Lesson 1: Philosophy

Socrates
"I Know That I Don't Know"
Socrates was a Greek philosopher and one of the very few individuals who shaped Western
thought (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017). However, unlike the other philosophers during his
time, Socrates never wrote anything. Knowledge about Socrates is through second-hand information from
the writings of his student Plato (another of the most influential Western thinkers) and historian
Xenophon (The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017).
Socrates was known for his method of inquiry in testing an idea. This is called the Socratic
Method whereby an idea was tested by asking a series of questions to determine underlying beliefs and
the extent of knowledge to guide the person toward better understanding (Maxwell 2015). Socrates was
described to have Athens everyday views and popular Athenian beliefs. This apparently offended the
leaders in his time. He was then accused of impiety or lack on for the gods and for corrupting the minds
of the youth. At 70 years old, Socrates was sentenced to death by drinking a cup of poison hemlock
(Brickhouse & Smith, 2002).
Some of Socrates' ideas were:
• The soul is immortal.
• The care of the soul is the task of philosophy.
• Virtue is necessary to attain happiness
Socrates believed that philosophy had a very important role to play in the lives of the people. One
of his most-quoted phrases is, “The unexamined life is not worth living." According to Socrates, self-
knowledge or the examination of one's self, as well as the question about how one ought to live one's life,
are very important concerns because only by knowing yourself can you hope to improve your life (Rappe,
1995). Socrates believed that you as a person should consciously contemplate, turn your gaze inward, and
analyze the true nature and values that are guiding your life. He added self-knowledge would open your
eyes to your true nature; which contrary to pop culture, is not about what you own, how many “Likes”
you get in your social media posts, or how successful you are in your career. In fact, your real self is not
even your body. According to Socrates, the state of your inner being (soul/self) determines the quality of
your life.
Socrates said existence is of two kinds:
1. The visible, and
2. The invisible.
The visible existence changes while the in invisible changes while the invisible existence remains
cons (Connolly, 2017). According to Socrates, this is the state of the human being. The body, which is
visible, changes; the other part, the kind that is invisible to humans yet sensed and understood by the
mind remains constant. In the Socratic Dialogue, Plato wrote what Socrates said about the body and the
soul: "When the soul and body are together nature assigns our body to be a slave and to be ruled and the
soul to be ruler and master (Hamilton et al., 1961; Organ. 1986) Organ, 1986). However, Socrates said
that the body was a reluctant slave, and the soul gets dragged toward what is always ch soul gets dragged
toward what is always changing. This would leave the soul confused (Organ, 1986).
Socrates also believed that the goal of life is to be happy. How does one become happy?
According to Socrates, the virtuous man is a happy man, and that virtue alone is the one and on and only
supreme good that will secure his/her happiness. Virtue is defined as moral excellence, and an individual
is considered virtuous if his/her character is made up of the moral qualities that are accepted as virtues,
i.e., courage, temperance, prudence, and justice (The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017).
According to Socrates, even death is a trivial matter for the truly virtuous because he/she has realized that
the most important thing in life is the state of his/her soul and the acts taken from taking care of the soul
through self-knowledge.

Plato
"Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others."
Plato was the student of Socrates. He wrote the Socratic Dialogue where Socrates was the main
character and speaker. Plato's philosophical method was what he identified Balance between mind and
body as “collection and division” (Phaedrus, 265e, Smith, 2017). In this method, the philosopher would
"collect” all the generic ideas that seemed to have common characteristics and then divided them into
different kinds until the subdivision of ideas became specific. He is best known for his Theory of Forms
that asserted the physical world is not really the “real” world because the ultimate reality exists beyond
the physical world.
Plato is perhaps the single most important influence of the Western concept of "self." According
to Plato, the "soul" is indeed the being. However, his concept of the divine is not a spiritual being but
rather one that has an intellectual connotation. The self/soul/mind according to Plato is the aspect of the
human beings by which the Forms (ideas) are known.
The Three parts of the soul according to Plato are:
• The appetitive (sensual)

