BASIC CONCEPTS

OF SELF
GEC001
AT THE END OF THIS LESSON, THE
STUDENT SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
• Analyze the need of understanding the self;

• Identify the meaning of self, its nature and importance;

• Examine the self in eastern and western thoughts;

• Demonstrate better understanding of the Filipino concept of the

self; and

• Discuss how the mind, self, and society functions and interact
with society.
THE NEED OF UNDERSTANDING THE
SELF
1. Helps learners acquire a positive sense of self and social responsibility.

2. Helps learners develop their potentials to enable them to live harmoniously in the
context of a fast changing and challenging world.

3. Helps learners participate meaningfully in all endeavors as responsible members of a

global community, in relation to multi-cultural perspectives.

4. Helps learners understand local and global issues and concerns that continue to
impact their lives and the lives of others.
THE NEED OF UNDERSTANDING THE
SELF
5. Enables the learners develop the capacity to think, reason, and act legally and
morally as these will have a sphere of influence to others.

6. Enables the learners to behave in ways that will fulfill their needs and goals in the
contemporary society.

7. Helps the learners to possess personal, civil, and moral obligations, not only to
themselves but also to their families, nations, and the globalized contemporary
society.
MEANING AND NATURE OF SELF
• Self is a unified being and is essentially connected to consciousness,
awareness, and agency or with the faculty of rational choice.

• Self is the condition of identify that makes one subject of experience

distinct from all others.

• Self is the person regarded as an individual apart from all others.

MEANING AND NATURE OF SELF
• Self is one’s identity.

• Self is expressed in the first person.

• Self is a dynamic, responsive process that structures neural pathways

according to past adolescent environment.
WHY SELF IS IMPORTANT?
• According to Kant, by knowing ourselves, that we are free and that our
actions and choices matter, we can make good on these commitments
without fear of being contradicted by theory. In other words, we can be
responsible to ourselves.

• By knowing the self, we are able to examine what type of object the self
is and how it is constituted.
WHY SELF IS IMPORTANT?
• According to Thorin Klosowski, by knowing the self, we are able to develop self-
awareness and introspection which are the starting point to every improvement.

• Understanding the self is a very important basis of quantified self-movement which

means that if a person collects data about himself, he can make improvements based
on that data (New York Times report)

• Knowing the self requires more than intellectual self-examination for it demands
knowing something about your feelings and emotions.

• The more you pay attention to your feelings and emotions and how you work on
them, the better you will understand why you do the things you do. Ultimately, the
more you know about your habits, the easier it is to improve those habits.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SELF

• The self is constituted or made up of three (3) main parts

that, incorporated, allow for the self to maintain its
functions. These parts are: self-knowledge, interpersonal
self, and the agent self.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE

• This is sometimes referred to as self-concept.

• Self knowledge allows for people to gather information and beliefs about
themselves.

• Self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-deception belongs to the self-

knowledge part of the self.
INTERPERSONAL SELF
• It can be referred to as your public self.
• This feature allows for social connection to others.
• With this aspect, a person is able to display himself to others around
him.
• It is apparent in situations of self-presentation, being a group member or
partner in a relationship, a person’s social roles and his reputation.

Example:
A person might show confidence and determination in his work atmosphere, whereas, he shows
more emotional and nurturing side in his romantic relationship.
INTERPERSONAL SELF

• Social roles are defined as the parts that a person plays in different
situations and with other people.

– Our roles change in order to fit the “expected” behaviors in various scenarios.
– For example, a person may be a mother, a doctor, a wife, and a daughter. Her
behavior would most likely change in her transition from being a doctor in
coming home to her daughter.
INTERPERSONAL SELF

• Social norms constitute the “unwritten rules” that we have about how
to act in certain scenarios and with various people in our lives.

– For example, when a person is in a classroom, he is more likely to be quiet

and attentive; whereas at a party, he is more likely to be socially engaged and
standing.
– Norms act as guidelines that shape our behavior. Without them, there would
not be any order, as well as lack of understanding in situations in society.
(Baumaister and others, 2001)
AGENT SELF

• It is known as the executive function that allows for actions.

• This is how we, as individuals, make choices and utilize our control in situations
and actions.
• The agent self resides over everything that involves decision making, self-
control, taking charge in situations and actively responding.
• A person might desire to eat unhealthy foods, however, it is his agent self that
allows that person to choose to avoid eating them and make a healthier food
choice.
THE FILIPINO CONCEPT OF SELF
• The Filipino concept of self reflects a collectivistic perspective,
as Filipinos tend to emphasize values and traits that promote
interpersonal cooperation, reciprocity, and social acceptance, rather than
individualistic values such as autonomy and uniqueness.

