MODULE IN

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Course Title: Understanding The Self

Course Code: GE 103
Credit Units: 3 units

Course Description:
Understanding the Self is one of the courses offered in the tertiary level mainly because of the fact that it
is part of the liberal education. Simply defined, liberal education pertains to an education that liberates(or
frees) oneself from ignorance or prejudices to have a broader understanding about themselves, the people
around them, their environment, and the world.

Learning Outcomes:
 Different representation of the self across discipline and perspective.
 Different influences and factors that shape the self.
 Theories about the self.

MAN
PART 1: “The Crown of Creation”
Chapter 1
BUILDING IDENTITY: THE CONSTRUCTION OF SELF
Philosophy of man is a being or self and its ultimate reason for being. It is a comprehensive study of
truth. Philo comes from the Greek word meaning “love of” and the Latin word Sophia, meaning “wisdom”.
Philosophy then means “love of wisdom” and the Search of Truth. In the olden days men who were concerned
with search for truth were called Philosophers (Sophists or Wandering Scholars) coined by Pythagoras.

1.Religious
2.Moral 3.Spiritual

4.Rational 5.Emotional

6.Physical 7.Social

THE ANCIENT TRIUMVIRATE

1. SOCRATES, “To Socrates true knowledge is virtue and virtue is courage – that courage is virtue
and virtue is reason.”
 Socratic Method/Dialect Style - a method of teaching of inquiry by answering questions with
another questions. It consists of (2) two processes:
1. IRONIC PROCESS, to make the seeker of knowledge, clear his mind prejudice and
leads to the humble and sincere confession of ignorance.
2. MAIEUTIC, draws truth out of the one’s mind which is done by means of dialogue.

Virtues:
a. Humility - the quality or state of being humble (not arrogant/proud).
b. Frugality - characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources.
c. Simplicity - uncomplicated.

2. PLATO (THE IDEAL PERFECT MAN)

 Man in his original state was pure soul which is not tied to the body. A soul exists and could
exist apart from the body. The soul has THREE FACULTIES: Reason(Rational Soul),
Passion(Spirited Soul), and Appetite(Appetitive Soul).
 What makes man perfect is the perfection of his soul – his essence and his importance.

3. ARISTOTLE (427-347 BC)

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  His father was a physician and served the grandfather of Alexander the Great.
 Married the daughter dictator’s daughter, Pythias. She died when she gave birth to their only
child.
 He was a student of Plato. He disagreed with him in a lot of things.
 Tutored the son of King Phillip II for four years.
 He has a school in Athens called Lyceum.
 He numbered the so-called five senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
 He explored the nature of cause and effect.
 He pointed out that people differ from one other living thing in their capacity for rational
thought.
 He also declared that people are more motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain – a view that
remains as current today as it was in ancient Greece.
 Soul – the principle which causes movement. Movement – life is a movement.
 Humans are a combinations of body (matter) and soul (form) > soul actualizes body (matter).

MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
A. ST. AUGUSTINE
 To Augustine , life is dialectic movement towards love. Virtue which is a the art of living rightly
and well – is the order of love.
 Virtuous life = dynamism of the will(dynamism of love)
 Wicked Life = turning away from love.
 Love and Justice, fundamental rules of man. (intertwined with Social Ethics together)
 Man is capable of living rightly and well.

MODERN PHILOSOPHY

A. RENE DESCARTES
 Discourse on the Method, published in 1637 and wrote “I think, therefore I am (Cogito ergo
sum)”
 The self = cogito (the thing that thinks) + extenza (extension of mind/body).
 Second Meditation, his second book, he argues that he is a “thing that doubts, understands,
affirms, denies, is willing, and also imagines and has sensory perceptions”.
 Believes that human beings are combinations of mind and body because that the mind’s
choices can cause modes of motion in the body.

B. JOHN LOCKE (Realism)

 According to John Locke, human mind at birth is a blank paper or Tabula rasa.
 Perceptions – external objects imprints in one’s senses, conveyed to the mind.
 Nothing exists in the mind that was first perceived by the senses.

C. DAVID HUME
 The self is not any one impression but several impressions and ideas.
“Impression – - basic objects of our experience/sensation - forms the core of our thoughts”
“Idea – - copies of impressions - not as “real” as impressions”
“self - combination of experiences.”