 The element that enjoys sensual experiences, such as enjoys sensual experiences, such as food,
drink, and sex
• The rational (reasoning)

 The element that forbids the person to enjoy the sensual experiences; the part that loves truth,
hence, should rule over the other parts of the soul through the use of reason
• The spirited (feeling)

 The element that is inclined toward reason but understands the demands of passion; the part that
loves honor and victory

St. Augustine
“All knowledge leads to God”
 Saint Augustine, also called Saint Augustine of Hippo, is one of the Latin Fathers of the Church,
one of the Doctors of the Church, and one of the most significant Christian thinkers. His philosophical
approach to Christian thinking is the most influential theological system. His written works are among the
foundations of medieval and modern Christian thought (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017).
Saint Augustine was deeply influenced by Plato's ideas. Not surprisingly, he adopted Plato's view
that the “self” is an immaterial (but rational) soul. Giving the Theory of Forms a Christian perspective,
Augustine asserted that these Forms were concepts existing within the perfect and eternal God (The
Catholic University of America Press, 1982) where the soul belonged. Saint Augustine held that the soul
held the Truth and was capable of scientific thinking, Saint Augustine's concept of the “self” was an
inner, immaterial “l” that had self-knowledge and self-awareness. He believed that the human being was
both a soul and body, and the body possessed senses, such as imagination, memory, reason, and mind
through which the soul experienced the world.
He also reasoned that human beings through the senses could sense the material, temporal objects
as we interacted with the material world; the immaterial but intelligible (def. able to be understood only
by the intellect, not by the senses) God would only clear or obvious to the mind if one tune into his/her
immaterial self/soul.
The aspects of the self/soul according to Saint Augustine's are:
• It is able to be aware of itself.
• It recognizes itself as a holistic one.
• It is aware of its unity.
Saint Augustine believed that the human being who is both soul and body is meant to tend to
higher, divine, and heavenly matters because of his/her our capacity to ascend and comprehend truths
through the mind. He connected the ascension of the soul with his assertion that everything related to the
physical world belongs to the physical body, and if a person concerns himself/herself with this physical
world then he/she will not be any different from animals. Saint Augustine pointed out that a person is
similar to God as regards to the mind and its ability; that by ignoring to use his/her mind (or the incorrect
use of the mind) he/she would lose his/her possibility to reach real and lasting happiness (The Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017; Mendelson, 206).

Rene Descartes
"I Think, Therefore I Am."
René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. He is considered the
father of modern Western philosophy. Descartes is often regarded as the first thinker to emphasize the use
of reason to describe, predict, and understand natural phenomena based on observational and empirical
evidence (Bertrand, 2004; Grosholz, 1991).
Descartes proposed that doubt was a principal tool of disciplined inquiry. His method was called
hyperbolical/metaphysical doubt, also sometimes referred to as methodological skepticism. It is a
systematic process of being skeptical about the truth of one's beliefs in order to determine which beliefs
could be ascertained as true (Roger, 1994; Philosophy Glossary University of Houston).
 René Descartes' famous line "Cogito ergo sum” translated as "I think, therefore I am" became a
fundamental element of Western philosophy as it secured the foundation for knowledge in the face of
radical doubt. He asserted that everything perceived by the senses could not be used as proof of existence
because human senses could be fooled. He added that there was only one thing we could be sure of in this
world, and that was everything could be doubted. In turn, by doubting his own existence, Descartes
proved that there is a thinking entity that is doing the act of doubting.
Descartes' claims about the "self" are:
• It is constant; it is not prone to change and it is not affected by time.
• Only the immaterial soul remains the same throughout time.
• The immaterial soul is the source of our identity.
He further asserted that this thinking entity could exist without the body because it is an
immaterial substance. Nevertheless, this immaterial substance (self) possesses a body and is so intimately
bound/joined by it that the "self" forms a union with its body. Despite this body-soul union, Descartes
reasoned that the soul is still distinct from the body.
Some distinctions between the soul and body as pointed out by Descartes are:

THE SOUL THE BODY

It is a conscious, thinking substance that is It is a material substance that changes through
unaffected by time. time. It
It is known only to itself (only you know your It can be doubted; The public can correct claims
own mental event and others cannot correct your about the body.
mental states).
It is not made up of parts. It views the entirety of It is made up of physical, quantifiable, divisible
itself with no hidden or separate compartments. It parts.
is both conscious and aware of itself at the same
time.

