LECTURE 1: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF (ESB) research gives indication

that better understanding of

Introduction to self-understanding human personality and behavior
understanding oneself is essential to might come from the study of the
understand behaviors and beliefs that affects brain
ourselves and others specifically in becoming
effective and successful person in life, work, 3. Situational factors of Personality
and relationship. - alter a person’ s behavior and a
response from the time to time.
specifically, self-understanding: - the situational factors can be
commonly observed when a
1. provides a sense of purpose person behaves contrastingly
2. leads to healthier relationships and exhibits different traits and
3. helps harness your natural strength characteristics
4. promotes confidence
4. Cultural factors
PERSONALITY (etymology) - Culture is traditionally
considered as the major
• comes from the word “persona”, the determinants of an individual’s
theatrical masks worn by Romans in personality. The culture largely
Greek and Latin drama determinants what a person is
• also comes from the two Latin words and what a person will learn
“per” and “sonare” which literally
means “to sound through” PERSONALITY TRAITS

PERSONALITY (definition) - reflect people’s characteristics

• is the relatively permanent pattern of patterns of thoughts, feelings,
behavior and behaviors.
- imply consistency and
DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY stability- someone who scores
high on s specific trait like
1. Environmental Factors of Extraversion is expected to be
Personality sociable in different situations
- the surroundings of an individual and over time.
compose the environmental
factors of personality Traits psychology rests on the idea that people
differ from one another in terms of where they
2. biological Factors of Personality stand on a set of basic trait dimensions that
persist over time and across situations.
a. hereditary factors
- or genetic make up of the person THE FIVE FACTOR MODEL OF PERSONALITY
that inherited from their parents
The most widely accepted system to emerge
b. physical features from this approach was the “The Big Five” or
- include the overall physical “Five-Factor Model” which comprises:
structure of a person: height, OCEAN
weight, color, sex, beauty and
body language, etc. O - Openness
C- Conscientiousness
c. brain E- Extraversion
- the preliminary results from the A- Agreeableness
electrical stimulation of the brain N- Neuroticism
SELF-CONCEPT
- understanding of who you are as
a person
SELF-UNDERSTANDING
- understanding what your
motives are when you act

according to the book Essential Social

Psychology by Richard Crisp and Rhiannon
Turner:

• the individual self consists of attributes • the collective self reflects our
and personality traits that differentiate membership in social groups. examples
us from other individuals. Examples include British, Republican, African-
include introversion or extroversion American, or gay.
• the relational self is defined by our
relationships with significant others.
examples include siblings, friends, and
spouses.
LECTURE 2:

SOCRATE’S VIEW OF THE SELF

PHILOSOPHY For him:

• is defined as the study of knowledge or
wisdom from its Latin roots philo “love • Self is dichotomous. This involves the
and sophia “wisdom” so called physical and ideal realm.
• also considered as “the Queen of All
Sciences” because ebery scientific a. The physical realm or te one
discipline has philosophical that is changeable, temporal,
foundations and imperfect.
• the Greek Philosophers were the ones b. The ideal realm is the one
who questioned myths and moves away that is perfect and
from them in attempting to understand unchanging, eternal, and
reality by exercising the art of immortal.
questioning that satisfies their curiosity,
including the questions about self. • Man is dualistic. It is composed of the
body and soul.

a. Body- imperfect and

SOCRATES impermanent
b. Soul- perfect and permanent
“know thyself”
• The self, according to Socrates is the
• is a philosopher from Athens, Greece
immortal and united entity that is
and said to have the greatest influence
consistent over time.
on European thought.
• According to the history he was not “An unexamined life is not worth living”
able to write aby his teachings and - Socrates
life’s account instead, he is known
from the writings of his student Plato A person can have a meaningful life only if he
who became one of the greatest becomes virtuous and knows the value of
philosophers of his time. himself attained through constant soul
• He has a unique style of asking searching.
questions called Socratic Method.
The best way to achieve this is when one tries
SOCRATIC MEHOD or DIALECTIC METHOD to separate the body from the soul as much
as possible.
Involves the search for the correct/proper
definition of a thing.
PLATO
• Know thyself: Socrates would like to
emphasize that knowing or • is a student of Socrates who believes
understanding oneself should be in the existence of mind and soul
more than the physical self, or the
body. PLATO’S THREE PARTS OF THE SOUL

1. The Reason or Divine Essence

- Enabales human to think deeply,
make wis choices and achieve a
 true understanding of eternal complete, is a fac we recognize on the
truths. evidence of our own nature.”

