Habab, Jhezarie Anne Abaya

Bachelor of Science in Midwifery-1B

Understanding the Self

LECTURE 9:00-10:30 Tuesday and Thursday
LESSON 5: THE SELF IN WESTERN AND ORIENTAL/EASTERN THOUGHT

The completed timeline will reveal some important facts

Still, the western concept of the self is very much anchored
about the history of thought. Philosophy started from the
on the individuality of the psyche. The individual self is
east. One of the earliest Chinese rulers, Huang-Ti,
always in a struggle to reconcile the connection between
meaning the “Yellow Emperor” was credited for his
the ideal self or perfect soul and the limited self or sinful
introduction of wooden houses in villages, carts, and boats
body. This dichotomy drives us in the understanding of the
and the clever design of the bow and arrow. This wise
self as lifetime toil for self-perfection. What is important in
emperor also introduced and systematized Chinese writing
this concept of the self is the development of the self from
and literature. He is the champion of Chinese culture. He
conception to death.
organized government institutions and pioneered the use of
In other words, from the moment of conception, the self is
coin in commerce. It was also during his reign when the
moulded and prepared to live a good and happy life. A
Chinese people perfected the craft of silk production by
daughter, for example will be provided with the best
breeding silkworms. Most importantly, the Yellow Emperor
possible upbringing by the parents. She will be sent to the
was credited for his leadership style. He led his people with
best school in town in view of bestowing on her the
virtues comparable to the teachings of early Daoism, and
necessary knowledge and skills to be independent and
with highest accord to natural law. He ensured order and
successful professional in adult years. She is expected to
prosperity among the inhabitants.
compete with other professionals in her field and become
Almost 2000 years before the first western text
the best in her line of work. She will eventually find a
was introduced, the eastern civilization was already so
partner and raise children the way she was raised. This is
advanced that it had accounts of the virtuous philosophies
such an example of an ideal self that manifests the
of China, the famous civil codes like the Babylonian Code
perfection of the soul.
of Hammurabi, and the earliest religious texts of India like
When, on the contrary, the self did not have the opportunity
the Rigveda. Noticeably the eastern thoughts are
to be raised, and to grow, and to die a good and happy life,
concerned about the collective life in the community. This
the self becomes a waste as it did not live the ideals of the
is very much in contrast with the individualistic concepts of
soul. The lone purpose of the self, therefore is to live
the west.
according to the ideals of the soul. The Greeks call this
arête- the ultimate goodness, perfection, excellence. All of
INDIVIDUALISTIC VS COLLECTIVE SELF
life’s directions, inasmuch as the western individualistic self
is concerned, are geared towards self-perfection.
Although the self in the eastern perspective also wants to
The concept of the psyche is a western model of the soul.
attain perfection in meditation and enlightenment, there has
Western traditions are always preoccupied by the duality
never been an issue of dualism. Easterners do not have
of the body and soul. Plato started with the idea that the
the notion of the separation of the body and soul. It is
soul inhabited the world of ideas, while the descended to
always one self. The Atman, for example in Indian
the world of the sensible. The ideal self is there up above
philosophy is considered to be the seat of consciousness.
the heavens while the bodily self, or the soul imprisoned in
The atman may have different levels of consciousness but
a finite material body, by which we know today is only
there is always one self. Even death is considered to be
thrown into the oblivion of remembering what the soul
just another level of consciousness but the atman
used to know while living in the world of ideas.
continues to exist because it is not dependent on the body.
Even Aristotle did not solve this problem of duality. He
This in fact is also the concept of the non-self in Buddism.
proposed the hylemorphic theory, meaning that the human
In this concept the self is considered as nothing but an
person is composed of matter or the body and form or the
evolution and transformation of inner consciousness.
soul. Matter is changeable while the form remains. This
Further, the Confucian philosophy from China emphasized
means that the body will grow and eventually die and
the relational self and the social understanding of the self.
decompose and will be transformed into something else.
Scholars read Confucius’ philosophy in two ways. One
The form however remains unchanged. But unlike Plato,
interpretation says that the ideal-thus moral-self is always
Aristotle asserted that the body is equally important as the
able to forego individual interest in view of prioritizing the
soul, because the former will give the latter the knowledge
social interest. In a way, the self is the ideal of a selfless
it ought to have through the senses.
person who is willing to forget about his self-interest in
This is very much similar to the duality of body and soul of
favour of the interest of the community. In this conception,
Descartes. The body is the one gathering information
there is still the conception, there is still the individual self
through the senses, although he never always trusted the
and the self is mutually exclusive as the social self.
information coming from the senses. It is the reason that
The second interpretation of Confucian thought asserts that
processes all information and makes sense with
the individual self and the social self are not mutually
experiences of the body. In an attempt to solve the issue
exclusive but are metaphysically and profoundly related.
of duality, Descartes proposed that the body and the soul
The individual character of the ideal self cannot be
fused in one very important part of the brain-the pineal
separated from the social character of the self. It means
gland.
that the self is constructively connected with the pursuit of
the social self. Take for example, the many dynamics of
the family in which, when in dire poverty one or the other
sibling will be asked to stop going to school so that the
family will be able to send the rest of the children to school

