Understanding the Self

Prof. Wilson K. Panisan

UNPACKING THE SELF

Chapter Overview THE PHYSICAL SELF

In this chapter, the student will explore some of the
various aspects that make up the self, the “ Beauty is when we can appreciate
physical/biological and material to the spiritual and yourself. When you love yourself, that’s
political, including the most recent, the digital self.
when you are most beautiful”
I Objective: at the end of the chapter, the students
will be able to unpack the self in various aspects. Zoe Kravitz
We live in a world where the material and
immaterial self are both represented. How is that
possible? The Physical self refers to the tangible
Physical world & Virtual Reality aspect of the individual, the one with
How do we view our self in both worlds? figure, the one that can be seen and
touched and the one that feels pain and
Societies shapes us in many ways, vulnerable to sickness.
possibly more than we realize it.
•How we perceive our bodies
•How we feel about our physical appearance
•How we think and talk to our selves about our
bodies
•Our sense of how the other view our bodies
UNPACKING THE SELF
The best representation of the Physical What Philosophers Think about
Self beauty
How can you make a best presentation The nature of beauty is one of the most
of yourself emphasizing what your enduring and controversial teams in
physical body can do to enhance and Western philosophy being traditionally
maintain your beauty & good health? among the ultimate values together with
goodness, truth and justice.
What is Beauty? Is beauty relative?
Two most-debated views about beauty
How beauty is appreciated varies
are:
through time, culture and the various
perceptions about the world 1.Beauty is objective
2.Beauty is subjective

As for objective beauty, we know that symmetry (or

lack of it) and contrasts are the basic ingredients of
physical beauty… Some will add that natural
patterns and other proportions helped make
someone or something look appealing.
The saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
suggests subjective.
UNPACKING THE SELF
Before the 18th century, western By the 18th century, beauty was
philosophical views on beauty treated it associated with pleasure as a personal
as an objective quality preference.
1.St. Augustine – Things were beautiful 1.David Hume –”. It exist merely in t“ Beauty is
because it gave delight or whether it gave no quality in things themselveshe mind which
contemplates them and each mind perceives a
delight because it is beautiful
different beauty. One person may even perceive
2.Plato – he connected beauty as a response deformity where another is sensible of beauty.
to love and desire 2.Immanuel Kant – The judgment of taste is
therefore not judgment of cognition and is
3.Aristotle – asserted that chief forms of
consequently not logical but aesthetical, by
beauty are order, symmetry and definiteness
which we understand that whose
determining ground can be no other than
subjective
3.Francis Hutcheson – “the perception of
beauty does not depend on the external
sense of sight, however the internal sense
of beauty operates as an internal or reflect
sense
UNPACKING THE SELF
What Did Psychology Discover About
Beauty ?
Research found out that a person who is
perceived as attractive makes more
money than a person who is below
average looks. In politics, voters who are
not actively engaged in social and political
issues choose candidates based on
“looks” 90% of the time.
Cognitive Bias – is an error in reasoning,
evaluating, remembering or any other
mental process that is often a result of
holding on to one’s preferences and
beliefs regardless of contrary information.
Halo Effect – refers to the tendency of
people to rate attractive individuals more
favorably for their personality traits or
characteristics as compared to those who
are attractive
Does your body have
impact on your Self-
Esteem?
Self-esteem is how you value yourself
and you feel others value you. It is
important because it can affect your
mental health

