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Module 1 Various Perspectives of the self 1 1 3
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Module 1 Various Perspectives of the self 1 1 3
Biology (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila)
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TECHNICAL-LEARNING MATERIALS
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Module 1: The Self from Various Perspectives
Compiled and Edited by:
PLM Department of Psychology
July, 2020
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THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this module, the learner is expected to…
• Discuss the different representations and conceptualizations of the self from various disciplinal
perspectives
• Examine the different influences, factors and forces that shape the self
• Compare and contrast how the self has been represented across different disciplines and
perspectives
• Demonstrate critical and reflected thought in analyzing the development of oneself by
developing a theory of the self
INTRODUCTION
This module shall cover the different vantage points of understanding the self. From the perspective,
and concept of Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, & Eastern and Western thought.
CORE CONTENT
I. THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOSOPHY
For centuries, different individuals have sought to understand the reasons of existence, from the
cosmocentric (universe), to the theocentric (God), & the anthropocentric (Man) perspective of
philosophy.
In this part of the lesson, we will consider different philosophers, and their perspectives of the self, and
as to how their concepts, and beliefs contribute to the understanding of oneself.
• Philosophy basically refers to the love of knowledge, or the love of wisdom
• Philosophy can be traced back all the way to 600 BCE, in Athens, Greece
- The Greeks in search for knowledge came up with answers that are both cognitive and
scientific in nature (Price, 2000)
▪ They chose to seek natural explanations to events and phenomena around
them instead of seeking for supernatural explanations from the gods that was
passed down through generations
▪ These philosophers observed changes in the world and wanted to explain these
changes by understanding the laws of nature
▪ Their study of change led them to the “idea of permanence” (Price, 2000)
• Athenians settle arguments by discussion and debate
- People skilled in doing this were called Sophists, the first teachers of the West
SOCRATES
• One such Philosopher was Socrates.
- The mentor of Plato
- Considered to be the wisest of all men by the Oracle of Delphi
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- Wanted to discover the essential nature of knowledge, justice, beauty and goodness
(Moore and Bruder, 2002)
- He did not write anything, he is not a writer
- A lot of his thoughts were only known through Plato’s writing (The Dialogues)
• The Socratic Method
- This is Socrates’ method for discovering what is essential in the world and in people
▪ In this method, Socrates did not lecture, he instead would ask questions and
engage the person in a discussion
▪ He would begin by acting as if he did not know anything and would get the
other person to clarify their ideas and resolve logical inconsistencies (Price,
2000)
▪ Using this method, the questioner should be skilled at detecting
misconceptions and at revealing them by asking the right questions
▪ The goal is to bring the person closer to the final understanding
• Socrates believed that his mission in life was to seek the highest knowledge and convince
others who were willing to seek his knowledge with him
- “The unexamined life is not worth living”
• According to Socrates, real understanding comes from within the person
- His Socratic method forces people to use their innate reason by reaching inside
themselves to their deepest nature
• The aim of the Socratic Method is to make people think, seek and ask again and again.
