Understanding the Self

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NATURE NURTURE THE SELF

- “The self is - “The self is an
predominantly a outcome of various - unified being, essentially connected to
product of natural nurturing factors in consciousness, awareness and agency
processes of which the context of one’s - meanings have transformed from pure
people are inherently social life.”
abstractions to explanations that holds scientific
predisposed”
evidences.
- traits are transmitted - group life affects ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY OF SELF
to the next generation, individual’s behavior
thereby predisposing and attitude and social Greek aphorism - was used by Socrates as his
us to certain self- institutions impact the guiding principle that he passed on to his students
expressions self-construal of the not by writing but through untiring discussed
individual concepts and principles
IDENTITY SELF
- qualities, beliefs, etc. - total characteristics SOCRATES
that make a particular or qualities of a person
person or group both known and - believe that the real self is NOT the physical body,
different from others or unknown to others but rather psyche (or soul)
the distinguishing (but known to oneself) - the appearance of body is inferior to its functions
character or
personality of an 1) Socratic Method – seeking clarity and truth
individual through questioning and analysis
2) Socrates’ Trial – uses legal defense to embody
his ethical values and principles as rational inquiry
DIMENTIONALITIES OF THE SELF/IDENTITY
3) Socrates’ Ethos – “know thyself” and improve
1. Social Factor - influences of significant people souls through virtuous living
in a person’s life
4) Socrates’ Death – became a heroic martyr to
Ex. family, peer group enlightened thinking and virtuous living by refusing
2. Environmental Factor - includes the physical to compromise the values that defined his life
and communal elements present in our everyday PLATO
surroundings, and are invariably dealt with by
individuals in a specific geographic region or area - Socrates’ student

Ex. physical properties, expectations & norms - introduced in his dialogue of Phaedrus (popular
text in philosophy)
3. Hereditary Factor - operates at the time of
conception - TRUTH SEEKING: (1) metaphysical realm = mind
(2) physical world = body
4. Person-Volition Factor - the inclination of a
person to form and construct a specific identity, - HUMAN SELF = an intellectual entity whose
which will set him apart or unique compared with nature exists independent from physical world
others
COMPONENTS OF THE SELF
PHILOSOPY Reason Physical Appetite Spirit

- mother of all disciplines

- natural and social phenomena
- various concepts of what it means to be human
 TRUTH - direct sense experience
- ontos (ideal) the ultimate reality which tends to be DAVID HUME
permanent and spiritual.
- all knowledge passes through the senses
- phenomena refers to manifestation of the ideal
- there is no basis for the belief that there is any self
- there is no or immortal soul in the traditional
MORAL VIRTUE sense
- memories & experiences = impressions & ideas
IMMANUEL KANT
- categorical imperative: act as you will, it
becomes as the universal law
- empirical self or ego, which consists of those traits
that make us each a unique personality
- there is the inner self and outer self
- inner self = rational reasoning and psychological
state
INTELLECT
- outer self = body and physical mind, where
ARISTOTLE
representation occurs
- Plato’s student - intelligence that constructs knowledge based on
- suggested that the ideal is subsumed in the its experiences
phenomena. SIGMUND FREUD
- ideal as essence and phenomena as matter - conscious (contact with outside world),
- essence & matter co-exist and are co-dependent preconscious (beneath the surface of awareness)
and unconscious (difficult to retrieve)
- essence provides meaning and purpose to the
matter and the matter provides substance and - structural model of the mind: id (pleasure),
solidity to essence ego (reality) and super ego (moral imperatives)

ST. AUGUSTINE
- all knowledge leads to God
- love & faith lead to happiness
RENE DESCARTES
- I think, therefore, I am
- the mind and soul can exist without the body
- distinction of soul from the body can make people
believe in the afterlife and the soul’s immortality
JOHN LOCKE GILBERT RYLE

- consciousness alone that identity exists, not and - I act therefore I am

the body and the soul
- mind is the seat of the self
- soul may change but consciousness remains intact
- it is not a separate, parallel thing to our physical
- man ≠ person body
- solves the “mind/body problem” through focusing self-awareness, self-construal, self-
to our behavior esteem, self-efficacy, self-regulation
etc.
PAUL CHURCHLAND Behaviorism - made from an
- materialism holds that the self is inseparable from observable and measurable
the substance of the brain and the physiology of the perspective
body
Humanistic – draw its assumptions
PATRICIA CHURCHLAND from the observed criticisms of
- There isn’t a special thing called the mind. The psychoanalysis and behaviorism
mind is just the brain 2. Sociology
MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY - study of collective behavior of
- the living, physical body and its experiences are all people within society
one, a natural synthesis - human experience and how society
shapes the person and vice versa

