THE SELF ACCORDING TO PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHY
-The study of knowledge or wisdom from its Latin roots, philo (love) and sophia
(wisdom).
-This field is also considered as “The Queen of All Sciences” because every
scientific discipline has philosophical foundations.

Socrates
-A philosopher from Athens, Greece
-Socrates had a unique style of asking questions called Socratic Method - involves the search for the
correct/proper definition of a thing.
-The foundation of Socrates philosophy was the Delphic Oracle’s that command to “Know Thyself” –
knowing or understanding oneself should be more than the physical self, or the body.
-According to Socrates, self is dichotomous which means composed of two things:
-The physical realm or the one that is changeable, temporal, and imperfect.
-The ideal realm is the one that is imperfect and unchanging, eternal, and immortal.
For Socrates, a human is composed of body and soul
-Body- belongs to the physical realm
-Soul - identify self.
-The self, according to Socrates is the immortal and unified entity that is consistent over time.

Plato
-A student of Socrates, who introduced the idea of a three-part soul/self
-Reason enables human to think deeply, make wise choices and achieve a true understanding of eternal
truths. Plato also called this as divine essence.
-Physical Appetite is the basic biological needs of human being such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.
-Spirit or passion is the basic emotions of human being such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness and
empathy.
Plato also illustrated his view of the soul/self in “Phaedrus” in his metaphor.

St. Augustine
-Augustine has been characterized as Christianity’s first
theologian.
-Like Plato, Augustine believed that the physical body is
different from the immortal soul.
-According to St. Augustine, the human nature is composed of
two realms:
-God as the source of all reality and truth.
-The sinfulness of man.
-He also stated that real happiness can only be found in God.

Rene Descartes
-Father of Modern Philosophy
-Famous principle the “cogito, ergo sum—“I think, therefore I exist”
-The essence of self is being a thinking thing
-He declared that the essential self or the self as the thinking entity is radically different from the
physical body.
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Personality
• comes from the word “persona”
• Personality also comes from the two Latin words “per” and “sonare”, which literally means “to sound
through”.
•Personality is the overall pattern or integration of a personʼs structure, modes of behavior, attitudes,
aptitudes, interests, intellectual abilities, and many other distinguishable personality traits.

Environmental Factors of Personality

• neighborhood a person lives in, his school, college, university and workplace

Biological Factors of Personality

• hereditary factors or genetic make-up
• physical features
• brain

Situational Factors of Personality

• situational factors do alter a personʼs behavior and response from time to time.

Cultural Factors
• Culture is complex of these belief, values, and techniques for dealing with the environment

Personality Traits
• Personality traits reflect peopleʼs characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

The 5 factor Model of Personality

Openness
The tendency to appreciate new art, ideas, values, feelings, and behaviors.
Conscientiousness
The tendency to be careful, on-time for appointments, to follow rules, and to be hard working.
Extraversion
The tendency to be talkative, sociable, and to enjoy others; the tendency to have a dominant style.
Agreeableness
The tendency to agree and go along with others rather than to assert one owns opinions and choices.
Neuroticism
The tendency to be frequently experience negative emotions such as anger, worry, and sadness, as well
as being interpersonally sensitive.

Self-concept is generally thought of as our individual perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and unique
characteristics—a mental picture of who you are as a person.
THE SELF ACCORDING TO SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY
Sociology and Anthropology are two interrelated disciplines that contributes to the understanding of
the self.
-Sociology presents the self as a product of modern society.
-Anthropology is the study of humanity.

Sociology
Etymological definition:
• socius (Latin) – group / partners
• logos (Greek) – study
• Scientific study of patterns of human interaction that deals with the study of group life
• Sociology presents the self as a product of modern society. It is the science that studies the
development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of human being.

George Herbert Mead and the Social Self

• He is regarded as one of the founders of social psychology and the American sociological tradition in
general.
• The self represents the sum total of people’s conscious perception of their identity as distinct from
others.

Mead’s Stages Of Self Formation

1. Preparatory Stage. Children copy, or imitate, the behaviors of others around them without
sophisticated understanding of what they are imitating.
2. Play Stage. Children start role-playing and taking on the role of significant people in their lives.
3. Game Stage. Children learn their role in relation to others and how to take on the role of everyone
else in a game.

Generalized other the person realizes that people in society have cultural norms, beliefs and values
which are incorporated into each self.
Here, Mead identified the two phases of self:
1. the phase which reflects the attitude of the generalized other or the “me”; and
2. the phase that responds to the attitude of generalized other or the “I”.

Georg Simmel
Simmel was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic.
In contrast to Mead, Simmel proposed that there is something called human nature that is innate to the
individual.

Simmel as a social thinker made a distinction between subjective and objective culture.
1. The individual or subjective culture refers to the ability to embrace, use, and feel culture.
2. Objective culture is made up of elements that become separated from the individual or group’s
control and identified as separate objects.