Some may be angered and frustrated, but what is important is for them to realize that they
do not know everything, that there are things that they are ignorant of, to accept this and to
continue learning and searching for answers (Moore and Bruder, 2002)
PLATO
• Another Greek philosopher with major contributions was Aristocles, also known as Plato
- He was nicknamed “Plato” because of his physical built which means wide/broad
- Left Athens for 12 years after the death of Socrates
- When he returned, he established a school known as “The Academy”
• Plato’s Metaphysics (philosophical study on the causes and nature of things)
- Plato explained that Forms refers to what are real
▪ They are not objects encountered with the senses but can only be grasped
intellectually
• Characteristic of the Plato’s Forms
- The Forms are ageless and therefore eternal
- The Forms are unchanging and therefore permanent
- The Forms are unmoving and indivisible
• Plato’s Concept of Dualism refers to the existence of two realms
- The Realm of Shadows
▪ Composed of changing, ‘sensible’ things which are lesser entities and therefore
imperfect and flawed
- The Realm of Forms
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▪ Composed of eternal things which are permanent and perfect. It is the source of
all reality and true knowledge
• He believed that knowledge lies within the person’s soul
- He considered human beings as microcosms of the universal macrocosms i.e. everything
in the universe can also be found on people – earth, air, fire, water, mind and spirit
(Price, 2000)
• Plato’s Components of the Soul
- The Reason is rational and is the motivation for goodness and truth
- The Spirited is non-rational and is the will or the drive toward action
- The Appetites are irrational and lean towards the desire for pleasures of the body
• Plato believed that people are intrinsically good. Sometimes however, judgements are
made in ignorance and Plato equates ignorance with evil. (Price, 2000)
• Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
- What people see are only shadows of reality which they believe are real things and
represents knowledge
- What these people fail to realize is that the shadows are not real for according to Plato,
“only the Forms are real”
- Recommended Video Presentation on the Allegory of the Cave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWOpQXTltA
• Love according to Plato
- Plato’s love begins with a feeling or experience that there is something lacking
- This then drives the person to seek for that which is lacking
- Thoughts and efforts are then directed towards the pursuit of which is lacking
• Christian Philosophers on the other hand focused on God, and man’s relationship with God
• Comparing Greek & Christian Philosophers
- Greek Philosophers - Sees man as basically good and becomes evil through ignorance of
what is good
- Christian Philosophers - Sees man as sinners who reject/go against a loving God’s
commands
ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
• St. Augustine of Hippo, a noteworthy Christian philosopher who initially rejected
Christianity for it seemed to him then that Christianity could not provide him answers to
questions that interested him
• St. Augustine’s belief of human nature focused on two realms
- God as the source of all reality and truth
▪ This means that people close to God will be the ones closest to understanding
the world since God is the source of all truth and reality
- The sinfulness of man
▪ To put simply, moral goodness can only be achieved through God.
▪ The cause of evil is not God’s will but rather the freewill given to man by God
• The Role of Love according to St. Augustine
- Basically, real happiness can only be achieved through God
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- Problems arise when man loves wrong things, in the wrong ways. St. Augustine referred
to this as disordered love
▪ Excessive love of physical objects leads to sin of greed
▪ Love for other people is not lasting and excessive love for them is the sin of
jealousy
▪ Excessive love for the self leads to the sin of people (pride)
▪ Love for God is the supreme virtue and only through loving God can man find
real happiness
• European Philosophers such as Rene Descartes, John Locke, David Hume, & Immanuel Kant
focused on the concepts of experience and rationalization.
RENE DESCARTES
• One such philosopher is Rene Descartes who was a prominent rationalist in France, and in
Europe.
- He Applied scientific & mathematic methods in philosophy
- Proponent of the cartesian method and analytic geometry
- He did not believe in empiricism (a philosophical perspective in which knowledge is
derived from sensory experiences). He posited that the senses are easily tricked, and
may not provide accurate information any time (ex. food will not taste the same if you
have a flu)
• Descartes questioned if anything can be known with certainty. Wherein he had dreams
which instructed him to construct a system of knowledge, and a system of knowing
- Through his dreams, he came up with a way of analyzing human knowledge
• Descartes discussed the two powers of the human mind
- Intuition or the ability to apprehend direction of certain truths
- Deduction or the power to discover what is not known by progressing in an orderly way
from what is already known
• Descartes deduced that a thinker is a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills,
refuses and also imagines and feels (Price, 2000)
- Hence, I Think; therefore I am
• Descartes believed that reasoning could produce absolute truths, that is why he believed in
Apriori, which means that knowledge is independent from experience.
• Descartes believed in the concept of dualism, in which he believed that the mind/ soul was
separated from the body. He called this the Mind-Body Problem
- The body, according to Descartes, is like a machine that is controlled by the will and
aided by the mind.