John Locke
“Human mind at birth is a tabula rasa, which means that knowledge is derived from experience”
John Locke was a philosopher and physician and was one of the most influential Enlightenment
thinkers. The Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason was an intellectual and philosophical
movement that dominated the ideas in Europe during the 18th century.
If Descartes described the "self” as a thinking thing, Locke expanded this definition of “self” to
include the memories of that thinking thing. Locke believed that the "self” is identified with
consciousness and this "self" consists of sameness of consciousness. This is usually interpreted to mean
that the “self” consists of memory; that the person existing now is the same person yesterday because
he/she remembers the thoughts, experiences, or actions of the earlier self (Natsoulas, 1994; Fuchs, 2017).
For Locke, a person's memories provide a continuity of experience that allows him/ her to
identify himself/herself as the same person over time. This theory of personal identity allows Locke to
justify a defense of accountability (Winkler, 1991). According to Locke since the person is the same
"self" in the passing of time, he/she can be held accountable for past behaviors, However, Locke insisted
that a person could only be held accountable for behaviors he/she can remember. Locke believed that
punishing someone for behaviors he/she has no recollection of doing is equivalent to punishing him/her
for actions that was never performed. He asserted that the state of the person who cannot remember
his/her behavior is the same as the state of the person who never committed the act, which meant the
person was ignorant.

David Hume
“All knowledge is derived from human senses”
David Hume (1711 - 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian during the Age
of Enlightenment. He was a fierce opponent of Descartes' Rationalism. Rationalism is the theory that
reason, rather than experience, is the foundation of all knowledge. Hume, along with John Locke and
Bishop George Berkeley, was one of the three main figureheads of the influential British Empiricism
movement. Empiricism is the idea that the origin of all knowledge is sense experience. It emphasized the
role of experience and evidence (especially sensory perception) in forming concepts, while discounting
the from human senses. notion of innate ideas (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017).
Hume is identified with the bundle theory wherein he described the "self" or person (which Hume
assumed to be the “mind”) as a bundle or a collection of different perceptions that are moving in a very
fast and successive manner; therefore, it is in a "perpetual flux.” Hume's theory began by denying
Descartes' view of the immaterial soul and of its experiences. Empiricists like Hume believed that human
intellect and experiences are limited; therefore, it is impossible to attribute it to an independent persisting
entity (i.e., soul). David Hume concluded that the “self” is merely made up of successive impressions
(Pike, 1967; Seigel, 2005).
Hume divided the mind's perceptions into two groups stating that the difference between the two
"consists in the degrees of force and liveliness with which they strike upon the mind” (Hume, p. 10):
1. Impressions. These are the perceptions that are the most strong. They enter the senses with most
force. These are directly experienced; they result from inward and outward sentiments.
2. Ideas. These are the less forcible and less lively counterparts of impressions. These are
mechanisms that copy and reproduce sense data formulated based upon the previously perceived
impressions.
Hume asserted that the notion of the "self" could not be verified through observation. He argued that
if you can directly know then what you know are mere objects of what your senses are experiencing. With
this idea, he believed there is no logical justification for the existence of anything other than what your
senses experienced. For Hume, the "self" was nothing but a series of incoherent impressions received by
the senses. This description of experience revealed, according to Hume, no permanently subsisting self
(Montgomery, 1889).
Hume compared the "self" to a nation; whereby a nation retains its "being a nation" not by some
single core or identity but by being composed of different, constantly hanging elements, such as people,
systems, culture, and beliefs. In the same manner, the "self" according to Hume is not just one impression
but a mix and a loose cohesion of various personal experiences. Hume insisted that there is no one
constant impression that endures throughout your life.
Hume did not believe on the existence of the “self.” He stressed that your perceptions are only active
for as long as you are conscious. According to Hume, should your perception be "removed" for any time
(such as when you are sleeping), and you can no longer sense yourself then you also cease to exist. In this
line, Hume seemed to reduce the "self” as a light bulb that may be switched on or off.
Hume's "self" is a passive observer similar to watching one's life pass before the eyes like a play or on
a screen; whereby the total annihilation of the “self” comes at death.

