(GNED8)

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

The SELF from Various Perspectives

PHILOSOPHY
Socrates – “The unexamined
life is not worth living”
There may be times when there are no answers
but what is important is the person grew
wiser.
Plat0 – “To know is to be”
Theory of forms (shadows
and forms) ‘allegory of the
cave’
Soul: reason (rational),
The SELF from Various Perspectives

St. Augustine of Hippo

The cause of good and evil is
an act of man’s free will.
All things are worthy of love
but they must be loved
properly.
Rene Descartes
I think therefore I am –
to doubt is to think
The body is a machine
controlled by will and aided by the mind
 The SELF from Various Perspectives
John Locke
the mind at birth is a
“Tabula Rasa” (Blank Slate)
Nothing exists in the mind
that was not first in the senses
Law of Opinion – virtues and vices
Civil law – right actions
Divine Law – eternally true and should always be
followed
The SELF from Various Perspectives

David Hume
the mind receives ideas
from the senses and calls
it PERCEPTIONS

-Impressions immediate sensation

-Ideas-recollection of impressions
Human nature “self” others call it “soul”
The self is a product of the imagination
There is no permanent self
 The SELF from Various Perspectives
Immanuel Kant
The mind is not just a
passive receiver of sense
experience but an active participant.
-God is within man

Sigmund Freud
the Unconscious (icebreg)
ID, EGO, SUPEREGO
Instincts:LIFE (Eros – libido – thirst, hunger, sex)
DEATH (Thanatos – aggression and
violence)
 The SELF from Various Perspectives

Gilbert Ryle
‘knowing that’ and ‘knowing
how’
‘knowing that’ only is
empty intellectualism
Patricia and Paul Churchland
neurophilosophy - the brain and
the mind
The biochemical properties of
the brain is responsible for man’s
thoughts, feelings, and behavior
The SELF from Various Perspectives

Maurice Merleau Ponty

Self experience and the experience of other
people
The SELF from Various Perspectives
SOCIOLOGY
George Herbert Mead
Social Behaviorism - the self cannot be
separated from society
“The self is not present at birth”
Stages of self formation
-the Preparatory stage
imitation
verbal & non- verbal symbols
-the Play stage
role playing
-the Game stage
acknowledging others
the I SELF (subjective) and the ME SELF (objective)
The SELF from Various Perspectives
Charles Horton Cooley
-Formation of the self through interaction
The Looking Glass Self
-People imagine how they
present themselves to others
-People imagine how others
evaluate them
People develop some sort of
feeling about themselves as a
result of those impressions .
The SELF from Various Perspectives
Erving Goffman
Impression Management - Slanting
presentation of self to create preferred
appearance and satisfy people

dramaturgical approach
– theatrical like presentation
face-work – face saving during
embarassing situations.
 ADJECTIVES
ABLE IDEALISTIC RELAXED
ACCEPTING INDEPENDENT RELIGIOUS
ADAPTABLE INGENIOUS RESPONSIVE
BOLD INTELLIGENT SEARCHING
BRAVE INTROVERTED SELF-ASSERTIVE
CALM KIND SELF-CONSCIOUS
CARING KNOWLEDGEABLE SENSIBLE
CHEERFUL LOGICAL SENTIMENTAL
CLEVER LOVING SHY
COMPLEX MATURE SILLY
CONFIDENT MODEST SPONTANEOUS
DEPENDABLE NERVOUS SYMPATHETIC
DIGNIFIED OBSERVANT TENSE
EMPATHETIC ORGANIZED TRUSTWORTHY
ENERGETIC PATIENT WARM
HAPPY POWERFUL WISE
HELPFUL PROUD WITTY
IDEALISTIC QUIET
REFLECTIVE
 JOHARI WINDOW
ARENA BLIND SPOT

Adjectives selected by both subject Adjectives not selected by subject

and peer but selected by peer

HIDDEN UNKNOWN

Adjectives selected by the subject but Adjectives that neither subject nor
not by the peer peer selected
Prelim requirement

SCRAP BOOK
page 34 – 39
of the book