JOHN LOCKE
• John Locke, an English philosopher, on the other hand, believed in contrast to Rene
Descartes, wherein understanding requires the senses.
- Born in Wrington, England
- Interested in politics; Defender of the parliamentary system
- At 57 years old, He published a book which played a significant role in the era of
Enlightenment (Price, 2000)
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- Believed in the concept of empiricism
▪ “no man’s knowledge can go beyond his experience” – John Locke
▪ “nothing exists in the mind that has not first been experienced” – John Locke”
• Locke believed that knowledge results from ideas produced a posteriori or objects that
were experienced The process involves 2 forms:
- Sensation wherein objects are experienced through senses
- Reflection by which the mind ‘looks’ at the objects that were experienced to discover
relationships that may exist between them
• Locke contended that ideas are not innate, but rather, the mind at birth is a “tabula rasa”
(i.e. blank slate)
• According to Locke, since ideas are not innate, it then, therefore must come from the
senses. That further means, that morals, religion, and political values must have been a
product of man’s experiences.
- Moral good depends on the conformity of a person’s behavior towards some law
- There a 3 laws according to Locke:
▪ Law of Opinion – where actions that are praiseworthy are called virtues and
those are not are vices
▪ Civil Law – where right actions are enforced by people in authority
▪ Divine Law – set by God on the actions of man
DAVID HUME
• David Hume, a Scottish philosopher relied on the scientific method believing that it could
analyze human nature and explain the workings of the mind
- Born in Edinburgh, Scotland
- At the time he was enrolled at the University of Edinburgh, he lost his faith
- Was credited for giving empiricism its clearest formulation
• Hume believed that the mind receives material from the senses, and called it perception. He
then expounded that there are two types of perception
- Impressions – which are immediate sensations of external reality
- Ideas – Which are the recollection of the impressions
• In examining the patterns of thinking, Hume formulated three principles on how ideas relate
to one another
- The Principle of Resemblance which is basically the tendency which ideas become
associated if objects they represent are similar
▪ Ex. A photo of a bird resembles a real bird, therefore, they must be related
- The Principle of Contiguity refers to the tendency of ideas to be associated if objects are
near each other in time & space
▪ Ex. when you see a box of crayons, you immediately associate it to have crayons
even if it does not have any. – you automatically think of crayons, not a box of
crayons
- The Principle of Cause and Effect is the tendency of things being causally related
▪ Ex. the ball caused the window to break
• Hume saw the self as just a sense of impressions
- He believed that like causality, ‘the self’ is also a product of imagination
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- There is no such thing as ‘personal identity’ behind perceptions and feelings that come
and go; THERE IS NO PERMANENT/UNCHANGING SELF
IMMANUEL KANT
• Immanuel Kant, a Prussian philosopher, posited the melding of both rationalist, & empirical
approaches
- Lived in the town of Konisberg in East Prussia (presently Western Russia)
- Founder of German Idealism
- Wrote three books: Critique of Pure Reason, Critique of Practical reason and Critique of
Judgement
• Kant argued that the mind is not just a passive receiver of sense experience but rather
actively participates in knowing the objects it experiences
- “When the self sees an object, it tends to remember its characteristics and applies on it,
the forms of time and space”
- Kant used the term transcendental apperception to explain the experience of the self in
unity with objects
SIGMUND FREUD
• Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist emphasized the role of the unconscious in the
development of the self
- His psychodynamic theory has characteristics of philosophical thought
- Freud made use of methods like free association and dream analysis for his clinical
practice
• Freud explained that the mind is structured by
the following components
- Id – the pleasure principle
- Ego – the reality principle
- Supe Ego – the morality principle
• The id, ego, and superego: According to Freud’s
structural model, the personality is divided into
the id, ego, and superego. On this diagram, the
smaller portion above the water signifies the
conscious mind, while the much larger portion
below the water illustrates the unconscious Illustration Source: Lumens Candela (n.d)
mind.
