Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Material Self
Material Self
SALE! SALE!
SELF
William James conceptualized SELF as having 2 aspects- the “I”
and the “me”.
The “I” is the thinking, acting, and feeling self and the “me” on the
other hand, is physical characteristics as well as psychological
capabilities that makes who you are.
MATERIAL SELF
• The material self is a
total of all of the
tangible things you
own:
• your possessions
• your home
• your body
MATERIAL SELF
• Two subclasses:
• Bodily self
• Extracorporeal
self
MATERIAL SELF
Two subclasses:
Immediate family
clothes
body
1. BODY
The innermost part of our material
self is our BODY. Intentionally, we
are INVESTING in our body.
BODY
•Heidi Klum has
insured her legs for $2
million (each!),
•James Bond star
Daniel Craig has his
body insured for $9.5
million
•Jennifer Lopez thinks
her famous derriere is
worth an incredible
$27 million.
Truly a football
legend of his
time, David
Beckham had
his legs insured
Julia Roberts is one of the for $70 million
highest-paid actresses in the
world and she obviously at the height of
doesn't want her dazzling his success.
smile to fade - the Oscar
winner insured her teeth for
$30 million.
2. CLOTHES
Herman Lotze’s ‘Philosophy of
Dress’ James believed that:
Clothing is an essential part of
the material self.
The identification of the self to things started in our infancy stage when we make a distinction
among self and environment and others who may desire our possessions.
Material possession gains higher value in our lifetime if we use material possession to find
HAPPINESS, associate these things with significant events, accomplishment, and people in
our lives.
There are even times, when material possession of a person that is closely identified to the
person, gains acknowledgement with high regard even if the person already passed away.