Immanuel Kant
“REASON is the final authority of morality. Morality is achieved only when there is absence of war
because of the result of enlightenment”
Philosopher Immanuel Kant is a central figure in modern philosophy. His contributions to
metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics have had a profound impact on almost every
philosophical movement that followed him. Among other ideas that Kant proposed was that, the human
mind creates the structure of human experience.
Kant's view of the “self” is transcendental, which means the "self" is related to a spiritual or
nonphysical realm. For Kant, the self is not in the body. The self is outside the body, and it does not have
the qualities of the body. Despite being transcendental, Kant stressed that the body and its qualities are
rooted to the "self.” He proposed that it is knowledge that bridges the "self" and the material things
together (Boeree, 1999; Brook, 2004).

Two kinds of consciousness of self (rationality):

1. Consciousness of oneself and one's psychological states in inner sense, and
2. Consciousness of oneself and one's states by performing acts of apperception
Apperception is the mental process by which a person makes sense of an idea by assimilating it
to the body of ideas he or she already possesses.
Kant's point is that what truly exist are your ideas and your knowledge of your ideas; that you
perceive the outside world through the self with your ideas. Kant pointed out that the material world is not
just an extension, and that you are merely seeing objects. He insisted that you perceive the outside world
because there is already an idea residing within you. These ideas are what connect you to the external
world. He defended the diverse quality or state of the body and soul (self) presenting that “bodies are
objects of outer sense; souls are objects of inner sense” (Carpenter, 2004).
Two components of the “self”:
1. Inner self. The “self” by which you are aware of alterations in your own state. This includes your
rational intellect and your psychological state, such as moods, feelings, and sensations, pleasure, and pain.
2. Outer self. It includes your senses and the physical world. It is the common boundary between the
external world and the inner self. It gathers information from the external world through the senses, which
the inner self interprets and coherently expresses.

Kant proposed that the “self” organizes information in three ways:

1. Raw perceptual input,
2. Recognizing the concept, and
3. Reproducing in the imagination.
Kant's “self” has a unified point of self-reference. You are conscious of yourself as the subject,
and you are conscious of yourself as a common subject of different representations, Here Kant confirms
that the impressions you perceive point to one single common fact - the "self” is the subject of these
experiences.