• Freud in his 1920 book, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, he presented 2 kinds of instincts that
drive individual behavior
- Eros - Life Instinct; the energy is called LIBIDO and urges necessary for individual and
species survival like thirst, hunger, and sex
- Thanatos - Death Instinct; behavior that is directed towards destruction in the form of
aggression and violence
• Freud further believed that man lives life balancing the forces of life and death, making
mere existence a challenge
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- “Man’s behavior by his pleasure seeking life instinct and his destructive instinct is said to
be born with his ego already in conflict”
GILBERT RYLE
• Gilbert Ryle, an English Philosopher, believed that many philosophical problems were
caused by the wrong use of language.
- Ex. the Mind-Body Problem made no sense, as applying non-material things should not
have been applied to material concepts
• Ryle criticized Cartesian Dualism, stating that it only equates to people being a “ghost in a
machine”
• Ryle believed that freewill was only invented to answer whether actions must be praised or
blamed. He further elaborated that actions must be moral for it to be free.
• Ryle touched on two types of knowledge
- Knowing-That – This refers to knowing facts and information
▪ Ryle considered this to be empty intellectualism, as it is worthless if you cannot
use it to solve practical problems
▪ “A person may acquire a great bulk of knowledge but without the ability to use it
to solve some practical problems to make his life easier, this bulk of knowledge is
deemed to be worthless”
- Knowing-How – This refers to using facts in the performance of some skills or technical
abilities
PATRICIA AND PAUL CHURCHLAND
• Patrician Churchland coined the term Neurophilosophy, who together with Paul
Churchland was dissatisfied with the particular approach of philosophers and instead sought
to guide scientific theorizing with philosophy and guide philosophy with scientific inquiry
- The philosophy of neuroscience is the study of the philosophy of the mind, the
philosophy of science, neuroscience and psychology.
▪ This aims to explore the relevance of the neuroscientific studies to the
philosophy of the mind
▪ “There isn’t a special thing called the mind. The mind is just the brain” – Patricia
Churchland
• Patricia claims that the man’s brain is responsible for the identity known as ‘the self’
- The biochemical properties of the brain according to this philosophy is really responsible
for man’s thoughts, feelings and behavior
- “Man is endowed with more than just physical or neurological characteristics. Despite
research findings, neurophilosophy states that the self is real, that it is the tool that
helps the person tune-in to the realities of the brain and the extant reality”
MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
• Maurice Merleau-Ponty was a French phenomenological philosopher who was known as
the philosopher of the body
- Emphasized that the body was the primary site of knowing the world, and that man
cannot be separated from the world
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• According to Merleau-Ponty, The world and the sense of self are emergent phenomena in
the ongoing process of man’s ‘becoming’
- He added that perception is nor purely the result of sensations nor is it purely
interpretation, rather, consciousness is a process that includes sensing, as well as
interpreting/ reasoning
II. THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIOLOGY
Sociology is one of the disciplines in the social sciences which aims to discover the ways by which the
social surrounding/environment influences people’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
To put simply, its main focus is understanding human societies and its social processes which may aid in
people understanding themselves better.
In this part, we will discuss the different perspectives, and theories of sociologists in order to better
understand how the self develops.
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
• George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher, and social theorist who studied the
self from a social behaviorist perspective
- Born on February 27, 1863 in Massachusetts, USA
- Graduated and taught Grade School at Oberlin College.
- Enrolled in Harvard University in 1887 where his interests were Philosophy and
Psychology
- He wrote and published articles and book reviews but did not publish his own book.
- His students put together number of his articles and edited them for publication.
- He died in 1931 due to Heart Failure
• Mead was the proponent of Social Behaviorism, in which it was the approach used to
describe the power of environment in shaping human behavior. At the center of his
theorizing is the concept of self.