-Interrelated forces: urbanizations, money, and the configuration of one’s social network
-Urbanization is the process that moves people from country to city living.
Money creates a universal value system wherein every commodity can be understood.
Because of urbanization, Simmel observed that social networks also changed.
1.Primary Group
2.Secondary Group

Anthropology
-anthropos (Greek) – man
-logos (Greek) – study
Anthropology is the study of humanity. This broad field takes an interdisciplinary approach to looking at
human culture, both past and present.

The Self and Person in the Contemporary Anthropology

The four subfields of anthropology:
1. Archeology
 2. Biological Anthropology
3. Linguistics
4. Cultural Anthropology
Archeology
-Focus on the study of the past and how it may have contributed to the
present ways of how people conduct their daily lives.
Biological Anthropology
-Focus on how the human body adapts to the different earth environments.
Linguistic Anthropology.
-Focused on using language as means to discover a group’s manner of social interaction and their
worldview.
Cultural Anthropology
Focused in knowing what makes one group’s manner of living forms an essential part of the member’s
personal and societal identity.

Ways in which culture may manifest itself in people:

1. Symbols. Example: colors have similar meaning across all cultures.
2. Heroes. Example: Fiction – Thor, Captain America; Real – Jose Rizal,
Apolinario Mabini.
3. Rituals. Example: Wedding, fiesta, Christmas celebration, graduation,
etc.
4. Values. Example: hospitality, respect for elders etc.

Clifford Geertz
Clifford Geertz was an Anthropology Professor at the University of Chicago.
THE SELF ACCORDING TO PSYCHOLOGY

“Self is the sense of personal identity and of who we are as individuals”

-Jhangiani and Tarry 2014

What is Psychology?
Psychology is a scientific of human behavior and mental processes.
> Behavior - overt
> Mental Processes - covert
> Scientific method

Four Goals of Psychology

a. Describe - what is the person doing?

b. Explain - why is she doing that?
c. Predict - what is he going to do?
d. Control - how can we change the behaviour

THE SELF AS COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT

Self-concept is defined as self-knowledge, a cognitive structure that includes beliefs about personality
traits, physical characteristics, abilities, values, goals, and roles, as well as the knowledge that an
individual exist as individuals.

According to psychologist Dr. Bruce Brackenin 1992, there are 6 domains related to self concept
1. Social
2. Competence
3. Affect
4. Physical
5. Academic
6. Family

William James “the Me- and I-Self”

William James well known figure in Psychology, he is considered the father of functionalism

Two Sides of the SELF

I –self is subjective self that is aware of its own actions
Me- Self is an object or the self you can describe (perspective of others)

The Dimensions
1. Material – physical appearance
2. Social - social skills
3. Spiritual - personality, character, defining values
“A man’s self is the sum total of all that he call his, not only his body and psychic powers, but his clothes
and his house.”
- WILLIAM JAMES

CARL ROGERS AND HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY

-He is the founder of client-centered therapy and one of the prominent humanistic or existential
theorists in personality.
-Roger believed that the person is an active being who lives in the present

CARL ROGER’S PERSON CENTERED THEORY

1. Ideal self - who or what you want to be
2. Real Self- who you actually are
3. Congruence – the alignment of the real self and the ideal self
4. Incongruence – happens when there is inconsistency between the real self and ideal self
Eric Berne Ego State
-Parent ego state – the voice of authority
-Adult ego state – the rational system
-Child ego state – can be spontaneous but can also be impulsive

Donald Winicott -True vs. False Self

A pediatrician, a personality theorist and one of the pioneers in object relations and development of
personality in childhood

True vs. False Self

False self is an alternative personality used to protect an individual’s true identity or one’s ability to
“hide” the real self.

Donald Winicott -True vs. False Self

False self can be healthy self if it is perceived as functional for the person and for the society and being
compliant without of the feeling of betrayal to true self.
Unhealthy false self happens when an individual feels forced compliance in any situation.

True Self - has a sense of integrity and connected wholeness that is rooted in early infancy
-Emerges if the mother is responsive to the needs of the child
-Creative, spontaneous and real

Multiple vs. Unified Selves

Multiple Selves theory there are different aspects of the self exist in an individuals therefore ,the self is
whole consisting of parts manifest themselves when need arise.
Unified self is the personality that stays with in us, the self we usually only show to people we trust and
whenever we are alone.
Unified Self connected to consciousness , awareness and agency an adjusted person is able to accept
and understood the success and failure that they experience.

Proposed the Tripartite Model of Human Consciousness

- that self is composed of three related, but also separable domains:

Experiential self or the theater of consciousness

- felt experience of being. Self that disappears the moment that an individual enter deep self and comes
back when they wake up. Associated with memory.

Private self consciousness system or the narrator/interpreter

-verbally narrates what is happening, Voice speaking in your head

Public Self or Persona

-an individual self that is being shown in public and this interacts on how others see an individual

Albert Bandura & Social Learning Theory

-Known for his theory of social learning by means of modeling
-Famous for his proposed concept of self-efficacy
Social Cognitive Theory
asserts that a person is both proactive and agentic, which means that we have the capacity to to
exercise and control over our life.
Proactive Self
Individual have control in every situation by making things up happen
Agentic Self
The ability of an individual to pursue their goals in life