing person, it is a duty and necessity to devote serious attention to himself.”
------Carl Jung
William James’ Concept of Self – the Me-Self and the I-Self
-he suggests that the self is divided into two categories.

Two categories of self:

a. The I-Self – refers to the self that knows who he or she is which is also called the thinking self.
The I-Self reflects the soul of a person or the mind which is also called the pure ego.
b. The Me-Self – is the empirical self which refers to the person’s personal experiences.
Subcategories of the Me-Self:
a. material self – attributed to an individual’s physical attributes and material possessions
that contribute to one’s self-image.
b. Social self – refers to who a person is and how he or she acts in social situations.
c. Spiritual self – refers to the most intimate and important part of the self that includes
the person’s purpose, core values, conscience, and moral behavior. Carl Roger’s Self
Theory – Real and Ideal Self
Self-Concept – refers to the image of oneself. Psychologist Carl Roger defines Self as a
flexible and changing perception of personal identity. The self is the center of experience.

Two Components of Self-Concept

a. Real Self – consist of all the ideas, including the awareness of what one is and what one
can do.
b. Ideal Self – is the persons’ conception of what one should be or what one aspires to be
which includes one’s goals and ambitions in life.

Multiple Versus Unified Self, True Versus False Self

Self-understanding in adolescence also includes conceptualizing the self as multiple or unified
and true or false. The construction of multiple selves varies across different interpersonal and
intrapersonal roles and relationships.
Winnicott – is the one who found that the self is composed of the true self and the false self.
False Self –the functions is to hides and protect the true self. For instance, adolescents are
more likely so show their false self during dating situations and are likely to show their true self
when they are with their family and close friends.

The Self as Proactive and Agentic

Albert Bandura (2011) – posits that humans, through their agency are perceived as proactive
agents of experiences.
Agency – embodies the endowments, beliefs systems, self-regulatory capabilities, and
distributed structures and functions through which personal influence is exercised, rather than
reside as a discrete entity.

Main Features of Human Agency

a. Intentionality – refers to acts done intentionally. Intentions center on plans of action
with the anticipation of possible outcomes.
b. Forethought – enables the person to anticipate the likely consequences of prospective
actions. Through the exercise of forethought, people are guided in their actions in the
anticipation of future events.
c. Self-reactiveness – involves making choices and choosing appropriate courses of action
as well as motivating and regulating them.
d. Self-reflectiveness – gives the person the ability to reflect upon and the adequacy of his
or her thoughts and actions.
Efficacy beliefs -these are the foundation of human agency. It also plays a central role in self-
regulation which is the ability of an individual to control his or her behavior without having to
rely on others for help.
Self-efficacy – refers to the individual’s belief that he or she is capable to perform a task which
influences whether he or she will think pessimistically or optimistically and in ways that are self-
enhancing or self-hindering.
 The Self as the Central Archetype
Archetypes – are the universal models after which roles are patterned. It represents the hidden
potentialities of the psyche, or total personality.
Carl Jung – suggests that the psyche continues to develop throughout life, but the psyche starts
to show a definite form and content during adolescence. According to him, archetypes reside in
the personal unconscious (forgotten experiences) that is common to all human beings, known
as the collective unconscious. For him, there are four major archetypes.

Four Major Archetypes

a. The Persona – refers to social roles that individuals present to others.
b. The Shadow – refers to the repress thoughts that are socially unacceptable. This
archetype is often considered as the dark side of the psyche.
c. The Amina – is the side of the female psyche.
d. The Self – is the central archetype that unites all parts of the psyche. The ego is the
individual’s conscious perception of the self.

Sigmund Freud’s Construction of Self and Personality

Three Structures of Personality
a. Id – refers to the component of the personality characterized by its need to satisfy basic
urges and desires. Id lives completely in the unconscious. Freud believes that the id is
the pleasure-seeking side, impulsive child-like, and demands instant gratification.
b. Ego – refers to the I and operates on the reality principle and controls the id. The ego is
the rational part of the personality. The ego can conform with existing societal
consideration.
c. Superego – refers to the conscience and moral judge of one’s conduct.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

a. Oral Stage – from birth to the end of the first year. During this stage, babies derive
pleasure from oral activities like sucking and biting.
b. Anal Stage – occurs around the second year of life. During this stage, the child derives
pleasure from the elimination of body waste.
c. Phallic Stage – occurs around ages 3 and 6. Children during this stage derive pleasure
from examining, touching, fondling, or displaying their genitals.
d. Latency Stage – which last from 7 to 12 years of age. At this stage, sexual energy is
repressed because children become occupied with school.
e. Genital Stage – starts from adolescence to adulthood. During this stage, pleasure is
again derived from the genital area and individuals seek to satisfy their sexual drives
from sexual relationships.