- Mead described the self as “dimension of personality that is made up of the individual’s
self-awareness and self-image” (Macionis, 2012)
• According to Mead, the self cannot be separated from the society.
• Mead posited a set of stages in which a person undergoes in the course of development
- Preparatory Stage – A stage in which the self-did not exist at birth but develops over
time. It depends on social interaction and social experience.
▪ Children’s behavior is primarily based on Imitation. They become familiar with
symbols (verbal and non-verbal) as they interact, and these symbols are the
bases of Communication
▪ Knowing and Understanding the symbols are important to constitute their way
of communicating with others throughout their lives (Schaefer, 2012)
- Play Stage – The stage where the child widens his perspective and realizes that he is not
alone and there are others around him which he has to consider.
▪ Knowing and Understanding the symbols of communication to constitute basis
for socialization to form social relationship.
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▪ Role-taking is the process of assuming the perspective of another person to see
how this person might behave or respond in a given situation (Schaefer, 2012)
- Game Stage – The stage in which the child has the ability to respond not just to one but
several members of his social environment
▪ Begins to consider several tasks and various types of relationships
simultaneously.
▪ Generalized other was used to explain the behavior when a person considers
other people in the course of his action. Through this, the person realizes the
cultural norms, beliefs, & values incorporated to each self. With this, it forms
the basis of self-evaluation
Stage Existence of Self Characteristics
Preparatory Stage None Imitates Another
Play Stage Developing Role-Taking
Game Stage Present Generalized Other
• Mead’s theory of the self, states that The self is not present at birth but begins as a central
character in a child’s world.
- This means that children see themselves as “universe” and is having difficulty
understanding people around them.
- As they grow and mature, they begin to see other people and is concerned about their
reactions.
- Family plays a major role in the formation of the self. They are the Significant others –
strongly influence his development. (Schaefer, 2012)
-
• Mead’s “I” and “Me” simply explains that a person’s capacity to see the self through others
implies that the self has 2 parts:
- I Self – when the person initiates, the self-functions as subject. This subjective element
of the self is the I.
▪ The I is basically the response to the Me, it basically serves as the individual
identity/ personal identity (Miller, 2015)
- Me Self – when the person takes the role of the other, the self-function as object. The
objective element of the self is the Me.
▪ How we believe how the generalized others see us
▪ Heavily influenced by society’s view
- Ex. of the I, & Me applied, The Me would think that going to college is the next step
after Highschool, since that is the objective thing to do, what is expected of the
individual. The I would then weigh in, and respond to the Me’s idea of going to college,
considering if that is the best move forward from a personal stand point.
- Recommended Video Presentation on Mead’s I, & Me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A2GIct0UnQ
CHARLES HORTON COOLEY
• Charles Horton Cooley was an American sociologist who made use of the
Sociopsychological approach to understand how societies work.
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- The sociopsychological approach takes into consideration the social variables that affect
the development of an individual’s personality.
• Cooley’s concept of the Looking Glass Self states that the self that is a product of social
interaction. Seeing oneself is based on contemplating one’s personal qualities and the view
of the self is also influenced by the impression of other people.
• Cooley further believed that the process of developing a self has three phases
- People imagine how they present themselves to others
▪ Ex: You dress-up elegantly at the prom
- People imagine how others evaluate them
▪ Ex: Others will see you as pretty by the way you fix yourself
- People develop some sort of feeling about themselves as a result of those impressions.
▪ Ex: You may see yourself as confident.
- It can basically be summed up in…
I am not what I think I am
I am not what YOU think I am
I am what YOU think I am.
• It is noticed that Cooley used the word Imagine.
This may mean that there is a possibility that
people develop self-identities based on the wrong
perception of how others see them. Wrong
perceptions, however, can still change based on Digital Illustration by Business Jargons (n.d.)
positive social experiences
ERVING GOFFMAN
• Erving Goffman is a Canadian-American sociologist known for his role in the development of
Modern American Sociology.