GEN ED 104-PEARL DECA C. GARCIA, RPM,CHRA 1

Habab, Jhezarie Anne Abaya
Bachelor of Science in Midwifery-1B
With their education. Here, the self is willing to sacrifice and
may forget to assert self-interest in order to pursue the
resolve of the whole family. The same self-sacrifice maybe
manifested in groups, communities and nation.
The Middle Eastern traditions are also very much
associated with communal self. One example is the Judaeo-
Christian philosophies which put emphasis on the unity of a
nation-the chosen people of God (Exodus 19:5). The biblical
prophets would always find themselves reminding the
people, as community of believers, to be faithful to the
loving compassion of God. Even prophet Mohammad of
Islamic traditions highlights the oneness of Allah and the
inclusivity of Islam as a religion. Islamic ethics, in the words
of Mohammad asserts that “my community will never agree
with an error”. Both traditions stress the importance of the
community over the self. The eastern philosophy therefore,
is more attuned to the collective dimension of the self.
Features of Individualism
 “I” identity
 Promotes individuals goals, initiative and
achievement.
 Individual rights are seen as being the most
important. Rules attempt to ensure self-
importance and individualism.
 Independence is valued; there is much less of a
drive to help other citizens or communities
than in collectivism.
 Relying or being dependent on others is
frequently seen as shameful.
 People are encouraged to do things on their
own; to rely on themselves
 People strive for their own successes
Features of Collectivism
 Each person is encouraged to be an active
player in society, to do what is best for society
as a whole rather than themselves.
 The rights of families, communities, and the
collective supersede those of the individual.
 Rules promote unity, brotherhood, and
selflessness.
 Working with others and cooperating is the
norm; everyone supports each other.
 As a community, family or nation more than as
an individual.
GEN ED 104-PEARL DECA C. GARCIA, RPM,CHRA
The Social Construction of the Self in
Western Thought
Social construction is a shared assumption or perception of
the people in society. The western social construct of the
self can be characterized in three ways. First is the
individualistic self. At a very young age, the child is already
taught to pursue what is best for self. Thus later in adult
life, the measure of a successful life is when the self is able
to fulfil the life-goals set for and by the self. The
individualistic self is always conceived as the autonomous
bounded entity. For one to be autonomous, one must be
able to show independence.
Relevant to independence brings about the second
western social construct of the self which is self-
sufficiency. This construct presumes that a successful self
must be able to supply one’s needs without external
assistance. Being self-sufficient also implies confidence in
one’s capacity to provide what the self needs from one’s
own resources and authority. Therefore it is important for
the self to establish one’s power and accumulate the
needed knowledge and resources so that one will be able
to provide one’s needs.
The third social construct is the self being rational. In the
western practice, There is no time for the self to be weak
and emotional. The self must not waste resources on
meditation and other metaphysical cognitions but to be
constantly rational and reasonable. The self masters the
casual relationship of things. Everything must be explained
by logic and reason. Phenomenon outside the logical
realm are simply discredited and rejected. This explains
the western logical positivist movement. It contends that
what is rational and reasonable are only those which are
logically viable. The successful self therefore, is grounded
on one’s investment on reason and logical thinking.
It is also necessarily follows that when the self adapts the
rational-logical conception of things, one must be scientific.
The self marvels at the safety measures of scientific
procedures. Scientific researches ascertain the cause and
effect relationship of things and phenomena. Safety is
derived from the mastery phenomena concerning the self.
This brings about the ideals of self-efficacy in which
everything can be explained by science, and everything
can be provided by science. The successful self embraces
the scientific conception of things that affect one’s growth,
psycho-physical development, intellectual capacity,
interaction with others and involvement in societal
institutions and infrastructures.
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Habab, Jhezarie Anne Abaya
Bachelor of Science in Midwifery-1B