The Role of Erik Erikson’s Theory in Understanding the Self

Psychosocial Stages of Self-Development
Basic Conflict Period of Life Important life Relationship Choices and
/Crisis events with Decisions

Trust vs. Mistrust Infancy (birth to 18 Feeding Maternal To give in return

months
Autonomy vs. Early childhood (18 Toilet training Paternal To hold on
Shame and Doubt months to 3years To let go
Initiative vs. Guilt Preschool (3 to 5 years) Exploration Family To make
To make like
Industry vs. Elementary school age School School To make things
Inferiority (6 to 11years) Neighborhood To make together
Identity vs. Role Adolescence (12 to 18 Social Peer group To be oneself
Confusion years) relationships To share being
oneself
Intimacy vs. Young adulthood (19 to Relationships Partners in To lose, to bind
Isolation 40 years) friendship/sex oneself to others
Generativity vs. Middle adulthood (40 Work and Partner To make be
Stagnation to 65 years) parenthood To take care of
Integrity vs. Despair Old age/ maturity (65 Reflection on Mankind To be through
to death) life having been
To face not being

Lesson 5: The Western and Eastern Concepts of Self

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. Explain the Western concept of self;
2. Enumerate and discuss the different Eastern conceptions of self;
3. Compare Eastern and Western views of the self; and examine your own
conceptualization.
“One of the most effective ways to learn about oneself is by taking seriously the cultures of
others. It forces you to pay attention to those details of life which differentiate them from you.”
-----Edward T. Hall
Western Concept of Self – Geertz (van Meijl,2008) defines the Western concepts of self as a
bounded, unique, more or less integrated motivational and cognitive universe, a dynamic
center of awareness, emotion, judgement, and action organized into a distinctive whole and set
contrastively both against other such wholes and against its social and natural background.
1. Western Self as Analytic – the Western way of thinking is analytic-deductive with
emphasis on the causal links. The whole is understood when differentiated into parts.
One must categorize and make distinctions to pursue cause.
2. Western Self as Monotheistic – the belief in one Supreme Being coexisting with the
universe condenses the supernatural and human capabilities into bipolarity of both
qualities of existence
3. Western Self as Individualistic – Western individualism exhibits the coexistence of
favorable and unfavorable conditions inherent in personal freedom. Although the right
to individual freedom provides opportunities for self-fulfillment, it also increases the
likelihood of experiencing alienation and frustration.
4. Western Self as Materialistic and Rationalistic – the Western way thinking is focused on
material “things “and favors a rational-empirical approach over magical and
superstitious explanations of immaterial things.
David Ho (1995) - describes the Western self as an individualistic self that is deeply aware of
itself, its uniqueness, sense of direction, purpose, and volition. The self is located at the center
within the individual through which the world is perceived. The self is seen as an entity distinct
from other selves and all other entities.
Frank Johnson (1985) – traces the earliest historical roots of the Western concept of the self to
works on philosophy, almost half a million years ago.
Experimental psychology came into prominence during the mid-nineteenth century and put
forth the concepts of self within the social-interaction framework. The growth of sociology,
anthropology, and psychology in the late nineteenth century saw the emergence of various
concepts of self, among them the Western concept.

Eastern Concept of Self

-in the East, philosophy and religion are twisted together. Thus, the major Eastern
religion such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism are the common
representatives of Eastern thought.

The Self in Four Great Systems of Eastern Thought

1. Hinduism – is variously defined as an Indian religion, a set of religious beliefs or
practices. The world’s oldest religion.
Brahman – is an absolute reality.
Atman – (soul or spirit), the true knowledge of self, is identical to Brahman. 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 on non-birth.
Nirvana – is the highest state that someone can attain, a state of enlightenment.
Vedanta – it characterizes human sufferings 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 law of Karma is the most important doctrine of Hinduism. All actions are subject to karma.
2. Buddhism – is one of the world’s largest religions and originated in India.
Siddharta Gautama – known as the Buddha, is the founder of Buddhism.
- The root world of Buddhism is budh – meaning awake.