• He posited the Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life, wherein people early in their social
interactions learned to slant their presentation of themselves in order to create preferred
appearances and satisfy particular people or altering how the person presents himself to
others which he called Impression Management.
• He sees similarities of real social interaction to a theatrical presentation. This is the reason
for the label dramaturgical approach to his view.
• He used the phrase face-work to describe another aspect of the self. This was observed in
situations where face-saving measures are resorted to in the maintenance of a proper image
of self in frustrating or embarrassing situations (Schaefer, 2012)
III. THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology is a field of the social sciences that focuses on the study of man. Not just on one aspect of
man, but the totality of what it means to be human. The field looks into man’s physical/biological
characteristics, social relationships, and the influence of his culture from the dawn of civilization up to
the present.
Everything in anthropology is interconnected and a complete understanding is necessary to achieve
better understanding of oneself.
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• There are four major subfields of anthropology
- Archaeology - Refers to the field of archeology refers to the study of earlier cultures and
their way of life through retrieving, and examination of material remains of previous
human societies (Jose, & Ong, 2016)
▪ The archeologist is a scientist who studies artifacts in order to discover how
people lived their lives. As a result, archaeologists have discovered humans
adapted to changes in their environment in order for them to survive.
▪ They believe that homo sapiens did not become extinct because of their ability
to think, use tools, and learn from experience.
▪ These discoveries made people realize that the most important aspect of human
life is survival. Human Behavior according to School of Functionalism, continues
to adapt, in order to survive.
- Biological Anthropology – gives emphasis on the biological adaptations of man to his
environment
▪ Biological Anthropologists Focus primarily on how the human body adapts to
the different earth environments. They look at the probable cause of diseases,
mutation, and death. They are interested in explaining how biological
characteristics of human beings affect how they lived their lives.
▪ They study people in different places and discovered that while human beings
vary in their biological make-up and behavior, there are a lot more similarities
among them than there are difference
▪ Biological characteristics of humans beings share may earn for them complete
dominion over all earth creatures and at the same time be the cause of their
extinction.
▪ Consider the biology of skin color, wherein how the varying skin tone of man
was formed by an evolutionary process.
Recommended Video Presentation on The Science of Skin Color:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r4c2NT4naQ
- Linguistic Anthropology - The branch of anthropology which focuses on the study of
human speech and language
▪ Human survival is primarily linked to their ability to communicate and an
essential part of human communication is language.
▪ Language identifies group of people; words, sounds, symbols, writings and signs
that are used are reflections of a group’s culture.
▪ Linguistic Anthropologists used language to discover a group’s manner of social
interaction, to create and share meanings to form ideas, concepts, and to
promote social change, and how language change over time.
▪ Language is reflective of the time and mode of thinking of the people using it.
As societies change and technologies develop, so do the symbols and meaning
people use through language as their way of communicating.
- Cultural Anthropology – gave emphasis on the study of societies and human behavior,
taking into consideration religion, culture, myths, rituals, technology, gender roles,
Kinship, economic, and political structure, music, and folklore.
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▪ Culture – group of people’s ways of life. Including their behavior, beliefs, values,
and symbols that they accept, socially transmitted through communication and
imitation from generation to generation.
▪ Cultural Anthropologists focus in knowing what makes one group’s manner of
living particularly to that group and forms an essential part of the member’s
personal and social identity.
• While it is worth noting that personality, and other internal factors make up an individual, it
is undeniable that each individual is still a product of culture
- The Theory of Cultural Determinism states that human nature is determined by the
ideas, meanings, beliefs, and values learned as member of a society.
- Who or what a person is maybe determined by the kind of culture he is born into and
grew up in.
- Having different cultures, Cultural Anthropologists suggests that there is no universal or
right way of being human. The right way is always based on culture. Since culture vary,
there is no one way of understanding human nature.