2. The Physical Appetite 2 REALMS OF HUMAN NATURE

- Are the basic biological needs of
human being such as hunger, 1. God as the source pf all reality and truth
thirst, and sexual desire. 2. The sinfulness of man

3. The Spirit or Passion He also stated that real happiness can only
- Is the basic emotions of human be found in God. For God is love and he
being such as love, anger, created humans for the to also love. Problems
ambition, aggressiveness and arise because of the objects human choose to
empathy. love. Disordered love results when man loves
the wrong things which he believes will give
Note: these three elements of the self-works in him happiness. Furthermore, he said that if
every individual inconsistently. According to man loves God first and everything else to a
Plato, it is always the responsibility of the lesser degree, then all will fall into its rightful
reason to organize, control and reestablish place.
harmonious relationship between these
three elements. RENE DESCARTES
PLATO’S METAPHOR OF THE SOUL
• A French philosopher, mathematician,
This is called the Phaedrus with 2 horses and and considered the founder of modern
charioteer that represents the three philosophy
components of the soul • Descartes, famous principle the
“cogito, ergo sum” – “I think, therefore
I exist” establishes his philosophical
ST. AUGUSTINE views on “true knowledge” and concept
of self
• He is considered as the last of the great • He explained that in order to gain true
ancient philosophers whose ideas were knowledge, one must doubt everything
greatly Platonic. even own existence
• In melding philosophy and religious
DESCARTES’ CONCEPT OF THE SELF
beliefs together, Augustine has been
characterized as Christianity’s first
• The self is a dynamic entity that
theologian.
engages in mental operations –
• Like Plato, Augustine believes that the thinking, reasoning, and perceiving
physical body is different from the processes.
immortal soul
• He declared that the essential self or
the self as the thinking entity is radically
Early in his philosophical development he
different from the physical body
described body as “snare” or “cage” of the
• He also maintained that the soul and
soul and said that the body is a “slave” of the
the body are independent of one
soul he even characterized that
another and each can exist and function
“The soul makes the war with the body”
without the other.
• He identified the physical self as a part
Later on, he came to view the body as
of nature, governed by the physical laws
“spouse” of the soul, with both attached to
of the universe, and available to
one another by a “natural appetite.”
scientific analysis and experimentation,
He concluded, “That the body is united with
and the conscious self (mind soul) is a
the soul, so that man may be entire and
 part of the spiritual realm, independent
of the physical laws of the universe, • Hume considered that the
governed only by the laws of reason and
God’s will. self does not exist because all
f the experiences that a
JOHN LOCKE person may have been just
perceptions and this includes the
perception of self
• An English philosopher and physician
• He further added that there are
and famous in his concept of “Tabula
instances that an individual is limited in
Rasa” or Blank Slate that assumes the
experiencing their perception like in
nurture side of human development
sleeping
• Hume explained that the self that is
LOCKES’ CONCEPT OF SELF
being experiences by an individual is
Self is consciousness
nothing but a kind of fictional self.
1. to discover the nature of personal
identity, it is important to find out what it SIGMUND FREUD
means to be a person
2. A person is a thinking, intelligent being
• A well-known Australian psychologist
who has the abilities to reason and to
and considered as the Father and
reflect.
Founder of Psychoanalysis.
3. A person is also someone who
• The dualistic view of self by Freud
considers themselves to be the same
involves the conscious self and
thing in different times and different
unconscious self
places
• The conscious self is governed by
4. Consciousness as being aware that we
reality principle. Here the self is rational,
are thinking- always accompanies
practical, and appropriate to the social
thinking and is an essential part of the
environment
thinking process
5. Consciousness makes possible our • The unconscious self is governed by
belief that we are the same identity in pleasure principle. It is the self that is
different places aggressive, destructive, unrealistic and
instinctual.

