Handout for GEC 001 (Understanding the Self) PRELIM 1st Semester, S.Y.

2019-2020
Lesson 1: The Self from the Philosophical
Perspective
Philosophical Orientations:
Empiricism – the belief that there is no such thing as
innate knowledge, instead, knowledge is derived
from sensory experience.
Rationalism – the belief that there is innate
knowledge, and that there are different sources of
knowledge.
Idealism – objects of knowledge is held to be
dependent on the activity of the mind.
Antiquity/Classical Philosophers:
2. John Locke – founded on consciousness (the
perception of what passes in a Man’s own mind).
According the Locke, consciousness can be
transferred from one substance (body and soul) to
another therefore, the soul can change, but
consciousness remains the same. Tabula Rasa – this
concept posits that everyone started as a blank slate,
and the content is provided by one’s experiences over
time.
3. David Hume – there is no self as a mental entity
for “what we call a mind is nothing but a
heap/collection of different perceptions.” The self is
nothing but a complex set of successive impressions
or perceptions.

1. Socrates – Knowledge is the personification of 4. Immanuel Kant – consciousness is formed by

good, and ignorance is that of evil; self-knowledge is
the ultimate virtue. “An unexamined life is not worth
living.” “Know thyself.”
2. Plato – moral virtue is rooted in the intellect, and
leads to happiness.
one’s inner and outer sense: the inner sense
(comprised of one’s psychological state and
intellect) and the outer sense (consists one’s senses
and the physical world).
Contemporary/ Modern Philosophers:

3. Aristotle – the ideal (essence) is found inside the 1. Sigmund Freud – the self is multilayered and is
phenomena (matter), and the universals inside the composed of the three structures of the human mind
particulars. – the id, ego, and superego.