- The theory has positive and negative implications
Positive Negative
Human beings can be shaped to have the
kind of life they prefer. There is no limit
placed on the human ability to be or to
do whatever they set their minds and
hearts into.
People have no control over what they
learn. They blindly accept the learning
their culture expose them to. They are
seen as helpless and do only what their
culture instructs them to do.
• Culture can manifests itself in different levels of depth.
- Symbols refer to words, gestures, symbols, that have recognized meaning in a particular
culture.
▪ Ex: Rings that signify commitment
▪ Symbols are considered as the most superficial level of culture
- Heroes refer to persons from the past or present who have characteristics that are
important in a culture. They may be real or fictitious and are models of behavior.
▪ Ex: Real – Jose Rizal
▪ Fictitious – Darna
- Rituals refer to activities, may be religious or social, participated in by a group of people
for the fulfillment of desired objectives and are considered to be socially essential.
▪ Ex. Religious ceremonies such as baptism, wedding, or social ceremonies such as
birthdays and graduations
- Values are considered to be the core of every culture. Values are unconscious, and can
neither be discussed nor be directly observed but can only be inferred from the way
people act and react to circumstances and situations.
▪ Ex. “Mano Po”
IV. THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGY
Tracing its roots to Greek philosophy, Psychology, derived from the Greek word psyche which means
soul, and logos, which means the study of, literally means the study of the soul. Psychology is the field of
the social sciences that deals with the description, explanation, prediction, & control of behavior. Topics
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such as the mind-body issue in philosophy, as well as the nature-nurture controversy have been the
subject of various theories, as such concepts affect human behavior.
In this lesson, we discuss the different psychologists, and their explanation of human behavior.
WILLIAM JAMES
• William James was an American philosopher and psychologist who is known for his “theory
of the self” which breaks the self into the I & the Me
- Professor of Psychology and Philosophy at Harvard University
- Was considered as one of the great pragmatists
▪ A philosophical perspective which embraces the concept of action over doctrine
(i.e. getting things done) (Thayer, n.d.)
- Explained his theory of the self in his book “the principles of psychology” in 1890
• William James’ theory of the self aka The ‘Me’ and the ‘I’
- All human thoughts are owned by some personal self.
- All thoughts are constantly changing or are never static.
- There is a continuity of thoughts as its focus shifts from one object to another.
- Thoughts deal with objects that are different from and independent of consciousness
itself.
- Consciousness can focus on a particular object and not others.
• The Me Self refers to the sum total of one’s experience – it is all that a person can call his/
her own (Hergenhan & Henley 2014)
- This simply means that the Me self is the widest possible sense of a person. This
includes his body, psychic powers, clothes, house, relatives, friends, ancestors,
descendants, land, reputation, etc.
- Divided into three components:
▪ The Material Self consists of the things or objects that belong to the person or
entities that a person belongs to. (e.g. The person’s body, his family, clothes,
his money)
▪ The Social Self refers to the person is in a particular social situation. (The person
known by others)
(ex. Changes in behavior due to the social situation)
▪ The Spiritual Self refers to the self that is more concrete or permanent when
compared to the material and social selves. This is considered as the most
subjective and intimate part of the self. Furthermore, the spiritual self is always
engaging in the process of introspection (self-observation).
• The I Self refers to aspect of the self that does the knowing
- James also called the I Self as the Pure Ego, which is, according to him, the person’s
soul, or mind
- Considered as the totality of the person’s identity. It takes into account the past,
present, and future selves of the person
• By understanding both the Me and the I self, we can acknowledge that the self is partly
known, and knower
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THE GLOBAL SELF
• The Global Self represents the overall value that a person places upon himself.
- This means that the groups of people that you interacts with everyday strongly
influences you, and the global self is the product of all experiences that you had in the
society which accounts for the kind of person you presently are.
MURRAY BOWEN
• Murray Bowen was an American Psychiatrist who conceptualized the theory of the
differentiated self.
