UNDERSTANDING THE SELF Rational (Reason) - enables the person to

think deeply, make decisions; motivation

Self for goodness and truth
 who a person normally is According to Plato, these elements of
 a part of one’s personality that is the self are in a dynamic relationship
shown in a particular or different with one another.
situations -He believes that happiness can be
 the character that makes a person achieved if people make sure that
different from others Reason is in control of Spirit and
 combination of emotions, thoughts, Appetites.
feelings, etc. -Since the soul is regarded as something
philosophical Way that is permanent, therefore, man should
give importance to it than the physical
Philosophy body.
 love for wisdom 3. St. Augustine
 the desire for truth ”This is the very perfection of a man, to
 inquiry in the nature of human find out his own imperfections.”
experience
-He believes that the physical body is
1.Socrates different from the immortal soul.
“An unexamined life if not worth living.” -The soul is what governs and defines
man.
-Self is synonymous to Soul -He described that the humankind is
-Reality consists of physical and Ideal created in the image and likeness of God,
realms therefore the man is always geared
towards good.
-body belongs to the physical realm (is
changeable and imperfect) 4. Rene Descartes
( father of modern philosophy)

- soul belongs to the ideal realm “I think therefore I am”

(cogito ergo sum)
(unchanging and eternal).
-The act of thinking about oneself is in
According To Socrates: The true self is itself a proof that there is a self.
not just the body but the soul and the -For Descartes, the essence of the human
touching of the soul may help the person self is one that thinks, doubts,
get in touch with the true self. understands, analyze, and reason.
-He suggests that man must live an 5. John Locke
examined life and a life with purpose and ”The self is consciousness”
value
-The mind is tabula rasa or comparable to
Socratic Method – is a method of an empty space (blank slate), where
carefully examining a person’s thoughts everyday experiences contribute to the
and emotions to gain knowledge about pile of knowledge that is placed on the
the self. empty space.
-The aim of the method is to make people -These experiences shape the self
think, seek and ask. throughout a person’s life.
2. Plato -For him, awareness and previous
“The self is an immortal soul” experiences are keys to understanding
the self.
Three parts of the soul
-He also believed that the essence of the
Appetite – includes one’s desire, self is in its conscious awareness of itself
pleasures, comfort, etc. as the thinking, reasoning, and reflecting
Spirited – includes emotions (love, anger, identity.
aggressiveness, ambition, and empathy; 6. David Hume
the drive towards action) ”There is no self.”
According to Hume: what people brought to consciousness. Example:
experience is just a collection of different address, phone number
perceptions.
Unconscious – the unconscious mind is
According to Hume: when people the primary source of human behavior;
examine their experiences, what they will feelings, motives and decisions are
find are impressions and ideas. influenced by our past experiences, and
stored in the unconscious; stores all the
Impressions are immediate sensations of
memories and experiences that are not
external reality; are those we perceive
being thought about
through our senses; basic sensations of
people’s experience. Structures of the Mind
Ideas are recollections of these
ID – pleasure principle
impressions; things that we create in our
– Primitive/instinctive component
minds
even though we are no longer or not EGO – reality principle
experiencing them; thought and images – has direct influence of the external
from impressions. world

-Hume argued that when he looks into SUPERGO – moral principle

the mind, he finds a stream of – synthesizes values and systems
impressions and ideas, but no impression in society in order to control outpost of
corresponding to a self that endures instinctive desires of the id
through time. -There is no
9. Gilbert Ryle
permanent and Unchanging self. It keeps
”Self is the way people behave”
on Changing, like how a person Looks,
feels and thinks. - The self is the same as bodily
behaviors.
7. Immanuel Kant
”We construct the self” He proposed that physical actions or
behaviors are dispositions of the self. We
- Kant argued that the mind is not just a
will only be able to understand the self-
passive receiver of the sense experience
based on behaviors, expressions,
but it actively participates in the objects
language, and desires.
that it experiences.
The self is best understood as a pattern
- It is the self that is actively organizing
of behavior or disposition to behave in a
all our thoughts and perceptions.
certain way. The self is defined by the
-The self transcends experience, as it can observable behaviors that the person
grasp reality which are not limited to projects to the world around us.
one’s senses.
10. Paul Churchland
- He explained that transcendental is ”The self is the brain”
used as people do not experience the self
The physical brain gives the people the
directly but a unity of the impressions
sense of self.
which are organized by the mind through
perceptions. Believes that our mood, emotions,
actions are affected by the brain states.
8. Sigmund Freud
”The self is multi-layered” 11. Maurice Merleau-Ponty
”Self is embodied subjectivity”
Levels Of Mind
(topographical Model)
The consciousness, the world, and the
Conscious – reality principle; contains all human body are all interconnected as
of one’s thoughts, memories, feelings, they mutually perceive the world.
and wishes of which we are aware at any The world is a field of perception and
given moment. Example: hunger, sleep human consciousness assigns meaning
Preconscious – contains thoughts and to the world.
feelings that a person is not currently Consciousness is a process that includes
aware of, but which can easily be being able to sense as well as reasoning
and interpreting.
Sociological Perspective
Sociology – is a discipline in social
science which aims to discover the ways
by which the social surrounding /
environment influences people’s
thoughts, feelings and behavior.

Self & society

Social situations influence one’s view of

self.

Self is a narrative, a text written and re-

written.

Post-modern self is complicated by

electronic mediated virtual interaction
(“cyber-self”)

Self is not discovered, it is made through

socialization process but an individual is
an active, strategizing agent that
negotiates for the definition of himself.

We construct ourselves based on our

social roles through socialization agents
(family, school, community, etc...)

George Herbert Mead

 Founder of American Pragmatism

 Pioneer of Symbolic Interaction
Theory
 One of the founders of Social
Psychology

American Pragmatism – idea can be

found by attention to its practical
consequences

Symbolic Interaction Theory – individuals

attach to events and social interactions,
and these symbols are transmitted
across the generations through language

Social Psychology - the study of how

individual or group behavior is influenced
by the presence and behavior of others.