Medieval/Middle Ages Philosopher: Id Ego Superego

Since birth Maintains Last to
1. St. Augustine – All knowledge leads to God; only equilibrium develop
the pure heart can see God; love of God, faith in Him, Hedonistic/Pleasure Reality Morality
and understanding of the Gospel will ultimately lead Principle Principle Principle
to happiness. Driven by the Adheres to Has two
sexual energy reason and systems:
Enlightenment Philosophers: called libido. logic Conscience:
1. Rene Descartes – “Cogito ergo sum” – I think sanction of
therefore I am. The self is a thinking thing whose guilt;
whole essence or nature is merely thinking. The self Ideal Self –
reward if one
is different from the body hence, the self and body
conforms
exist but differ in existence and reality. Mind-body
dichotomy – though (mind) will always precede
action (body). Only humans have hubris (excessive 2. Gilbert Ryle – opposed the Cartesian notion of
pride) because of the fact that humans are the sole “Cogito ergo sum.” The mind is not separate from
rational animals in existence. the body. Logical/Analytical Behaviorism – a theory
of mind which states that mental concepts can be
understood through observable events. The self is a
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Prepared by: Mr. Justin Paul D. Gallano
Faculty Member – College of Arts, T.I.P. Manila © 2019 | NOT FOR SALE
Handout for GEC 001 (Understanding the Self)
combination of the mind and body; “I act, therefore
I am.”
3. Paul and Patricia Churchland – Eliminative
Materialism – ordinary, common sense
understanding of the mind is deeply wrong and that
some or all of the mental states posited by common
sense do not exist. To understand the self, one must
study the brain, not just the mind.
4. Maurice Merleau-Ponty – body has two types:
subjective body (as lived and experienced), and
objective body (observed and scientifically
investigated), The self is embodied subjectivity –
humans are neither disembodied minds (existing
without body) nor as complex machines, but as living
creatures whose subjectivity (consciousness) is
actualized in the forms of their physical involvement
with the world. “I am my body.”
Lesson 2: The Self from the Sociological
Perspective
George Mead’s The Social Self – the self is not
biological but social. Self is something that is
developed through social interaction.
Self has two parts, self-awareness and self-image.
Role playing – the process in which one tales on the
role of another by putting oneself in the position of
the person with whom he or she interacts.
According the Mead, self is not inborn. Babies
cannot interpret the meaning of other people’s
behavior. Three stages of development: (i) imitation
or preparatory stage – the child imitates the behavior
of his parents, (ii) play stage – involves the child
playing the role of others, and (iii) game stage – the
child comes to see himself from the perspective of
other people.
Phases of the self: the I self and the Me self.
I self – the phase of the self that is unsocialized and
spontaneous.
Me Self – the self that results from the progressive
stages of role playing or role-taking and the
Prepared by: Mr. Justin Paul D. Gallano
Faculty Member – College of Arts, T.I.P. Manila
PRELIM 1st Semester, S.Y. 2019-2020
perspective one assumes to view and analyze own’s
behaviors.
Generalized Others – an organized community or
social group which gives to the individual his or her
unity of self.
Charles Horton Cooley’s Looking-glass Self – a
social psychological concept providing that the self
is developed as a result of one’s perceptions of other
people’s opinions.
Steps: (i) people imagine how they must appear to
others, (ii) people imagine the judgment on that
appearance, and (iii) people develop themselves
through the judgment of others.
Private Self – the cognition that involves traits,
states, and behaviors.
Public Self – the cognition concerning the
generalized other’s view of the self.
Collective Self – cognition concerning a view of the
self that found in memberships in social groups.
Social Identity Theory by Henri Tajfel – the
person’s sense of who he is according to his
membership to a certain group.
In-group – the group where a person belongs.
Out-group – the group where a person do not
belong.
Postmodernism – not a philosophy but a report on
the mindset of the western culture in the latter half of
the 20th century.
Andersen (1997) Four Basic Postmodernist Ideas
Multiphrenia – refers to the many voices speaking
about who you are, and what you are.
Protean – the self that is capable of changing
constantly to fit the present conditions.
De-Centered – a belief that there is no self at all.
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Self-in-relation – humans do not live their lives in
isolation, but in relation to people and to certain
cultural contexts.
Erving Goffman’s Dramaturgical Model of Social
Life – social interactions may be compared to a
theater, and people to actors on a stage where each
plays a variety of roles.
Three Regions:
1. Front Stage – the region where actors
perform in conformity with the expectations
of the audience.
2. Back Stage – the region where actors
act/behave differently. Where actors are their
natural selves.
3. Off-Stage - the region where actors meet
audience independently.
Kenneth Gergen’s Saturated or Multiplicitous
Self – the saturated self is constantly in connection to
others, a self that absorbs a multitude of voices and
takes in a seemingly endless stream of information.
Lesson 3: The Self from the Anthropological
Perspective
Cultural Identity and National Identity
Culture – derived from Latin word cultura or cultus,
meaning care or cultivation.
Identity – refers to “who the person is,” or the
qualities and traits of an individual that make him
different from others.
Cultural Identity – refers to the identity or feeling
of belongingness to certain culture group.
Cultural Identity Theory – explains why a person
act and behaves the way he does.
Nation – a group of people built on the premise of
shared customs, traditions, religion, language, art,
history, etc.
National Identity – refers to the identity or feeling
of belongingness to one state or nation.
Prepared by: Mr. Justin Paul D. Gallano
Faculty Member – College of Arts, T.I.P. Manila
PRELIM 1st Semester, S.Y. 2019-2020
Material Culture – a type of culture like national
flag, national emblem, or seal representative of all
the people who are a part of the nation.
Non-material Culture – embodies the shared
understanding of a group of people including norms,
beliefs, and traditions.
Brian Morris’s Anthropology of the Self – the self
is not an entity but a process that orchestrates an
individual’s personal experience. As a result of this
process, a person become self-aware and self-
reflective about his place in the surrounding world.
Dialogical Self Theory – introduced in 1992 by
Hubert Hermans. The theory regarded the “self” as
the “Society of Mind.” The self is considered as
extended to significant others in the environment that
populate the self as monological relationships may
emerge.
Individual Self – reflects the cognitions related to
traits, states, and behaviors that are stored in memory
(e.g. “I am religious).
Relational Self – reflects cognitions that are related
to one’s relationships (e.g. “I am the father).
Collective Self – reflects cognitions that are related