Sigmund Freud
"Wish fulfillment is the road to the unconscious."
Philosopher, physiologist, and psychologist Sigmund Freud was one of the most influential
thinkers of the 20th century. His most important contribution, particularly in psychology, was
psychoanalysis, a practice devised to treat those who are mentally ill through dialogue.
The vast majority of European philosophers before Freud (from Plato and Aristotle to Kant and
Descartes) regarded human beings as having an "essence" to which the self/soul is ascribed. The "self"
was an entity in itself characterized as the subject (the focal point: the topic and doer of the action) of the
physical and mental actions and experiences. The notion is that the self is essence and subject points to
the idea of an entity that is unified, single, undivided, and unaffected by time.
Freud, however, did not accept the existence of any single entity that could be forward as the
notion of "self.” His work in the field of psychoanalysis was groundbreaking because it answered
questions about the human psyche in a way that no one else had before him. In psychology, the psyche is
the totality of the human mind, both conscious and unconscious. (Watson, 2014).
In his earlier structural division of the psyche, Freud distinguished three levels of consciousness:
1. Conscious, which deals with awareness of present perceptions, feelings, thoughts, memories, and
fantasies at any particular moment;
2. Pre-conscious/subconscious, which is related to data that can readily be brought to consciousness; and
3. Unconscious, which refers to data retained but not easily available to the individual's conscious
awareness or scrutiny.
Central to Freud's psychoanalytic theory was the proposed existence of the unconscious as:
1. A repository for traumatic repressed memories; and
2. The source of anxiety-provoking drives that is socially or ethically unacceptable to the individual.
Psychoanalytic Theory is a personality theory based on the notion that an individual gets
motivated by unseen forces, controlled by the conscious and the rational thought. Sigmund Freud did not
exactly create the notion of the conscious versus unconscious mind, but he certainly was responsible for
making it popular, and this was one of his main contributions to psychology (McLeod, 2008).
To explain his model, Freud used the analogy of an iceberg to describe the three levels of the mind.
Freud further structured the psyche/mind into three parts:
1. Id. It operates on the pleasure principle. Every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately,
regardless of the consequences. When the id achieves its demands, you experience pleasure; when it is
denied, you experience "unpleasure" or tension.
2. Ego. It operates according to the reality principle. It works out realistic ways of satisfying the id's
demands (often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society). The
ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette, and rules in deciding how to behave. If the ego fails to
use the reality principle, anxiety is experienced, and unconscious defense mechanisms are employed to
help ward off unpleasant feelings.
3. Superego. It incorporates the values and morals of society. The superego's function is to control the
id's impulses. It persuades the ego to choose moralistic goals and to strive for perfection rather than
simply realistic ones.
The superego consists of two systems:
1. Conscience. If the ego gives in to the id's demands, the superego may make the person feel bad
through guilt.
2. Ideal self. It is an imaginary picture of how you ought to be. It represents career aspirations; how to
treat other people; and how to behave as a member of society.
According to Freud's structure of the mind, the ego and the superego function in different levels
of consciousness. There is a constant movement of memories and impulses from one level to another. The
id, on the other hand, is unaffected by reality, logic, or the everyday world as it operates within the
unconscious part of the mind.

Gilbert Ryle
“I Act, therefore I Am”
Philosopher and professor, Gilbert Ryle produced a critique on Descartes' idea that the mind is
distinct from the body. He wrote The Concept of Mind (1949) where he rejected the notion that mental
states are separable from physical states. Ryle called the distinction between mind and matter a "category-
mistake" because of its attempt to analyze the relation between “mind" and "body" as if the two were
terms of the same categories (Nath, 2013).
Ryle's points against Descartes' theory are:

• The relation between mind and body are not isolated processes.
• Mental processes are intelligent acts, and are not distinct from each other.
• The operation of the mind is itself an intelligent act.

According to Ryle, the rationalist view that mental acts are distinct from physical acts and that
there is a mental world distinct from the from the physical world is a misconception. Ryle described this
distinction between mind and body as "the dogma of the ghost in the machine" where he explained there
is no hidden entity or ghost called soul love understood as mind or self) inside a machine called “body”
(Ryle, 1992).
Ryle criticized the theory that the mind is a place where mental images are apprehended,
perceived, or remembered. He asserted that sensations, thoughts, and feelings do not belong to a mental
world separate from the physical world. Knowledge, memory, imagination, and any other abilities or
dispositions do not reside "within” the mind as if the mind were a space in which these could be stored or
located.
If Ryle believed that the concept of a distinct “self” is not real, where do we get our sense of self?
Ryle asserted that it is from our behaviors and actions. For example, you think of yourself as a kind
person because of your acts of kindness. In Ryle's view, your actions define your own concept of “self”
(who you are).
Paul Churchland
"The physical brain and NOT the imaginary mind gives us our sense of self"
Philosopher and professor Paul Churchland is known for his studies in neurophilosophy and the
philosophy of mind. His philosophy stands on a materialistic view or the belief that nothing but matter
exists. In other words, if something can be seen, felt, heard, touched, or tasted, then it exists. There is
nothing beyond the sensory experience.
Thus, in Churchland's view the immaterial, unchanging soul/self does not exist because it cannot
be experienced by the senses (1989).
Churchland insisted that the idea of a mind or soul is not in consonance with the physical changes
that have occurred in the hereditary characteristics of the human species over successive generations.
Specifically, Churchland's idea is called eliminative materialism or the claim that people's common-
sense understanding of the mind (or folk psychology) is false, and that certain classes of mental states
which most people believe in do not exist (Churchland, 1989; Baker, 1995).
To prove his point, Churchland porn Churchland pointed out that in mental conditions, such as
depression, it is technically wrong to say that the person is out of his mind be un found that brain activity,
and even brain shape, appears to be neuroscientists have found that brain activity, and e associated with
severe me severe mood disorders. Moreover, he pointed out that in a severe head victim's personality
changes occur. He pointed out that if the mind were a separate entity, then the victim should have retained
his/her personality despite the damage to the brain. Thus, Churchland asserted the sense of "self"
originated from the in itself, and that this "self” is a product of electrochemical signals produced by the
brain.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty
“Physical body is an important part of the self”
Maurice Merleau-Ponty was a philosopher and author. Emphasizing the body as the primary site
of knowing the world, Maurice Merleau-Ponty's idea of “self” is an embodied subjectivity. The term
"embodied” is a verb that means to give a body to (usually an immaterial substance like a soul).
Subjectivity, in philosophy, is the state of being a subject - an entity that possesses conscious
experiences, such as perspectives, feelings, beliefs, and desires. Moreover, a subject act upon or affects
some other entity, which in philosophy is called the object. A subject, therefore, is something that exists,
can take action, and can cause real effects (on an object).
Merleau-Ponty rejected the Cartesian mind-body dualism and insisted that the mind and body are
intrinsically connected. By emphasizing the primacy of the body in an experience, he also veered away
from the established notion that the center of consciousness is the mind (Thompson, 2004).

