The Self from Various

Philosophical Perspectives
To know ourselves means to acquire
knowledge about us which is
practical knowledge
What is Philosophy?

 Study of the fundamental nature of

knowledge, reality and existence
especially in an academic
 He is also known for his quote “The
discipline
Unexamined Life Is Not Worth
 Academic discipline concerned with
Living”. This means that an
investigating the nature of
examining, thinking and
significance of ordinary and
investigating self is what the SELF
scientific beliefs
IS ALL ABOUT.
 A particular theory that someone
 He is charged with corruption of
has about how to live or how to
minors (minds)
deal with a particular situation.
 Made to choose between exile and
 Comes from two Greek words “Philos”
death via the intake of hemlock
and “Sophia”, Meaning “Love for
 According to him, possession of
Wisdom”
knowledge is a virtue: Ignorance is
 Study of acquiring knowledge
a depravity (evil; corruption;
through rational thinking and
wickedness)
inquiries that involves in
A person’s acceptance of ignorance is
answering questions regarding
the beginning of acquisition of
nature and existence of man and the
knowledge. Thus, knowing oneself, lies
world we live in.
in our own abilities, and wisdom.
Socrates Understanding ourselves is through
internal questioning or introspection
 He believed that the SELF exists in
(understanding our strengths and
two parts:
weaknesses,
a. Physical, tangible and moral –
like vs. dislike).
changing
b. Soul which is immoral. Plato
The TRUE SELF is the SOUL
 Student of Socrates
 He is also known for his dictum
 “Human behavior flows from three
“Ignorance Is the Beginning of
main sources: desire, emotion, and
Wisdom” – thus KNOW THYSELF
knowledge.”
 Dualism - man is a dual nature,
composed of BODY AND SOUL
 Plato wrote several literatures needs and pleasures and desires,
that tackles politics, human objects and situations.
nature, and established the idea of  Spirited soul – courageous part of
virtue and intelligence a person. One who wants to do
 Father of Academy (a place where something or to right the wrongs
learning and sharing of knowledge that they observe. This is very
happens; later become one of the competitive and is very active.
pillars and basis of what schools Competitiveness drives one to
and education is now at present) expect positive results and
 His notable works are: winning.
a. allegory of the cave  Rational soul – the drive of our
b. the apology lives. The part that thinks and
c. perfect government and societal plan for the future (the conscious
system mind). It decides what to do, when
d. the republic (he said that the to do it and the possible results
world can only be led by a one could have depending on their
philosopher king, a person who actions.
is virtuous, as well as Aristotle
intelligent)  THE SELF- composed of body and
 The Self is immortal soul in a soul, mind and matter, sense and
perishable body. intellect, passion and reason
 In his book the Republic, the soul  REASON – is supreme and therefore
is the giver of life to the body, should govern all of life’s
permanent changeless and divine activities.
element as opposed to the changing,  SENSES – the lower nature of a
transitory and perishable body. human person, dominate a human
 This makes the self a soul using nature’s life, he/she tends to live
the body. The body is the shell of a chaotic life.
the soul  When reason rules over the sense,
 Our life’s journey is continuous mind over matter, the human person
striving to free our soul from its will life a happy life.
imprisonment in the body  Aristotle put emphasis on reason,
Three different parts of the soul while Plato and Socrates do not
 Appetitive soul – the part of the neglect the development of human
person that is driven by desire and person’s physical, economic and
need to satisfy oneself. This social powers.
satisfaction involves physical
 Happiness comes from the  Matter (hyle) –common stuff that
development of the whole self. makes up everything in the universe
 Perfection and happiness come from  Form (morphe) – essence of a
wisdom and virtue. substance or thing (what makes it
 Wisdom is knowledge while Virtue is what it is)
doing what is best for you to  The body of the human being is
attain perfection and happiness. similar to animals/objects, but
 He taught the theory of the GOLDEN what makes a human is his essence
MEAN. Golden Mean means moderation;  The soul is what makes us humans
avoid extreme; avoid too much or
too little.
 Live a life in moderation in
consonance with reason
The Self According to
Modern Philosophy
Medieval Philosophers
Rene Descartes
St. Augustine  French philosopher known to be the
 A saint and a philosopher of the father of modern philosophy because
church of his radical use of systematic
 Follows the idea that God and early scientific method to aid
encompasses us all, that everything his ideas and assumptions
will be better if we are with God  Believe in modern dualism or the
 His concept about the self is based existence of body and mind and its
of his relation to God. importance to one’s existence were
 Happiness is the end-all and be-all presented with the evidence from
of human living and this can be experiments as well as
found in God. philosophical reasoning.
 He also taught virtue which is “the  Known to be the proponent of the
order of love” “methodical doubt” (continuous
 To love God means to love one’s process of questioning – what we
fellowmen perceive and accepting the fact
 Golden Mean – do not do any harm to that doubting, asking questions are
another as you would not want part of one’s existence
others to do unto you.  Known for the statement “cogito
ergo sum” (I think therefore I am)
St. Thomas Aquinas
 Man = mater + form
 According to him, if something is  Time, space are ideas that one
clear as not to be doubted, that’s cannot find in the world but it is
the only time one should believe built in our minds
 The only thig that one cannot doubt  Apparatus of the mind
is the existence of the self  The self organizes different
Tripartite soul impressions that one gets in