The Self as Embedded in Relationships

and Through Spiritual Development in
Confucian Thought- Eastern Construct

Eastern social infrastructures are mostly seen as contrary

to the western individualistic construct. The eastern social
construct is primarily viewed as collectivistic and is always
grounded on nature. There were many eastern traditions
that flourished in the history of thought that were firmly
based on how the self relates to others, to the Divine Being
and to nature.

Remember that the eastern traditions are primarily

composed of the ancient Asian philosophies from India,
China, Japan and the Middle East. The Hindu and Buddhist
traditions sprang from India. The Confucian and Daoist
traditions originated from China. Japan also developed the
Shinto traditions. The Judaeo- Christian and Islamic
traditions laid their foundations in the Middle East. We
focus on Confucian spirituality and philosophy

Confucius or Kung Fu Zi ascertained the ancient Chinese

civilization by establishing social order. The society will be
led by wise leaders who guarantee peace, prosperity and
harmony. Here in the Confucian system we can
immediately notice the primacy of the society over the
individual person. In fact Confucius believed that the threat
to social order is only caused by the unchecked selfish
desires of individuals. The self therefore in the Confucian
system is a person within the society who exhibits
refinement and compassion. The refined and
compassionate person was what Confucius envisioned as
junzi . It is the new self formed in the right education under
the virtuous teacher as the role model. Central in the
educational formation of junzi are humanistic learning,
refined personal manners and the capacity to govern the
community wisely and with compassion. In principle, the
new self of junzi – the sage king- brings to life the virtues of
the ancestors to the new order of society. The self
therefore is the transmitter of the ancient virtues to the new
world.

To carry out the transmission, one must have the correct

procedures and protocol. In Chinese philosophy, religious
rituals are of great importance. The word li is better
understood as refined manner of spiritual rituals and
sacrifices, and protocols in honouring the ancestors. Li is
both the restraining and refinement of the self. The virtuous
self must be able to practice the correct customary
procedures and protocols governing all of life.

Another concept in Confucian philosophy is the principle of

ren. Ren is the character of the self that sincerely shows
compassion for self. The self must embody human-
heartedness by prioritizing the self-interest of others. The
sage king- jenzi –is characterized by his practice of ren in
putting others first before the self.

Although Confucius was not given the opportunity to

become the leader of China, his principles of jenzi,li and
ren became influential all throughout China even unto
many other modern civilizations of the world.

GEN ED 104-PEARL DECA C. GARCIA, RPM,CHRA 3

Habab, Jhezarie Anne Abaya
Bachelor of Science in Midwifery-1B

GEN ED 104-PEARL DECA C. GARCIA, RPM,CHRA 4

Habab, Jhezarie Anne Abaya
Bachelor of Science in Midwifery-1B

GEN ED 104-PEARL DECA C. GARCIA, RPM,CHRA 5