D. IMMANUEL KANT
 To Kant, human reason gives the person the capacity to make judgement regarding the good.
 Morality is be the most important respect for human dignity.
 He attests that MORAL OBLIGATIONS is universal and excuses no one. It is the supreme and
fundamental law of human nature.
 That moral obligations is called Duty.

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  Rationality make the person “AUTONOMOUS”. Auto is a Greek word for self, while nomous for
law. This means autonomous is “SELF-RULE”.

E. CONFUCIUS (THE GREAT CHINESE PHILOSOPHER)

 Said that, Family is the bases of Ideal Government and that there should be strong solidarity
among the family members.
 Kindness, uprightness, decorum or decency, wisdom, and faithfulness – Virtues a man must
have.
 “THE GOLDEN RULE” – Do not do unto others what you would not want others to do unto you.

The most important aspects of a person is the self. It is the person who knows he/she is –
his/her gender, feelings, emotions, his/her intelligence, memory and experiences.
SCHEMA, the components of self, the person’s specific beliefs by which he/she describes
himself/herself.
The self-concept is a schema that contains knowledge about a person. It is primarily made up
of physical characteristics, group memberships, and traits.
 Center Stage – tend to see itself as the highlight.
 Spotlight Effect – when people overestimate themselves to be very good.

ACTIVITY: TEST YOURSELF.

A. TRUE OR FALSE. Write O if the statement is RIGHT, and X if it is WRONG in the blank provided.
______ 1. Philosophy is a Greek word meaning love for wisdom.

______ 2. Socrates introduced the Dialectic method of inquiry.

______ 3. In the Crown of Creation, moral aspect is much higher, in the hierarchy of values.

______ 4. To Plato, man is the imperfect copy of the original self.

______ 5. According to Kant morality must be the most important respect for human dignity.

______ 6. Basis of ideal government.

______ 7. Wicked Life is turning away from love by Plato.

______ 8. Human being is combination of body and spirit.

______ 9. The importance aspect of a person is self .

______ 10. When a performer overestimate himself to be very good, that performer has spotlight effect.

B. MATCH THEM. Identify the following people and the concepts they made. Write the your answer before the
numbers.

______ 1. John Locke a. The Golden Rule

______ 2. Socrates b. Tabula rasa

______ 3. Plato c. Dialect Style

______ 4. St. Augustine d. Dynamism of the will

______ 5. Confucius e. The Perfect Man

CHAPTER 2:
BUILDING IDENTITY : THE SOCIAL SELF

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF SELF

Without interaction with others, a person cannot acquire physical, and mental development or worse he will
not survive. The importance of such contact is illustrated by the following studies and documented cases of
children deprived of human contact.

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  Feral Children – are deprived of mental, physical, and social growth because they are reared in total
isolation from other humans.

“WILD BOY OF AVEYRON” – In 1797, a boy found in the woods by hunters in the Southern France. Discovered
by Doctor Jean Itard who took care of him and named him as Victor.

LOOKING GLASS SELF THEORY

Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929), his concept called the Looking Glass Self – a process by which a
person develops his self-image based on how others treat him. Their treatment therefore is like a mirror
reflecting one’s personality.
Three Phases of Looking Glass Self Theory:
1. First Phase - how you imagine yourself to others.
2. Second Phase - how others see or judge your appearance.
3. Third Phase - development of emotional reaction based on what one perceives others judgement (pride or
shame).

- It is also responsible for the evaluation of one’s self. Two Dimensions of this are:
a. Self-esteem, a belief that one is good and valuable to others. Governed (2) two principles :
- Process of Interaction - a person observe others on how they assess him.
- Social Comparison - a person evaluate himself by comparing its self to others.
b. Personal Efficacy, believes that he can rise above challenges and achieves his goal.

THEORY OF SOCIAL BEHAVIORISM

George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) developed the theory of Social Behaviorism in order to explain
how social experience shapes person’s personality. The self is the product of social experiment; it is not part of
the body and does not exist at the time of birth.
For instance, a teacher –> how she/his deliver the job –> how the students must feel/react.

DRAMATURGICAL ANALYSIS
Erving Goffman (1922-1982), according to him, people in their everyday life are very much like
actors performing in a stage. It is study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance. As people
interact, they behave like actors by following a script that they have learned from the people around them. The
script dictates a person how to behave based on his status and roles.
Goffman refers embarrassment as “losing face”, the flaws that may still surface.

ACTIVITY: Group yourself and answer the questions that will be given to you. TAKE NOTE: Remember your
group’s answers.