Body Image - is how you view your

physical body, whether you feel you are
attractive or and how you feel others like
your look
Development of Secondary Sex Puberty – the stage of human Development at
Characteristics and the Human which individuals become sexually mature .
Reproductive System Puberty is considered the onset of adolescence – a
period of rapid physical growth and change that
culminates in sexual maturity. The average onset
of puberty is age 10 for girls and age 12 for boys
HOW IS THE SEX OF THE CHILD BEING
(Tanner, 1990). Puberty begins with a surge in
DETERMINED?
hormone production followed by marked
acceleration in growth. Because various parts of
the body grow at different rates, the adolescent
The chromosomes of the 23rd pair are called sex
often has a lanky, awkward appearance. Girls
chromosomes because they carry the genes that
attain their full height between ages 16 – 17 and
determine a person’s sex, primary and secondary
boys between ages 18 and 20 (Tanner, 1990).
sex characteristics, and other sex-linked traits such
During puberty, the reproductive organs in both
as red-green color blindness, male pattern-
sexes mature and secondary sex characteristics
baldness, and hemophilia. The sex chromosomes appear. In girls, the breast develop, and the hips
of female consist of two X chromosomes (XX); round; in boys, the voice deepens and facial and
males have an X chromosomes and a Y chest hair appears; in both sexes, there is growth
chromosome (XY). The egg cell always contain an of pubic and underarm (axillary) hair. The major
X chromosome. Half of a man’s sperm cells carry landmark of puberty for males is the first
an X chromosome and half carry Y. Therefore the ejaculation, which occurs on average at age 13.
sex of the child depends on whether the egg(X) is And for females, it is menarche – the onset of
fertilized by a sperm carrying an X chromosome, menstruation – which occurs at an average of 2,
which produces a female (XX), or a sperm carrying although from 10-15 is considered the normal
a Y chromosome, which produces a male (XY). range
What are the erogenous zones of the body?
•The skin – serves as the primary erotic stimulus
•Prepuce – is the retractable fold of skin
covering the tip of the penis(foreskin)
•Penis – is the male erectile organ of copulation
which the urine and semen are discharged from
the body
•Clitoris – a female sexual organ that is small,
sensitive and located infront of the opening of
the vagina
•Perianal skin – area of the body surrounding
the anus and skin that is sensitive and
susceptible to injury/damage
•Lips – are soft, movable and serve as opening
for food intake.. Are designed to be perceived by
touch and erogenous zone when used in kissing.
•Nipples – are the raised region of tissue on the
surface of the breast. A recent study found that
the sensation from the nipples travels to the
same part of the brain as sensations from the
vagina, clitoris and cervix
Understanding the Human Sexual
Response
Sexual Response Cycle – refers to the
sequence of physical and emotional
occurences when the person is participating in
a sexually stimulating activity such as
intercourse or masturbation

Phase I Excitement
Phase II Plateau
Phase III Orgasm
Phase IV Resolution
SEX and the Brain
Sex – is the process of combining
male and female genes to form an
Roles of the brain in
offspring. sexual Activity:
The Brain  is considered the •Responsible for translating the nerve
largest sex organ controlling the impulses sensed by the skin into
pleasurable sensations
biological urges, mental processes
as well as the emotional and •It controls the nerves and muscles used
physical responses to sex in sexual activities
•Sexual thoughts and fantasies are
theorized to lie in the cerebral cortex, the
same area for thinking and reasoning
•Emotions and feelings (impt for sexual
behavior are believed to originate in the
limbic system
•The brain releases hormones
considered as physiological origin of
sexual desire
SEX and the BrainHormones secreted by the
Pituitary Glands
1.Oxytocin – is also known as the “love
Roles of Hormones in hormone” and believed to be involved in our
desire to maintain close relationship. Released
Sexual Activity: during sexual intercourse when orgasm is
achieved.

Hypothalamus – is the most 2.Follicle- Stimulating Hormone (FSH) – Is

responsible for ovulation in females
impt part of the brain for sexual
3.Luteinizing Hormone (LH) – crucial in
functioning. Its relation to the Pituitary regulating the testes in men and ovaries in
Glands which secretes the Hormones women. It stimulates the testes to produce
produced in the hypothalamus is impt. Testosterone that appears to be a major
contributing factor to sexual orientation
4.Vasopressin – involved in the male arousal
phase. The increase in vasopressin during
erectile response is believed to be directly
associated with increased motivation to engage
in sexual behavior
5.Estrogen and Progesterone – typically
regulate motivation to engage in sexual
behavior for females, with estrogen increasing
motivation and progesterone decreasing it.
That’s all for now!