 Reason (ruling class) - desires to relation to his own existence

exert reason and attain rational  The self is not only personality

decisions but also the seat of knowledge

 Spirit (military class) - desires Gilbert Ryle

supreme honor  What truly matters is the behavior

 Appetite (commoner) - desires body that a person manifests in his day-
pleasures such as food, drink, sex, to-day life
etc.  Looking for the self is like
entering LU and looking for the
university
 The self is not the entity one can
David Hume locate and analyze but simply the

He believes “Bundle Theory” which convenient name that we use to

means that all knowledge originates refer to the behaviors that we make

from experiences. He is a firm Merleau-Ponty

believer of empiricism. Empiricism is
 A phenomenologist who says the
a school of thought that espouses the
mind-body bifurcation is an invalid
idea that knowledge can only be
problem
attained through experience.
 Mind and body are inseparable
Ex: the use of your senses.
 One’s body is his opening toward
According to Hume, you know that other
his existence to the world
people are humans not because you have
 The living body his thoughts,
seen their soul, but because you see
emotions, and experiences are all
them, hear them, feel them, etc.
one
Immanuel Kant

 Agrees with Hume that everything

starts with perception / sensation
of impressions
 There is a mind that regulates
these impressions
  is the physical characteristics as
well as psychological capability
that makes who you are.
 The ME is what you think or feel
about yourself as an object.
The Johari Window
 Open:
Known to self; Known to others
 Hidden:
Known to self; Not known to others
 Blind:
Not known to self; Known to others
 Unknown:
Not known to self; Not known to
others
The model can be looked upon as a
communication window through which you
give and receive information about
Self as A Cognitive
yourself and others

Construct
“I am who I am” yet, this statement
still begs the question, “if you are
who you are, then who are you that
makes you who you are?” In psychology Self-concept
 A person’s self-concept is his
we simply put, “self” as "the sense of
knowledge about himself
personal identity and of who we are as
 Self-concept is simply the
individual. According to William
informational side of things, where
James, studying the self consists of
you know facts about what you are
two aspects: I and the ME (Jhangiani
like
and Tarry 2014). “
 They can be influenced not only by
The “I”
 Is the thinking, acting, and observing one’s own self and