He asserted that, human beings are embodied subjectivities, and that the understanding of the
“self” should begin from this fundamental fact. He added that the body is not a mere "house" where the
mind resides. Rather it is through the lived experience of the body that you perceive; are informed; and
interact with the world Varela, Thompson, & Rosch, 2017).
Merleau-Ponty argued that the body is part of the mind, and the mind is part of the body; that
although there could be a stand-alone mental faculty that perceives what the senses experience, it needs
the body to receive these experiences, act on its perceptions, and communicate with the external world.
According to Merleau-Ponty, the body acts what the mind perceives as a unified one.
Lesson 2 – Sociology and Anthropology
The Self As a Product of Modern Society Among Other Constructions
Sociologists are concerned with questions about the person in the community. For example, They ask
questions, like: “How does society influence you?” “How do you affect society?” More importantly,
“Who are you as a person in the community?” Sociology posits that socially formed norms, beliefs, and
values come to exist within the person to a degree where these become natural and normal (Elwell, 2003),
thus, developing the person's self-identity.
Modernization has significantly changed society, and this has affected how 'an individual builds and
develops his or her self-identity. Pre-modern society was centered on survival. People behaved according
to social rules and traditions while the family and the immediate environment provided supervision on
how to get through life.
Choosing where to live, what line of work, and even who to marry was very limited
(Hermannsdóttir, 2011).
Modernization, however, has improved people's living conditions. A person in the modern society
is free to choose where to live, what to do, and who to be with. However, stability has also decreased as
traditions and traditional support systems, such as the family, have decreased in importance. In modern
societies, individualism is dominant. and developing one's self-identity is central (Giddens, 1991).