The Four Noble Truths

1. Life is suffering
2. Suffering is caused by attachment to desires
3. Suffering can be eliminated
4. Elimination of suffering is through the practice of the Eightfold Path.

Eightfold Path
1. Right view
2. Right aspiration
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
 8. Right concentration
In Buddhism philosophy, man is just a title for the summation of the five parts, namely matter,
sensation, perception, mental constructs, and consciousness that compose the individual.
3. Confucianism – is one of the most influential religious philosophies in the history of
China.
- Analects (Conversations of Confucius),
- The core of Confucian thought is the Golden Rule or the Principle of Reciprocity: “do
not do to others what you would not want others to do to you.”

Five Cardinal Relationships

a. Between ruler and minster
b. Between father and son
c. Between husband and wife
d. Between brothers
e. Between friends
Self-Cultivation – could be accomplished by knowing one’s role in society and acting
accordingly.
4. Taoism – is a Chinese counterculture. Taoists reject the Confucian idea of a rational self.
- The self is an extension of the cosmos, not social relationships.
Tao – is commonly regarded as Nature that is the foundation of all that exists (Garcia,
2008)
- It is not bounded by time and space.
Taoist – believe that simplicity, spontaneity, and harmony with nature should govern
one’s life.

Dichotomy of Western and Eastern Conceptions of Self

Eastern thought
- the emphasis is relational rather than individualistic. The self is considered not in
isolation but in relation to others, society, and the universe. Eastern thoughts aim at
transformations in consciousness, feelings, emotions, and one’s relation to other
people and the world.
- Asian thought looks at life in the three-mode cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
Sarza (2013) – one unique feature of Eastern philosophy is its great reverence for nature.
Western thoughts
- tend to view the self as autonomous, unitary, and stable (van Meijl, 2008). Western
thoughts about the self-have been examined by renowned theorists like Freud,
Erickson, Bandura, Rogers, Jung, James, Mead, and Cooley.
- Western concept of life is linear and space.
Peacock (1986) – mentions that modern Western culture tends to set the individual against
nature, that is, to struggle against nature which is a dangerous enemy.
Comparative Matrix of Western and Eastern Approaches to Understanding the Self
Dimension Western Thought Eastern Thought
Frame of Reference There is a separation bet. Philosophy Religion and philosophy are
& religion/ spirituality intertwined.
Examples of Schools of
Thoughts / Belief Systems
Notable Philosophers
Source of knowledge
Modes of cognition
Emphasis
View of universe and life
View of self
Subject-Object Distinction
(Bipolar Qualities of Self)
Cultural Framework
Scholasticism, Rationalism,
Empiricism, Phenomenology
Greek Triumvirate: Socrates, Plato,
Aristotle, Rene Descartes, John Locke
Has made use of reason rather than
faith to pursue wisdom.
Analytic and deductive
Distinctions and oppositions
Linear
Egocentric
Duality of self-as-subject(knower)
and self-as-object(known)
Individualism
a. The self is a distinct and
autonomous entity; it is an
independent part of the
universe and the society.
b. Independence and self-
reliance are core values.
c. Prioritize personal goals over
group goals.
d. Characterized by exchange
relationship.
e. Uniqueness, sense of
direction, purpose and
volition are the
acknowledged features of
self.
f. Personal success is important
Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism,
Taoism
Confucius, Lao Tzu, Siddharta Gautama
(Buddha)
Has trusted intuition and is often
associated with religious beliefs.
Synthetic and inductive
Commonalities and harmonies
Circular
Sociocentric
Simultaneously subject and object (The
experience of self as both the knower
and known).
Collectivism
a. The self is an integrated part of
the universe and the society.
b. Interdependence and
connectedness are core values.
c. No distinctions bet. Personal &
group goals, or if there is a
distinction, the personal goals
are subordinate to the group
goals.
d. Characterized by communal
relationship.
e. Conformity and obedience are
essential social behaviors.
f. Duty towards all others is
important.