PROVINCES OF THE MIND

DAVID HUME Conscious and Unconscious

THREE LEVEL OF THE MIND

• He was a Scottish philosopher and also
a. Id (pleasure principle)
an empiricist
b. Ego (reality principle)
• His claim about self is quite
c. Superego (morality principle)
controversial because he assumed that
there is no self!
TWO INSTINCT THAT DRIVE INDIVIDUAL
BEHAVIOR
Two distinct entities of our experiences
a. Eros (life instinct)
b. Thanatos (death instinct)
a. Impressions- are the basic sensations
of our experiences
b. Ideas- are copies of impressions that
include thoughts and images that are
built up from our primary impressions
through a variety of relationships
 actually misrepresent the reality
GILBERT RYLE of minds and selves.
• They claim that the self is a
product of brain activity.
• A British analytical philosopher • The behavior of the self can be
who believes that the self is best attributed to the
understood as a pattern of neuropharmacological states,
behavior, the tendency or the neural activity in specialize
disposition for a person to anatomical areas.
behave in a certain way in a
certain circumstance.
• He opposed the notable ideas of MAURICE MERLEAU-
the previous philosophers and PONTY
even claimed that those were
results of confused conceptual
thinking he termed, category • A French philosopher and
mistake. phenomenologist
• He took a very different approach
IMMANUEL KANT to the self and the mind/body
“problem”. According to him, the
division between the “mind” and
• A German Philosopher ho the “body” is a product of
maintained that an individual confused thinking. The self is
self makes the experience of the experiences as a unity in which
world comprehensible because the mental and physical are
it is responsible for synthesizing seamlessly woven together. This
the discreet data of sense unity is the primary experience of
experience into a meaningful selves and begin to doubt it when
whole. It is one that help every an individual use their minds to
individual gain insight and concoct abstract notions of a
knowledge. separate mind and body.
• Additionally, the self is the
product of reason, a regulative
principle because the self
regulates experience by making
untitled experience possible
and unlike Hume, Kant’s self is
not the object of consciousness
understandable and unique.

PAUL AND PATRICIA

CHURCHLAND

• An American philosopher which

central argument is that the
concepts and theoretical
vocabulary that people use to
think about the selves- using
such terms as beliefs, desire,
fear, sensation, pain, joy-
LECTURE 2: SOCIOLOGY AND alone, they need other people
ANTHROPOLOGY to experience their self.
• He proposed the stages of self-
SOCIOLOGY formation.

- presents the self as a product

of modern society. It is the
science that studies the
development, structure, STAGES OF SELF FORMATION
interaction, collective behavior
of human being. 1. Preparatory Stage

ANTHROPOLOGY • Mead believed that the self did not

exist at birth. Instead, the self
- is the study of humanity. This develops over time. Its
broad field takes an development is dependent on
interdisciplinary approach to social interaction and social
looking at human culture, both experience.
past and present. • At this stage, children’s behaviors
are primarily based on imitation. It
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD and the was observed that children imitate
Social Self the behaviors of those around them
• At this stage, knowing and
• Mead is an American understanding the symbols are
philosopher sociologist, and important for this will constitute
psychologist and one of the their way of communicating with
founders of social psychology others throughout their lives.
and the American sociological
tradition in general 2. The Play Stage
• Mead is well-known for his
theory of self. • Skills at knowing and understanding the
• He postulated that; the self symbols of communication is
represents the sum total of important for this constitutes the basis
people’s conscious perception of of socialization.
their identity as distinct from • Through communication, social
others. Mead argued that the self relationship are formed. Now children
like the mind is social emergent. begin to role play and pretend to be
This means that individual other people.
selves are the products of • Role-taking in the play stage is the
social interaction and not process of mentally assuming the
logical or biological in nature. process of another person to see how
• He claimed that the self is this person might behave or respond in
something which undergoes a given situation (Schefer, 2012).
development because it is not • It is at this stage where child widens his
present instantly at birth. The perspective and realizes that he is not
self-arises in the process of alone and that there are others around
social experience and activity him whose presence he has to consider.
as a result of their relations to
the said process as a whole and
to other individuals within that
process. In other words, one
cannot experience their self
 3. The Game Stage The Self as a product of modern society
among other constructions
• the child is about eight or nine years of Georg Simmel
age and now does more than just role-
take. • Simmel was a German sociologist,
• The child begins to consider several philosopher, and critic.
tasks and various types of relationships • He was intensely interested in the ways
simultaneously. in which modern, objective culture
• the child now has the ability to respond impacts the individual’s subjective
not just to one but several members of experiences.
his social environment. • Simmel proposed that there is
something called human nature that is
Generalized other innate to the individual.
- the person realizes that people in society • This human nature is intrinsic to the
have cultural norms, beliefs and values individual like the natural inclination to
which are incorporated into each self. This religious impulse or the gender
realization forms basis of how the person differences. He also added that most of
evaluate themselves. our social interactions are individual
motivations
The self, according to Mead is not merely a
passive reflection of the generalized other. The • Simmel made a distinction between
responses of the individual to the social world subjective and objective culture
are also active, it means that a person decides
what they will do in reference to the attitude of a. The Individual or Subjective Culture
others but not mechanically determined by
such attitudinal structures. - refers to the ability to
embrace, use, and feel culture
Here, Mead identified the two phases of self:
b. Objective Culture
1. the phase which reflects the attitude of
the generalized other or the “me”; and - is made up of elements that
become separated from the
2. the phase that responds to the attitude individual or group’s control and
of generalized other or the “I”. identified as separate objects

