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UTS Lesson 6 Material Self

William James described four components of the self: the material self, social self, spiritual self, and pure ego. The material self is composed of our body, clothes, immediate family, and home - things we have invested ourselves in and identify with. We become attached to our material possessions as we view them as extensions of ourselves. How we dress and decorate our homes reflects our sense of self.

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Katrina Garcia
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90 views17 pages

UTS Lesson 6 Material Self

William James described four components of the self: the material self, social self, spiritual self, and pure ego. The material self is composed of our body, clothes, immediate family, and home - things we have invested ourselves in and identify with. We become attached to our material possessions as we view them as extensions of ourselves. How we dress and decorate our homes reflects our sense of self.

Uploaded by

Katrina Garcia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DERSTANDING THE

SELF
MATERIAL
SELF
LESSON 6
Prepared by;
KATRINA D.
MATERIAL SELF

A Harvard psychologist in the late nineteenth


century, William James, wrote in his book, The
Principles of Psychology in 1890 that understanding
the self can be examined through its different
components.
He described these components as:
(1) constituents
(2) the feelings and emotions they arouse - self-
feelings
(3) the actions to which they prompt self- seeking
and self-preservation.
MATERIAL SELF

The constituents of self are composed of :


• the material self

• the social self

• the spiritual self

• and the pure ego.


(Trentmann 2016; Green 1997)
MATERIAL SELF

-According to James, the material self


is primarily about our bodies, clothes,
immediate family and home. We are
deeply affected by these things
because we have put much investment
of our self to them.
MATERIAL SELF
INVESTMENT DIAGRAM
OUR BODY
MATERIAL SELF

The innermost part of our material self is OUR


BODY. Intentionally, we are investigating in our
body. We are directly attached to this
commodity that we cannot live without. We
strive hard to make sure that this body
functions well and good. Any ailment or disorder
directly affects us. We do have certain
preferential attachment or intimate closeness
to certain body parts because of its value to us
CLOTHES
MATERIAL SELF

Next to our body are the CLOTHES we use. influenced


by the "Philosohy of Dress" by Herman Lotze, James
believed that clothing is an essential part of the
material self. Lotze in his book. Microcosmus,
stipulates that "any time we bring an object into the
surface of our body, we invest that object into the
consciousness of our personal existence taking in its
contours to be our own and making it part of the self."
(Watson 2014) The fabric and style of the clothes we
wear bring sensations to the body to which directly
affect our attitudes and behavior. Thus, clothes are
placed in the second hierarchy of material self.
Clothing is a form of self-expression. We choose and
wear clothes that reflect our self. (Watson 2014)
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
MATERIAL SELF

Third in the hierarchy is our IMMEDIATE FAMILY. Our


parents and siblings hold another great important
part of our self. What they do or become affects us.
When an immediate family member dies, part of
our self dies, too. When their lives are in success,
we feel their victories as if we are the one holding
the trophy. In their failures, we are put to shame or
guilt. When they are in disadvantage situation,
there is an urgent urge to help like a voluntary
instinct of saving one's self from danger. We place
huge investment in our immediate family when we
see them as the nearest replica of our self.
HOME
MATERIAL SELF

The fourth component of material self is


our HOME.Home is where our heart is. It is
the earliest nest of our selfhood. Our
experiences inside the home were recorded
and marked on particular parts and things
in our home. There was an old cliché about
rooms: "if only walls can speak." The home
thus is an extension of self, because in it,
we can only directly connect our self.
MATERIAL SELF

Having investment of self to things, made us


attached to those things. The more investment
of self-given to the particular thing the more
we identify ourselves to it. We also tended to
collect and possess properties. The collections
in different degree of investment of self,
becomes part of the self. As James (1890)
described self: "a man's self is the sum total
of all what he CAN call his." Possessions then
become a part or an extension of the self.
MATERIAL SELF

Russel Belk (1988) posits that "... we


regard our possessions as part of
ourselves. "We are what we have and
what we possess." The identification
of the self to things started in our
infancy stage when we make a
distinction among self and
environment and others who may
desire our possessions.
MATERIAL SELF

The Possessions that we dearly


have tell something about who
we are, our self-concept, our
past and even our future.
THANK YOU!

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