feeling self (Hogg and Vaughan, behavior objectively, but also by

2010). observing the reactions that other

 The “I” is the one who acts and people have to you and your

decides behavior, or imagining what other

The “ME” people might think of you, or what

 you would think of yourself if you  Self-identity is composed of
saw yourself from outside relatively permanent self-
 Self-concept is what basically assessments, such as personality
comes to your mind when you are attributes, knowledge of one’s
asked about who you are (Oyserman, skills and abilities, one’s
Elmore, and Smith 2012). occupation and hobbies, and
 According to Carl Rogers concept of awareness of one’s physical
self-schema or our organized system attributes
or collection of knowledge about  The Self-identity is not restricted
who we are (Gleitman, Gross, and to the present. It includes past
Reisberg 2011; jhangaini and Tarry selves and future selves.
2014). Confidence
 Confidence is a pretty broad term
Sigmund Freud
and can be difficult to define
 saw the self its mental processes  Confidence is really personal thing
and one’s behavior as the result of that isn’t the same for everyone
the interaction between the ID, EGO  Different people have different
and SUPEREGO. levels of confidence, but there are
 Social interaction always plays an some signs of a confident person
important part in who we think we which can give insight into where
are. confidence comes from
 This is not Nature vs. Nurture but Self-image
instead a Nature-and-Nurture  The way you think about yourself
Perspective and your abilities or appearance
 One’s conception of oneself or of
one’s role
3 Reasons Why Self and Identity Are
Social Products
 We do not create ourselves out of The Nature of the Self
Some people have a clearer self-
nothing
concept than others
 We need other people to affirm and
Self-concept Clarity
reinforce who we think we are. We
 Is defined as the extent to which
need them as reference point about
knowledge about the self is
our identity
clearly, or consistently defined
 What we think is important in our
 People who are low in self-concept
social or historical context
clarity are more likely to be
Self-identity
neurotic, have low self-esteem, and
 Refers to the global understanding
a person has to themselves
 less likely to be aware of their Defining oneself in terms of one’s
internal state relationships to other people;
Functions of the Self recognizing that one’s behavior is
Why do we have multifaceted, complex often determined by the thoughts,
definition of self? feelings, and actions of others
Because it serves a number of adaptive Self-esteem
functions  one of the common concepts
 It has a managerial function associated with the "self". It is
- Informing us of our relationship defining our own positive or
to the physical and social negative perception or evaluation
world, organizing our behavior, of ourselves (jhangiani, And Tarry
and helping us to plan for the 2014;)
future  One of the ways in which our social
 It has an organizational function relationship affects our self-
- Acting as a schema that helps us esteem is through social
interpret and recall information comparison.
about ourselves and the social Social Comparison Theory
world
Holds that we learn about our own
 It has an emotional function
abilities and attitudes by comparing
- Helping to determine emotional
ourselves to other people
responses
1. When do we engage in social
Cultural Differences in the Definition
comparison?
of Self
In many Western cultures, people have 2. With whom do we choose to compare
an independent view of the self- ourselves?
concept, while many Asian and other Social Comparison – also entails what
non-Western cultures, people have an is called self-evaluation maintenance
interdependent view of the self- theory, which states that we can feel
concept threatened when someone out-performs
us, especially when that person is
close to us (i.e., a friend or family)
Downward Social Comparison – is the
Independent View of the Self
Defining oneself in terms of one’s own more common type of comparing

internal thoughts, feelings, and ourselves with others. As the name

actions, and not in terms of the implies, we create a positive self-

thoughts, feelings, and actions of concept by comparing ourselves with

other people those who are worse off than us.

Interdependent View of the Self (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). By having

 The Journey of Self-
the advantage, we can raise our discovery
self-
esteem.
Upward Social Comparison – is the "Until you make the unconscious
process whereby we compare ourselves conscious, it will direct your life
to people who are better than we are and you will call it fate". C.G. Jung.
in a particular trait or ability
Knowing Ourselves Through Social What is Self-discovery?
Interaction  "True leadership (excellence) is
We shape ourselves according to how
not a product of a course of study
others view us. This is referred to as
but a course in self-discovery"
the looking-glass self
 Life is an endless process of
The Looking-Glass Self
discovery
 The idea that we see ourselves
 The act or process of gaining
through the eyes of other people
knowledge or understanding of your
and incorporate their perceptions
abilities, character, and feelings.
of us into our self-concept
 Self-Discovery starts with Self-
 The idea that our sense of self
Assessment.
derives from our interactions with
 Who am I?
other people – either present or
 What am I doing?
imagined
 What I want to do?
 Who we are is determined, at least
 Am I on the right path?
partly, by the internal audience we
 What do I love in myself?
have in mind
 Self-discovery is simply finding or
Two types of Self that we are aware
of: uncovering your own individuality.
 the private self or your internal  You are created as an original
standards and private thoughts and product not a counterfeit.
feelings.  You are created independently, as
 The public self or your public an entity and you need to discover
image commonly geared toward having your originality.
a good presentation of yourself to  In the pursuit of self-discovery,
others (Hogg and Vaughan 2010) we often encounter the challenge of
Self-Concept has three Self –Schema identity crisis.
 ACTUAL, IDEAL, and OUGHT SELF.  Identity refers to the stable,
 ACTUAL SELF is who you are at the defining characteristics of a
moment person that makes them an
 IDEAL SELF is who you like to be. individual.
 OUGHT SELF is who you think you
should be.
  Before you can be excellent in
anything you do, you need to answer
these 3 important questions.