CHAPTER 3
BUILDING IDENTITY: THE SELF EMBEDDED IN CULTURE

Learning Outcomes:
 Different cultural influences that shape the self.
 The self in Contemporary Anthropology.

THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION OF SELF

Anthropology is a science and philosophical description of the life form “homo sapien”, the thinking
man”. The main concept of modern anthropology science is the idea of man who creates culture by means of
his active interaction with the environment. The aim of contemporary anthropology centers around the idea of
culture as a living extension of the human self that makes man as a man.

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CULTURE – a system of human behavior and thought by Edward Taylor (British Anthropologist) referring to
complex whole that includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, customs and other more as member of the
society.

CULTURAL INFLUENCES THAT SHAPE THE SELF

A. THE MATERIAL AND COGNITIVE COMPONENTS

The material component of the culture pertains to all tangible materials that are inherited from the
previous generations. This is the most obvious component because of its physical nature. The other one is
known as cognitive culture, pertains to all body of knowledge, skills, and other capabilities handed down
from one generation to another.

B. THE NORMATIVE COMPONENT

It pertains to the standard behavior that govern the relationship of individuals in the society, also
known as Social Norms. Social Norms is all about the aspect of behavior in everyday activities. Classified into
Formal(laws/rules with punishment) and Informal(general customs without punishment) social norms.
 FOLKWAYS - the general rules, of customary, and habitual ways expected behavior in the society.
(Example: eating with bare hands before and now)
 MORES - the special folkways that are emphasized for the welfare of the society. Highly
mandatory and compulsive.
(Example: abortion)

EXISTENCE & MECHANISMS OF CULTURE

A. First Mechanisms
- Cultural change happens because no society is in a constant state. (rock > metal > technology)
- Cultural goal anchored in social need. The things everyone wants to achieve.
- Cultural lag, the slow adoption of new technologies or innovations.
B. Second Mechanisms
- Cultural Borrowing is a situation where one society borrows the culture of another society and
uses it as new part of the culture.
- Discovery and Invention, a situation where item was discovered or invented and eventually
become part of the culture. (examples: gadgets, contraceptives, non-biodegradable materials)
C. Third Mechanism
- Culture is learned and shared. Language as the most powerful tool for human learning.

 Cultural Universal – by George Murdock. He said that the basic and most essential needs of human
beings found in every culture are: food, shelter, and clothing. (including culture marriage)
a. Polygamous marriage - Muslim community (married to more than one)
b. Monogamous marriage - Christian community (married to only one)

DIFFERENT WAYS OF ACCEPTING CULTURE:

ETHNOCENTRISM, XENOCENTRISM, and CULTURE SHOCK

 Ethnocentrism - the tendency to view your own culture as superior than other culture
(William Graham Sumner).
 Xenocentrism - the belief that other cultures are better than one’s own culture. (also called
as Cultural Ignorance)
 Culture Shock - a situation where an individual encounters a culture very much different
from his own, that leads to his own disorientation or disorganization.

THE SOCIAL PROCESS OF CULTURE:

ASSIMILATION, ACCULTURATION, AMALGAMATION

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 As mentioned before, no culture is in constant state. It is dynamic, capable of spreading to various
society depending to the need of people. Following are the various ways of spreading culture:
 Assimilation - process of embracing a new culture as part of the existing culture. A
complete adoption of the new culture and rejection of one’s previous identity.

 Acculturation - social process of embracing new culture but not necessarily replace the
existing culture. Only adopt some aspects of the new culture.

 Amalgamation- pertains to the complete blending of two cultures, which leads to the
birth of a new breed of culture.

Test yourself: Short Essay. What is your opinion about Filipino embracing the other culture. Does it
affects our own culture? Why?

CHAPTER 4:
BUILDING IDENTITY: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION OF SELF

SIGMUND FREUD’S PSYCHOSEXUAL THEORY

He studied about self-concept through the field of Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is an approach to
the study of human psychology emphasizing the complex reasoning process of human mind. It has three
subsystems :
1. ID (Pleasure-oriented) - unconscious part of one’s memory. Lacks the real perception of reality.
2. EGO (Reality principle) - conscious part. Recognizes what is real and understand that behavior
has consequences. Satisfy one’s needs within the social values and rules.
3. SUPEREGO (Conscience-driven) - consists values and norms of the society. Has two components,
Conscience and Ego-ideal. Conscience prevents a person from doing morally bad things and Ego-Ideal inspires
person to do morally proper.