to one’s group (e.g. “I am an Ilocano”).
Identity Struggles – introduced by Anthony
Wallace and Raymond Fogelson. It characterizes the
discrepancy between the identity a person claims to
possess and the identity attributed to that person by
others.
Lesson 4: The Self from the Psychological
Perspective
William James’s Self Theory – divided the self into
two categories – Me and I. A human being has the
capacity to be a thinking subject and the object of his
own thinking at the same time. As a thinking subject,
an individual is both conscious of his environment,
and conscious of his existence.
I – constituted by the continuous stream of
consciousness internal to an individual.
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Me – a person turns into a ‘me’ when he makes
himself the object of his own thinking.
Three Categories of the Self
1. Constituents of the Self – refer to the further
subcategories of the self, including the
material self, social self, spiritual self, and
pure ego.
2. Self-feeling – the feelings and emotions
aroused in the individual because of his
knowledge and appraisal of his empirical
existence in the world.
3. Self-seeking – the actions the self prompts –
the effort of every individual to preserve and
improve oneself based on one’s self-
knowledge and resulting self-feelings.
Carl Rogers’s Self Theory – the self does not exist
at birth, it is developed gradually during childhood
wherein one differentiates the self from non-self. By
means of free choice and action, one can shape
himself based on what she wants to be.
Real Self – who an individual actually is,
intrinsically. How one thinks, feels, looks, and acts.
Ideal Self – the perception of what a person would
like to be or thinks he or she would be. Based on the
idealized image.
Congruence – an agreement between the real self
and the ideal self.
Self-Concept – the totality of complex, organized,
and dynamic system of learned beliefs, attitudes, and
opinions that each person holds to be true about his
personal experience.
Aspects of Self-concept
1. Existential Self – begins when an individual
recognizes his existence as a separate entity
from others and realizes that he will continue
to exist over a period of time and space.
2. Categorical Self – starts after a child
recognizes his existence as a separate entity
and becomes aware that he is an object of the
world.
Prepared by: Mr. Justin Paul D. Gallano
Faculty Member – College of Arts, T.I.P. Manila
PRELIM 1st Semester, S.Y. 2019-2020
Three Components of Self-Concept
1. Self-worth or self-esteem – is what one
thinks about oneself.
2. Self-image – how one sees himself, which is
important for good psychological health.
3. Ideal Self – the person that one wants to be.
Donald W. Winnicott’s True Self and False Self
True Self – known as the real self, authentic seld,
original self, and vulnerable self. The core of who
you are, the original you, unshaped by the upbringing
of society.
False Self – known as the fake self, ideal self, perfect
self, and pseudo self. Composed of the parts of the
self, wherein behaviors are altered, feelings are
repressed, and one’s needs are set aside in order to fit
in with others. Also called the adapted self.
Social Mask – helps one to interact properly in a
larger variety of interpersonal contexts.
Global versus Differentiated Models
Global Models look into a human being in his or her
totality, as an indivisible entity that cannot be broken
down into parts.
Gestalt Psychology – guided by the principle that
“the whole is greater than the sum of all its parts.”
Humanistic Psychology – guided by the principle
that “human beings, as humans, supersede the sum of
their parts.”
Differentiated Models look into a human being
through examining its parts for it is divisible or can
be broken into components.
For Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, the psyche is
divided into three – id, ego, and superego.
1. Id – exists since birth and pertains to instinct.
Driven by libido (sexual energy).
2. Ego – developed as a product of coping with
anxiety brought about by the id’s repression
of impulses.
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3. Superego – operates according to the
morality principle.
Albert Bandura’s Agentic Theory of the Self –
rejects the notion that selfhood is culturally
influenced or controlled by urges, rather, it looks
upon every human being as capable of thinking,
deciding, foreseeing, and controlling his or her
actions, free to decide for himself. This is called as
human agency.
Lesson 5: The Self in Western and Eastern
Thoughts
1. Individualism versus Collectivism
Individualism – an orientation concerned with the
independence and self-reliance of the individual.
Puts more emphasis on promoting the individual and
the immediate family’s welfare. The Western
Culture focuses on Individualism as it gives more
emphasis on freedom and choice – an independent
self that is free from the influence of culture and
environment and from the expectations and welfare
of society. Does not promote isolation, it is grounded
on the idea that an individual makes judgments.
Collectivism – an orientation characterized by
belongingness to larger groups or collectives. Gives
more importance to loyalty to the in-group, which in
turn takes care of the individual’s welfare. The
Eastern Culture focuses on Collectivism as it gives
more importance on relationships, roles, duties,
obligations, and the preservation of culture and
tradition. This is an idea that man should think, live,
and act toward certain goals that benefit the group.
2. Buddhism – there is no such thing as atman
(self). The atman is impossible to perceive by
one’s senses for it does not actually exist in
any metaphysical, material, and spiritual
level. Everything is just an illusion, an
imaginary concept born as a product of
evolved consciousness and misguided
thinking of humans. Humans have no real
knowledge of a self, or a clear proof of
claiming that there is a self.’
Prepared by: Mr. Justin Paul D. Gallano
Faculty Member – College of Arts, T.I.P. Manila
PRELIM 1st Semester, S.Y. 2019-2020
3. Confucianism – a way of life propagated by
Confucius. It regards an individual as a
member of a larger whole, not as a separate
being. The ethical teachings of Confucius
are based on human relationships as
reflected in his concept of Five Cardinal
Relationships or Five Cardinals:
• Between the King (Ruler) and the
Subject (Ruled)
• Between father and son
• Between husband and wife
• Between brothers
• Between friends
4. Taoism – emphasizes living in harmony with
the Tao (way or path), a religion and a
philosophy at the same time. Tao is nothing
but the expression of the unity of the universe
and of the path which human beings must
take to preserve that unity. Going against the
will of nature or universe disrupts the cosmic
order (the Yin and Yang).
5. Hinduism – the Upanishads contain some
key concepts of Hinduism. “Story of
Creation” tells about the origin of the
universe and humans. “In the beginning, the
Self was alone, in the shape of a person
(Purusha). He first said, ‘This is I’; therefore,
he became ‘I’ by name.” The atman (referred
to as self, spirit, or soul) is the same self
described in the creation. Atman is one with
the Brahman (the absolute, transcendental
power).
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