 Having a solid sense of identity

requires a thorough understanding Three question of your Person,
of oneself, traits, thought Potential and Purpose.
pattern, strength, weakness.  Who am I? - answers the question
Identity Crisis of your PERSON
 According to Erikson, an identity  What is my gift? - answers the
crisis is a time of intensive question of POTENTIAL
analysis and exploration of  How and whom can I serve? -
different ways of looking at answers the question of PURPOSE
oneself. Personal Discovery
 It is being experienced at various “Who in the world am I? Ah! That's the
points throughout life, greatest puzzle” Lewis Carroll.
particularly at a point of great
 This is about understanding your
change, e.g. beginning of a new
personal self. Most people don't
job, graduating from the tertiary
know who they really are, their
institution, etc.
personality traits (introvert,
 I have come to discover that most
extrovert), temperament (Choleric,
people that do not understand
sanguine, melancholy, phlegmatic)
themselves, their purpose and
etc.
potential fall for anything that
 When you have an understanding off
comes their way.
these various traits, it helps you
“knowing yourself is the beginning of in decision making about your life
wisdom”. Aristotle and future.
 When they find their friends  It helps you understand your
engaging in an activity without Strength, weakness, opportunities,
knowing the reason, they also want and threats.
to be because they don't have their  Your personality is the essence of
personal identity. who you are and how you appear to
 This knowledge will help you in other people. It lends continuity
most decisions you make like career to your identity over time, tying
path, choice of friends, and choice together your early childhood and
of what you read and listen to. ongoing life experiences, your
unique approach to the people and
 events around you, and your get the others and also conduct a
aspirations and apprehensions on personality test.
how you may develop in the future. Berkeley Personality Profile
 It affects, and is affected by how the big five personality dimension:
others perceive and respond to you.
1. Expressive style/ Extraversion –
 It is reflected in the things you
Ranges from being quiet,
say, the way you feel, and the way
restrained, introverted TO being
you choose to lead your life.
energetic, enthusiastic, and
 It is also reflected in the way
extraverted or anywhere in between.
others perceive and respond to you,
as well as in your personal
beliefs, goals and expectations,
2. Interpersonal style/ Agreeableness
hopes and fears, even the way you
– Ranges from being aloof (not
perceive other people and interpret
friendly, cold, distant),
their behaviors. The more you
inconsiderate, or even cruel at one
understand about your personality,
extreme TO being warm, generous and
the better you can understand your
even self-sacrificing at the other.
actions, your feelings and your
3. Work style/ Conscientiousness – It
relationships.
concerns the extent to which an
 Briefly I will go deep into
individual focus on tasks and meets
personality types using the
responsibilities ranging from
Berkeley Personality Profile which
preferring to procrastinate and
uses the big five personality
take it easy TO working hard with
dimension.
intense dedication to commitments.
 The big five dimension captures an
4. Emotional style/ Neuroticism –
entire continuum of individual
Concerns an individual's
differences, such that the
temperament and typical way of
behavioral characteristics of
dealing with stress, ranging from
people at one end of the dimension
being calm, relaxed, and even-
is the opposite of the behavior at
tempered TO being moody and
the other extreme. We have
emotionally intense.
different personality test you can
5. Intellectual style/ Openness - It
conduct to determine or have an
reflects the extent to which you
idea of your personality.
are geared towards new experiences
 Two of them would be mentioned in
and ideas. Refers to the extent to
this material but you can google to
which a person favors familiar and
traditional ideas and experiences
 or prefers to question the norms,  Potentials could be in form of
taking an original, creative, or gifts/ talents which is innate. Its
analytical approach towards life. inborn, all you need to do is
discover it and Skills which could
Knowing your personality will help you
be acquired through formal or
understand and control recurrent
informal training.
patterns in your own life experiences.
 You discover the talents by asking
It might be leading you to repeatedly
yourself, what are those things you
make the same type of life choices,
do with ease without a formal
seek out the same type of personal
training or education?
relationships, drift into the same
 Things You are just good at
type of work situation, and experience
naturally e.g. (painting, writing,
the same types of worries, delights,
speaking, sports etc.
or frustrations.
You need to understand that your
personality doesn't out rightly
 Briefly, here are 10 questions to
determine Gods purpose for your life.
help you discover your potential:
It's just a way of realizing your
 Think about each of these questions
status as human.
carefully and answer them honestly.
What I mean by this is, it’s very easy Record your responses.
for you to conclude that because you  What is my deepest desire?
are an introvert, cool, calm and - What are the things you want
reserve; you might not find yourself most in life?
functioning in any leadership position  What is my passion?
in the future. - What is the thing you simply