• Obedience and respect of parents and elders are highly valued, and
individual interest are secondary of the family.
EXAMINE THE SELF IN EASTERN AND
WESTERN THOUGHTS
• EASTERN AND WESTERN THINKERS
ALIKE BELIEVE THAT HUMAN BEINGS
ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME ALL OVER
THE WORLD, ONLY THE DETAILS AND
CUSTOMS DIFFER.
 West and East
INDIVIDUALISTIC VS.
COLLABORATIVE
• I am special. • I am part of my family.
• I am unique. • I am part of my community.
• I am me. • I am part of my country.
• I am an individual. • The goodness of the whole is
• I am who I am. more important than the
individual.
• I am a rational agent.
• My actions directly impact my
• I am responsible for my own
family and my community.
action.
 West and East

Individualistic VS. Collaborative

Lifestyle
Copyright 2010 19
 West
•The Difference and East
Between West and East
• Independence
• Develop early independence
• Express yourself
• Responsible for self
• Live on one’s own
• One’s own goals take priority
– Motivated by own
– preferences, needs ,
– rights
• Tasks more important than
relationships
• Cognitive skills independent of
social skills
• Interdependence
• Learn to depend on others
• Read nonverbal cues
• Listen to authority
• Be responsible for others
• Personal goals secondary to
goals of the group
• Motivated by the norms of,
and duties imposed by, the
group
• Relationships more important
than tasks
• Social and cognitive skills
integrated
• Westby
(2009)
 •The Difference
WestBetween West and East
and East
Individualistic VS. Collaborative
POWER DISTANCE
• Low Power Distance • High Power Distance
• Persons must earn • Parents teach children to
obey
respect
• Children respect parents
• Collaborative classrooms & those in authority
• Teachers facilitate • Teachers take initiative in
learning class
• Teachers are to transfer
• Persons direct
wisdom
themselves
• Students respect teachers
• Persons expect direction
EXAMINE THE SELF IN EASTERN AND
WESTERN THOUGHTS
• EASTERN AND WESTERN THINKERS
ALIKE BELIEVE THAT HUMAN BEINGS
ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME ALL OVER
THE WORLD, ONLY THE DETAILS AND
CUSTOMS DIFFER.
THE EASTERN CONCEPT OF SELF

The two (2) major religions of the Asian countries

delve on the existence and nature of the self. These
major religions are Hinduism and Buddhism.
HINDUISM

• A discrete entity called “Jiva” or “Atman” persists from life to life

(Reincarnation)
• Found in all beings
• Governed by karma
• Two main schools of thought:
– Advaita - Atman is part of, or one with, the divine (“Brahman”)
– Dvaita – Atman is separate from Brahman; Atman is indivisible and unchanging
 BUDDHISM
• No distinct, permanent “self” (anatman) … it’s constantly changing.

• Believe in reincarnation, not of discrete souls, but of ever-changing,

localized currents in a sea of consciousness.

• Governed by karma (cause & effect)

• Ultimate “goal” is to end cycle of birth and death by ending

attachment … thereby ending one’s apparent (illusory)
separateness from the underlying Buddha-nature.
THE WESTERN CONCEPT OF THE SELF

•The concept of self in Western

countries differ from the concept of
self in the eastern countries.
SUMMARY OF THE WESTERN
CONCEPT OF THE SELF
1. The self is formed by the individual’s duty to use his judgement to determine who and what
he is.
2. The self is free to accept and to deny the will. The self can decide for and against; it is free
to judge and to act, even against better reasons. In acting, the self makes himself independent
of the world.
3. Reason is passion – and passion is not a contradiction to reason. Reason contradicts desire
and greed, but not passion.
4. The goal of self-assertion and the exercise of one’s own capacities are directed toward
excellence and immortality.
5. The basic premise of Western philosophy of self is to build and strengthen the self to
improve over all functioning of the body.
 MIND, SELF AND SOCIETY BY GEORGE
HERBERT MEAD
• George H. Mead shows a psychological analysis through behavior and interaction of an individual's
self with reality.

• The behavior is mostly developed through sociological experiences and encounters.

• These experiences lead to individual behaviors that make up the social factors that create the
communications in society.

• Communication can be described as the comprehension of another individual's gestures. Mead

explains that communication is a social act because it requires two or more people to interact.
THE “I” AND “ME” OF MEAD
• The main concept of the irony between the "I" and the "Me" is that the self is a social
process.

• It states that man or the individual is a social process, meaning that we are unfinished.
This is a big question that many Sociologists today are studying. How can the self be
social and yet unfinished? The book looks at this concept in the point of view of
conduct and social attitudes on how the "I" and the "Me" are parts of the same whole
which constitutes the self.

• The "I" is the "I" and the "Me" is the "Me" they cannot be one or the other, or top
each other in any way because although they are separate, and occur at different
times, they work together hand-in-hand; to help individual navigate society in different
circumstances we might present ourselves with.
 THE “I” AND “ME” OF MEAD
• The state of the "I", the individual feels they have a position in society, that they have a certain
function or privilege, yet they are not fully aware of it as in the state of the "Me" the individual is
calling for a response and can organize a community in their own attitude because the "Me" is a
social, reliable, and predictable self - that is conscious and has an understanding of the
social norms of society.

• Whereas the "I" is a small pure form of the self where our existence gets to act, make a decision
in a split second, and has no self - also conscious, unpredictable immediate response of the "I" is
not available until after.

• According to the book, remembering "what you were" a minute ago, a day ago, or a year ago.

• The "I" is a response to other's attitudes while the "me" is attitudes an individual shares with
others. That is, the "me" is the shared beliefs and the "I" is a reaction to the beliefs of others.
THE END!
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