ALBERT BANDURA’S SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY

Albert Bandura developed the Social Cognitive Theory based on the concept that learning is affected
by cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors. In contrast to the traditional psychological theories that
emphasized learning through direct experience, Bandura posited that virtually all learning phenomena can
occur by observing other people’s behavior and consequence of it.

Bandura posited that the process of observational learning was governed by four key aspects:
attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. Attention is a process in which people selectively observe
and extract information from the ongoing modeled activities. Retention involves a process of “transforming
and restructuring information in the form of rules and conceptions” and store the information into memory.
Reproduction is the act of performing the actual behavior that was observed. Lastly, Motivation which
propels the learner to attention, practice and retention.

BEHAVIOR

PERSONAL FACTORS
ENVIRONMENTAL
(Cognitive, affective & biological
events)
FACTORS

THE PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC SELF

The Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes that observational learning is not a simple imitative process;

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human beings are the agents or managers of their own behaviors. Based on this idea, Bandura has identified
several concepts critical for learning. Below are a few examples:

 Human agency - Human agency is the concept that learners make an intentional decision to invest in
learning and enact behavior change. Social Cognitive Theory identifies (3)three manners of human
agency: personal, proxy, and collective.

- Personal agency, individual process by which a person affects what she/he can control directly.
- Proxy, indirectly. Employs proxy or others who has the knowledge and act on their behalf to secure
the outcome they desire.
- Collective agency, an interdependent human functioning that is enacted when people share
common beliefs and act in a group to produce effect by collective action.

Self-regulation
Self-regulation refers to self-generated thoughts, feelings, and actions that are planned and adapted to the
attainment of personal goals. According to Bandura, self-regulation operates through a set of psychological
subfunctions: self-monitoring, judgemental, and self-reactive influences.

Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy plays a central role in self-regulation process. It concerns an individual’s belief in their capabilities
to successfully control actions or events in their lives. These beliefs are based on the individual feeling that
they possess the require cognitive abilities, motivation, and resources to complete the task. There are four
main sources of information that create students’ self-efficacy: enactive mastery experiences, vicarious
(observational) experiences, social persuasions and physiological and psychological states.

MULTIPLE SELVES
a. Real Self - what a person is from inside or the original self.
b. Ideal Self - what a person wants to become.
c. Perceived Self - what he/she may think or judge of itself.
d. Public Self - the image we create for others that socially approved. People gives information
or judgement through public opinion, information or action you made with others.

ACTIVITY : READY TO PRESENT. Tell the class about your dream course and what course you take now.
Why? Its ID vs SUPEREGO vs EGO. Goodluck !

PART 2 : DISCOVERING THE SELF

CHAPTER 5: THE PHYSICAL SELF

PHYSICAL SELF
 Physical self is a concept of a person’s description of the self, including physical appearance.
 Physical self-esteem is the evaluation of the physical including the evaluation of both physical
appearance and competence. Physical self-esteem also known as Self-worth.
 Physical self is the physical qualities of a person.

A. WILLIAM JAMES (American Philosopher) - based on his study, the body is the initial source of Sensation.
The body must be subservient to mind, that if concentration is found, it can erase ordinary and most
painful sensation.

B. SIGMUND FREUD (Austrian Neurologist)- maintains that construction of self and personality make the
body the core of experience. To Freud, the ego is the first and foremost a body ego. (The one making the deed.)

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C. ERIK ERICKSON (German-American Psychoanalyst) - he explain the role of the bodily organs that are
important particularly in the early stages of development of the person’s life. Physical development and
Intellectual capacity determine the person’s competence.

D. CARL GUSTAV JUNG (Swiss Psychiatrist) - Collective Unconscious, the hidden beliefs that everyone in a
given society at a given time has. For instance, the mother-child relationship. No one tells what a mother is, but
we react in a certain way to a mothering figure regardless of culture or religion.

 Self-concept - the broad description of our selves. Ability to know one’s trait. (Example: I am a good
writer. ). Answered the question: WHO AM I?

 Self-esteem - global or overall self-evaluation. An attitude or view of individual about himself.

(Example: I feel proud to be a good writer.). Answered the question: HOW DO I FEEL ABOUT WHO I
AM?