• There are interrelated forces in modern

• the "me" is the social self society that tend to increase objective
• the "I" is a response to the "me". culture according to Simmel. These are
urbanizations, money, and the
"me" configuration of one’s social network.
- a conventional, habitual individual
• Urbanization is the process that moves
“I” people from country to city living. This
- as the “novel reply” of the individual result to the concentration of
to the generalized other. population in one place brought about
by industrialization. This paved way to
Generally, Meads theory sees the self as a the organization of labor or increased
perspective that comes out of interactions, and division of labor, which demands
he sees the meanings of symbols, social specializations wherein this creates
objects, and the self as emerging from more objective culture.
negotiated interactions.
• Simmel also stressed that the to provide emotional
consumption of products has an investment to other people.
individuating and trivializing effect
because this enables the person to The Self and Person in the Contemporary
create self out of things. Anthropology

• Money creates a universal value system The four subfields of anthropology

wherein every commodity can be
understood. Money also increases 1. Archeology
individual freedom by pursuing diverse 2. Biological Anthropology
activities and by increasing the options 3. Linguistics,
for self-expression. 4. Cultural Anthropology

• Because of urbanization, Simmel suggest that human beings are similar

observed that social networks also and different in varying ways and
changed. Group affiliations in urban is tendencies.
definitely different from rural settings
wherein the relationship are strongly 1. Archeology
influenced by family. An individual tends
to seek membership to the same group - Focus on the study of the past and how
which makes the family as basic it may have contributed to the present
socialization structure. This natural ways of how people conduct their daily
inclination to join groups is called by lives.
Simmel as organic motivation and the
grouping is called primary group. 2. Biological Anthropology

• On the other hand, in the modern urban - Focus on how the human body adapts
settings, group membership is due to to the different earth environments.
rational motivation or membership due - the activities of Anthropologists are
to freedom of choice. This characterized identification of probable causes of
the secondary group which is goal and diseases, physical mutation, and death,
utilitarian oriented, with a narrow range evolution, and comparison of dead and
of activities, over limited time spans. As living primates.
a result, it is more likely that an
individual will develop unique 3. Linguistic Anthropology
personalities.
- Focused on using language as means
• Simmel said that a complex web of to discover a group’s manner of social
group affiliations produces role interaction and their worldview.
conflicts and blasé attitude -Anthropologists in this field want to
discover how language is used to create
a. Role Conflict and share meanings, to form ideas and
concepts and to promote social change.
- a situation that demands a
person of two or more roles that 4. Cultural Anthropology
clash with one another
- Focused in knowing what makes one
b. Blasé attitude group’s manner of living forms an
essential part of the member’s personal
- Is an attitude boredom and lack and societal identity.
of concern. This is the inability
- This encompasses the principles of Theory of • The field of Anthropology offers another
Cultural Determinism which suggests that the way by which a person can view
human nature is determined by the kind of themselves. As self is formed or
culture he is born and grew up in. determined by the past and present
condition, by biological
• Cultural diversities are manifested in characteristics, the communication
different ways and different levels of and language use, and the lifestyle we
dept. The following are the ways in choose to live.
which culture may manifest itself in
people: The Self Embedded in the Culture
Clifford Geertz
1. Symbols.
• Clifford Geertz was an Anthropology
- These are the words, gestures, Professor at the University of Chicago.
pictures or objects that have • He studied different cultures and
recognized or accepted explored on the conception of the self in
meaning in a particular culture. his writings entitled, “The Impact of the
Example: colors have similar Concept of Culture on the Concept of
meaning across all cultures. Man” (1966) in his fieldwork at Java, Bali
and Morrocco.
2. Heroes. • The analysis of Geertz (1966) in his
cultural study about the description of
- These are persons from the past self in Bali is that the Balinese person is
or present who have extremely concerned not to present
characteristics that are anything individual (distinguishing him
important in culture. They may or her from others) in social life but to
be real of work of fictions. enact exclusively a culturally prescribed
Example: Fiction – Thor, role or mask.
Captain America; Real – Jose • Geertz (1973) gave an example of the
Rizal, Apolinario Mabini. stage fright that pervades persons in
Bali because they must not be publicly
3. Rituals. recognizable as individual selves and
actors points precisely to the fact that
- These are activities participated agency or an ability to act in one’s own
by a group of people for the account is an integral ability of human
fulfilment of desired objectives beings—an ability which continually
and are concerned to be threatens the culturally established
socially essential. norm of no individuality
Example: Wedding, fiesta,
Christmas celebration,
graduation, etc.

4. Values.

- These are considered to be the

core of every culture. These are
unconscious, neither discuss or
observed, and can only be
inferred from the way people
act and react to situations.
Example: hospitality, respect
for elders