Key characteristics of modernity

According to Giddens (1991), the most patent, major characteristics of modernity
1. Industrialism, the social relations implied in the extensive use of material power and
machinery in all processes of production;
2. Capitalism, a production system involving both competitive product markets and the
commodification (putting a price tag) of labor power.
3. Institutions of surveillance, the massive increase of power and reach by institutions,
especially in government; and
4. Dynamism, the most evident characteristic of a modern society. Dynamism is characterized as
having vigorous activity and progress. In a modern society, life is not a predetermined path with limited
options based on location, family, or gender, it is a society full of possibilities. Everything is subject to
change, and changes happen much more rapidly than ever before in human history.
Social groups and social network
 Sociologist George Simmel expressed that people create social networks by joining social groups.
A social group is described as having two or more people interacting with one another, sharing similar
characteristics, and whose members identify themselves as part of the group. An example of a social
group is your family, your barkada, your classmates. Meanwhile, social network refers to the ties or
connections that link you to your social group (Khan Academy, WEB). The connection you have with
your family is your blood relation; the connection you have with your barkada is your friendship; and the
connection you have with your classmates is the common interest to learn.
A social group is either organic or rational. An organic group is naturally occurring, and it is
highly influenced by your family. This is usually formed in traditional societies because there is little
diversity in these communities. Sociologist George Simmel stated that you join these groups because your
family is also a part of it, in the first place. He called it organic motivation. Simmel noted that the
positive effect of organic groups is rootedness. This means the foundation of the social network runs
deep, thus, giving the person a sense of belongingness. The downside, however, is that organic groups
imply
less freedom and greater social conformity. You are expected to act and behave to your
community's standards (Allan, 2012).
Rational groups occur in modern societies. Modern societies are made up of different people
coming from different places. The family in modern societies is not the main motivation when joining
rational social groups. Rational groups are formed as a matter of shared self-interests; moreover, people
join these groups out of their own free will. Simmel called this rational motivation. Rational groups
imply greater freedom, especially the freedom of movement. Relationships based on self-interest are not
as embedded as organic relationships. Interests change and when they do, group members change. The
relationship between rational social networks is tenuous, and the person feels no meaningful connection
with the others (Allan, 2012).

Mead and the Social Self

"A multiple personality is in a certain sense normal." -George Herbert Mead
Have you ever watched someone do something? Of course you have. Even as babies we watch
others, like mom or dad, do something. Why do we do that? It's how we learn. We learn to do things; we
learn what's safe and what's not. When we watch other people, we learn a lot about ourselves. Moreover,
when we watch others, we also come to understand people. We understand why they behave the way they
do; what identity they claim; and what role they play in society.
On the other hand, while you get to know yourself and understand others by watching people,
how can you understand yourself? Can you “watch” yourself as objectively as you do the others? This is
the question that sociologist George Mead explored.
George Herbert Mead was a sociologist from the late 1800s. He is well known for his “theory of
the Social Self.” Mead's work focused on how the “self” is developed. His theory is based on the
perspective that the self is a product of social interactions and internalizing the external (i.e., other
people's) views along with one's personal view about oneself. Mead believed the “self” is not present at
birth; rather it develops over time through social experiences and activities.
Developing the self
 Mead developed a concept that proposed different stages of self-development. These stages are
language, play, and game.
According to Mead, self-development and language are intimately tied. Through shared
understanding of symbols, gestures, and sound, language gives the individual the capacity to express
himself or herself while at the same time comprehending what the other people are conveying, Language
sets the stage for self-development.
The second stage for self-development is play. At this level, individuals role-play or assume the
perspective of others. Role-playing enables the person to internalize some other people's perspectives;
hence, he or she develops an understanding of how the other people feel about themselves (and about
others, too) in a variety of situations.
Meanwhile, the game stage is the level where the individual not only internalizes the other
people's perspectives, he or she is also able to take into account societal rules and adheres to it. According
to Mead, the self is developed by understanding the rule, and one must abide by it to win the game or be
successful at an activity.
Two sides of self: “I” and “Me”.
Mead sees the person as an active process, not just a mere reflection of society. He further
proposed two interactive facets of the self: the “I” the and “me.” The “me” and the "I" have a didactic
relationship, which is like a system of checks and balances. According to Mead, “me” is the product of
what the person has learned while interacting with others and with the environment. Learned behaviors,
attitudes, and even expectations comprise the “me.” The “me” exercises social control over the self. It
sees to it that rules are not broken.
On the other hand, the “I”is that part of the self that is unsocialized and spontaneous. It is the
individual's response to the community's attitude toward the person. The “I” presents impulses and drives.
It enables him or her to express individualism and creativity. The “I” does not blindly follow rules. It
understands when to possibly bend or stretch the rules that govern social interactions. It constructs a
response based on what has been learned by the “me.”
ANTHROPOLOGY
"Indeed, much of the self is learned by making new memories out of old ones." -Joseph E. Ledoux
The Self and the Person in Contemporary Anthropology
What is anthropology? What is its view about the concept of “self”? Anthropology is the study of
people, past and present. It focuses on understanding the human condition in its cultural aspect. In a
general sense, anthropology is concerned with understanding how humans evolved and how they differ
from one another. Anthropology is a very dynamic field, and anthropological literature offers several
different definitions of "self." This discussion, however, will tackle the widely acceptable definitions of
“self” in modern anthropology.
A unit but unitary
One definition of “self” in modern anthropology characterizes the term in its most general,
ordinary, and everyday use. Anthropologist and professor, Katherine Ewing (1990), described the self as
encompassing the “physical organism, possessing psychological functioning and social attributes.” This
definition portrays the "self” as implicitly and explicitly existing in the mind comprised of psychological,
biological, and cultural processes.
Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux (2002) conceptualized the implicit and explicit aspects of the self
(Kemp, 2012). The aspect of the self that you are consciously aware of is the explicit self while the one
that is not immediately available to the consciousness is the implicit aspect. This concept can be traced to
the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud's "level of consciousness;" however, LeDoux's view on how the
"self” was developed asserted that it is framed, maintained, and affected biologically, mentally, and
socially.
According to LeDoux (2002), “the self is not static; it is added to and subtracted from by genetic
maturation, learning, forgetting, stress, ageing, and disease.” This is true of both the implicit and explicit
aspects of the self.