 Self-awareness - the ability to know and understand the things that make you who you are as an
individual (including personality, actions, values, beliefs, emotions and thoughts). A state that self
becomes the focus of attention. Self-consciousness rises when you are being observed by others.
- Private Self-consciousness = based their behavior on their own inner beliefs and values.
- Public Self-consciousness = concerned with making good impressions on others.

CHAPTER 6:
DISCOVERING THE SELF: THE SEXUAL SELF

HUMAN REPRODUCTION
Human reproduction is a sexual reproduction that result in human fertilization to produce a human
offspring. It typically involves sexual intercourse between sexually mature male and female. In the process, two
kind of cells or gametes are involved. The male gamete or sperm and the female gamete or the egg or ovum
that meets in the female’s reproductive system. (Zygote, the fertilized egg).

When it fertilizes and become a human, it will contain 23 chromosomes each. Chromosomes are the
threadlike structures that contain genes. Genes (fundamental unit of heredity), are hereditary materials. Each
genes consists of single molecule of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) that carries the genetic information for the
development and functioning of an organism from parent to its offspring.

The human have 23 pairs of Chromosome (46 chromosomes in total). Female has 23pairs of X –
chromosome. Male has 23pairs chromosomes, but the first 22pairs of X-chromosomes are called
Antosomes, and the unpaired is called sex or Y-chromosome.
 XX = resulting offspring is Girl.
 XY = resulting offspring is Boy.

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN SEXUALITY

Human Sexuality defined as the ways in which people experienced and expressed themselves as sexual
beings, as expected by the society. In a way human sexuality connotes gender role typing. Their sexual
behaviors are shaped by attitudes, cultural traditions and beliefs.

BASIC SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

The following maybe considered basic sexual behavior and practice.
 PREMARITAL SEX - particularly for women, a major taboo generally in the Filipino Traits.
This is the act of doing the “deed” without marriage involves. Male can engage to this but not
women is termed “double standard”.
 MARITAL SEX - Sex in marriage is the most standard and acceptable behavior in the
society.
 EXTRAMARITAL SEX - a situation between a married person and someone who is not his/her
spouse. People engage in this kind of situation are referred to as “disgrace in the society”.

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HOMOSEXUALITY & BISEXUALITY
Homosexuals are individuals who are sexually attracted to members of their own sex, whereas,
Bisexuals are those who are sexually attracted to both sex/gender. We also have transsexuals. Transsexual are
people who believe that they were born with a body of another gender. They are the people who undergo
operations to be their desire self (known as Transgender).
Another sexual orientation types are Asexuality and Androgyny. Asexuality is a type where they lacks
attraction to both men and women, while Androgyny, refers to having both masculine and feminine traits.

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS

 Chlamydia
 Genital Herpes
 Gonorrhea
 Syphilis
 AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) cause by virus called HIV (Human Immuno-deficiency
Virus)

METHODS OF CONTRACEPTIVES
A. NATURAL METHODS
B. ARTIFICIAL METHODS

A. Natural Methods - termed of fertility awareness. Observance of natural signs and symptoms of fertility
and safe periods of the menstrual cycle. Contact should be prevented during fertile period to avoid pregnancy.
1. The Rhythm or Calendar Method
2. Abstinence
3. Douche
4. Withdrawal

B. Artificial Methods
1. Pill or Oral Contraceptives
2. Implants
3. Sterilization
4. Vasectomy
5. Male Condom or Prophylactic Latex

CHAPTER 8:
DISCOVERING THE SELF: THE MATERIAL/ECONOMIC SELF

CONSUMER PERSONALITY
Defined as the characteristics that determine and reflect how consumers make choices with regards to
buying patterns and consumption behavior. Just as all consumer, have different personality, the decision
choices to purchase of products/brands also differs, as they match the brands or products to their personality.

Theories relevant to Consumer Behavior

Based on the dominant personality system, the (3) three elements, ID, EGO and SUPEREGO can also be
used to explain one’s consumption behavior based on his own personality traits. Carl Jung, proposed the
famous “JUNGIAN THEORY”, he elaborated on personality types, and his contribution has a great relevance to
the study of consumer behavior.

DIMENSIONS based on Jungian Theory are:

A. Sensing (S) and Intuiting (N)
- determine how a person receives, gathers, and process information.
S – category prefer gather information through their senses directly.
N – category rely upon their understanding of things based on the perception of the world.

B. Thinking (T) and Feeling (F)

- refers to how they makes the purchase decision.

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T – category make decisions based on an unbiased reasoning and logic.
F – category based their decisions on feeling and emotions.

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