EMPIRICISM 3. Anthropology

- knowledge is derived from experience - the science of human beings

- we know things because we have experienced it - evolution of individuals and their

through our bodily senses societies

RATIONALISM 4. Political Science

- there is innate knowledge, they differ in that they - participation of individuals in

choose different objects of innate knowledge
- explain self from standpoint of what is “ideal” and
the “truth”, not rooted in what is felt by senses nor
our body
SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF
THE SELF
a) Physical Science
- biological factors that make up the human body
- the underlying growth and maturational
mechanisms of people
- environmental influences that influence human
development
b) Social Science
- concerned with human functioning in the context
of society and social institutions
1. Psychology
- study of human behavior and
mental processes
establishing a government and
making political choices
- how an individual participates in
government, his/her ideologies and
advocacies
5. Economics
- concerned with description and
analysis of the production,
distribution, and consumption of
goods
c) Biological/Physiological Science
- beginning with tenets of Aristotle and his
scientific approach to the study of human
experience, to the Natural Selection within the
Evolutionary Theory of Charles Darwin, human
development, individuality, and inevitably, the self,
have been defined, analyzed, and explained
according to specific mechanism
1. Genetics
DNA – (deoxyribonucleic acid)
- main the carrier genetic
information
 - unique identifying part of every
individual
Human Genome Project
- mapping functions of genes from
physical & functional viewpoints
2. Neurophilosophy
Paul and Patricia Churchland
- concerned with association of the
brain and mind
Merleau-Ponty
- aimed to unite an idealism
standpoint with empirical
perspectives
3. Psychoneuroimmunology
- study of the interaction between
psychological processes and the
nervous and immune systems of the
human body
- how our immune system function,
similar to the shaping self
4. Other natural sciences
Biology
Medicine
Cognitive Neuroscience
Chemistry
PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES
a. Oral (birth – 1 year)
- interaction through the mouth
thumb sucking, smoking, fingernail biting and
overeating
b. Anal (1 – 3 years)
- controlling bladder and towel movements
Too much pressure = need for order/cleanliness
Little pressure = messy/destructive behavior
c. Phallic (3 – 6 years)
- id’s energy is on the genitals
boys = oedipal complex
girls = electra complex
(both attraction to the opposite sex parent)
d. Latent (6 – 11 years)
- superego continues to develop while the id's
energies are suppressed
- they play with friends of the same sex and avoid
children of the opposite sex
e. Genital Stage (11 – 18 years)
- onset of puberty causes the libido to become
active once again
- people develop a strong interest in the opposite
- if development has been successful to this point,
the individual will continue to develop into a well-
balanced person
DEFENSE MECHANISM
- unconscious psychological strategies brought into
play by various entities to cope with reality and to
maintain self-image
1. Narcissistic Defenses
a) Denial - avoiding the awareness of some
painful aspect of reality. Denial may be used
in both normal and pathological states
b) Distortion - grossly reshaping external
reality to suit inner needs and using
sustained feelings of delusional superiority
or entitlement
unrealistic megalomania beliefs,
hallucinations, wish fulfilling delusions
c) Projection - primitive form of paranoia.
Projection also reduces anxiety by allowing
the expression of the undesirable impulses
or desires without becoming consciously
aware of them
severe jealousy, hypervigilance to
external danger
2. Immature Defenses
a) Hypochondriasis- exaggerating or
overemphasizing an illness for the purpose
of evasion and regression.
 b) Passive Aggressive Behavior- - Leggyyy
expressing aggression towards others
indirectly. Includes failure, procrastination.
c) Regression-attempting to
return to an earlier libidinal phase of
functioning to avoid the tension and
conflict.
d) Somatization- converting
psychic derivatives into bodily
symptoms and tending to react with
somatic manifestation rather than
psychic manifestations.
3. Neurotic Defenses
a) Displacement-Shifting
attention from one target that is no
longer available to a more acceptable
or “safer” substitute.
b) Rationalization- Person
convinces him or herself that no
wrong was done and that all is or
was all right through faulty and false
reasoning.
c) Dissociation- Temporary
drastic modification of one's
personal identity or character to
avoid emotional distress.
d) Reaction-Formation-
Transforming an unacceptable
impulse into its opposite.
4. Mature Defenses
a) Sublimation: Transformation of
negative emotions or instincts into
positive actions, behavior, or
emotion.
b) Thought Suppression-
consciously postponing attention to
a consciously impulse or conflict.

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