Self as representation

Ewing (1989) asserted that a “self” is illusory. “People construct a series of self-representations that
are based on selected cultural concepts of person and selected chains of personal memories. Each self-concept
is experienced as whole and continuous, with its own history and memories that emerge in a specific context to
be replaced by another self-representation when the context changes.” By self-representation, Ewing meant
culturally shaped “self” concepts that one applies to oneself (Quinn, 2014); “it is the mental entities that are
supposed to represent the self” (Schlichtet, 2009).

According to Ewing (1990), people from all cultures have been observed to be able to rapidly project
different self-representations, depending on the context of the situation. The person is unaware of these shifts;
however, he/she will still experience wholeness and continuity despite these shifts.

The Self Embedded in Culture

How individuals see themselves, how they relate to other people, and how they relate to the
environment are deeply defined by culture. If one finds the view that the "self" is a product of society, then it is
plausible that the ways of how the self is developed are bound to cultural differences as well.

Cultural anthropologists have argued that the self is culturally shaped and infinitely variable. “Cultural
traditions and social practices regulate, express, and transform the human psyche, resulting less in psychic
unity for humankind than in ethnic divergences in mind, self, and emotion” (Shweder, 1991, p. 72). The basic
idea is that the principles of how the mind works cannot be conceived of as universal, but that it is as varied as
the culture and traditions that people practice all over the world.

Cultural psychologists distinguished two ways of how the self is constructed. These are the
independent and interdependent constructs. These self-construals are also imbedded in culture. Construal is an
interpretation of the meaning of something; hence, in this sense, the meaning of “self.” The independent
construct is characteristic of individualistic culture, such as in North America and Europe. Individualistic
culture represents the self as separate, distinct, with emphasis on internal attributes or traits, skills, and values.
The interdependent construct is typical of the collectivist culture in East Asia stressing the essential connection
between the individual to other people.

Developmental psychologist Catherine Raeff (2010), believed that culture can influence how you
view: relationships, personality traits, achievement, and expressing emotions.

Relationships
 Culture influences how you enter into and maintain relationships. For example, relationships may
be seen as voluntary or as duty-based. In Western societies, it is essential for a person to choose whom to
marry while some Eastern societies still practice arranged marriage.
Personality traits
Culture influences whether (and how) you value traits, like humility, self-esteem, politeness,
assertiveness, and so on, as well as how you perceive hardship or how you feel about relying on others.
Achievement
Culture influences how you define success and whether you value certain types of individual and
group achievements.
Expressing emotions
Culture influences what will affect you emotionally, as well as how you express yourself, such as
showing your feelings in public or keeping it private.