Potential Discovery must do? What animates or

energizes you/ what makes you
"The potential of an average person is
forget to eat or sleep?
like a huge ocean un-sailed, a new
 What makes me angry?
continent unexplored, a world of
- What do you wish you could
possibilities waiting to be released
change about the world?
and channeled towards some great good"
- What are the things you consider
-Brain Tracy
un-just, inadequate or inferior
 Potential discovery is about in quality?
discovering talents/ gifts  What ideas are persistent?
 God has imbedded in you during
creation that are meant to create
solutions to problems.
 - What ideas, inventions, or is something we call potential and
innovations keep coming back to you have a measure of it in you.
you?  Realization stage: this is where
 What do I constantly imagine? you realize that God has deposited
- What is your vision for your something inside of you and it
life or others' life? takes you to discover it. The
 What do I want to do for humanity? potential in you will only come to
- What problem would you like to reality if only you accept that you
solve? What need would you fill? are full of potentials.
 What are my recurring dreams? "Realization begets actualization".
- What do you daydream about doing  Developing stage: this stage comes
or accomplishing? up after you have an understanding
- What do you wish you could do if and realization of your potentials.
you could do anything? You have to develop or refine it.
Education alone cannot give you a
gift; it can help you refine a
 What brings me the greatest gift. Gold is a good example. In
fulfillment? its crude state, it’s not
- What activities, project, attractive therefore it needs
courses, jobs, and hobbies have refinement to give you the desired
brought you the most gold.
fulfillments?  To develop or refine your gifts,
 What could I do forever even if you have to:
there was no monetary compensation?  Spend time alone in thought.
- What would you do most of the  Write down your desires and
time even if you never earned visions.
any money for it?  Read books relating to your
 What would I rather be doing? potential.
- What would you prefer to be  Identify people who can help
doing right now? What would you you.
do today if you had the day off  Take advantages of the
to do anything you wanted? opportunity to learn.
There are 4 basic stages in Potential  Volunteer your services.
discovery:
Your gift might be music, you are
 Understanding stage: this is the
naturally gifted, you have perfect
stage of understanding that there
pitch, you play by ear or sing like a
nightingale; but to use this gift
effectively, to perform at a eaglet in you, the passion is just
professional level, to compose music there-that is your purpose calling
others can reproduce, or to teach out to you.
people in church or in a college, you The Self and Culture
will need to study music formally,  According to Marcel Mauss, every
that is the process of development. It self has two faces:
is very essential to having a refined Moi refers to a person's sense of
output. who he is, his body, and his basic
identity, his biological givenness.
 Actualization stage: this is the
Personne is composed of the social
stage where the outcome of the
concepts of what it means to be who
refined gift is being used to
he is.
achieve Gods purpose for your life.
 Language is another interesting
Before actualization, the
aspect of this social
experience may not be pleasing,
constructivism; it is a salient
friends and family may antagonize
part of culture and ultimately, has
you, you might even have to change
a tremendous effect in our crafting
your circle of influence to
of the self.
actualize your potential. After
 If a self is born into a particular
actualization you can use the
society or culture, the self will
refined gift to serve humanity or
have to adjust according to its
make it a source of income.
exposure.
Purpose Discovery
The Self and the Development of the
“If you can't figure out your purpose, Social World
figure out your passion, for your
 More than his givenness
passion will lead you right into your
(personality, tendencies, and
purpose”- Bishop T.D Jakes.
propensities, among others), one is
 God has created you for a
believed to be in active
particular purpose, and you must
participation in the shaping of the
discover it. Purpose is just
self.
something you have been destined
 Men and women in their growth and
and designed to do per time.
development engage actively in the
 It's something that anytime you are
shaping of the self.
around it, you feel a sensation
 The unending terrain of
burning within you, you feel there
metamorphosis of the self is
is a way you can make this better,
mediated by language.
you feel an eagle calling on to the
Mead and Vygotsky
 For Mead and Vygotsky, the way that  Gender is one of those loci of the
human persons develop is with the self that is subject to alteration,
use of language acquisition and change, and development.
interaction with others.  The sense of self that is being
 Both Vygotsky and Mead treat the taught makes sure that an
human mind as something that is individual fit in a particular
made, constituted through language environment, is dangerous and
as experienced in the external detrimental in the goal of truly
world and as encountered in dialogs finding one's self, self-
with others determination, and growth of the
Self in Families self.
 The kind of family that we are born  It is important to give one the
in, the resources available to us leeway to find, express, and live
(human, spiritual, economic), and his identity.
the kind of development that we  Gender has to be personally
will have will certainly affect us. discovered and asserted and not
 Human beings are born virtually dictated by culture and the
helpless and the dependency period society.
of a human baby to its parents for
nurturing is relatively longer than
most other animals.
 In trying to achieve the goal of
becoming a fully realized human, a
child enters a system of
relationships, most important of
which is the family.
 Human persons learn the ways of
living and therefore their selfhood
by being in a family. It is what a
family initiates a person to become
that serves as the basis for this
person's progress.

Gender and the Self