- Was considered to be a major proponent in Family Therapy and Systemic Therapy
• The Differentiated Self emphasizes the person’s capability to develop and sustain his/ her
unique identity
- The differentiated self is still affected by the presence of others, but has the ability to
separate feelings and thoughts
- Enables the person to develop and sustain his unique identity, make his own choices,
and accept responsibility for his behavior and still be able to stay emotionally connected
with his family and friends.
- Two forces were observed to affect a person, specifically, togetherness, & individuality,
wherein a balance should be maintained to ensure sound relation with others.
▪ Too much togetherness may lead to friction and conflict, and may prevent the
development of one’s sense of self
▪ Too much individuality on the other hand may lead to estranged feelings
towards significant others
▪ By being able to acknowledge a person has his/ her own personality one may be
able to attain self-fulfillment
CARL ROGERS
• Carl Rogers was an American psychologist who proposed the Person-Centered Theory
- He stated that the self-concept refers to how one thinks or perceives oneself. He further
elaborated that there are two types of self-concept
▪ Real Self-Concept - Refers to all information
and perception the person has about
himself. (Answers the question “Who am I?”)
▪ Ideal Self-Concept - Refers to what the person
aims for himself to be (Answers the question
“Who do I want to become?”, and is born out
of ones experiences, standards, and the
demands of society)
• Rogers stated that there should be congruence (sameness, equality) between the real self
and the I deal self for the person to be happy and satisfied with his life.
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EDWARD TORY HIGGINS
• Edward Tory Higgins proposed the Self-Discrepancy Theory, which stated that people use
internalized standards which they compare themselves which he called self-guides
- These self-guides provide guidance as to how one should present himself/ herself, and
when the person diverts from said self-guide, it leads to emotional discomfort called
self-discrepancy.
MULTIPLE AND UNIFIED SELVES
• The Multiple Selves Theory suggests that there are individual different aspects of the self.
This means that the self is a whole, made up of different parts
- These different parts of the self manifests when the situation calls for it
- A psychologically healthy individual is able to make sense of these aspects of
themselves, and is able to integrate them into a single unified self.
• A unified being is connected to consciousness, and is aware. This person is considered to be
well-adjusted, and is capable of accepting successes and failures and the other perceived
unfairness in life
- They continue to adjust, adapt, evolve, and survive as an individual with an integrated,
unified multiple selves.
D. W. WINNICOTT
• D. W. Winnicott was an English pediatrician, and psychoanalyst who studied child
development
- He looked into the significance of play in child development, and stated that children/
people have true and false selves
- True and false selves are present in all individuals. They should be functional for the
advantage of both the person himself and his society.
True Self False Self
▪ Creative
▪ Spontaneously experiencing each day of
their lives
▪ Appreciate being alive
▪ High level of awareness in the person of
who he is
▪ Recognizes his strengths
▪ Accepts his limitations
▪ Enjoys winning and success
▪ Learns from mistakes
▪ Lacks spontaneity
▪ Dead and empty
▪ The mask that hides the true person for
fear of pain of rejection and failure
▪ At times, enable the person to form
superficial but productive social
relationships
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ALBERT BANDURA
• Albert Bandura is known as the proponent of the Social Cognitive Theory, wherein the
person is seen as proactive and agentic which means that man has the capacity to exercise
control over their lives.
- Human Agency refers to the essence of being human
• The Social Cognitive Theory gives emphasis to learning through observation. It suggests that
human beings are proactive, self-regulating, self-reflective, & self-organizing
- Believed that human nature was plastic and flexible
• His Triadic Reciprocal Causation Paradigm explains as to
how man is affected by the interaction of the environmental,
behavioral, & personal factors
• Features of Human Agency
- Intentionality refers to actions performed by the
person with full awareness of his behavior. This
involves planning with awareness of possible
consequences of actions
▪ Example: Kenneth went online to apply
for a passport because he wants to travel Source: R. Brocky, (nd.)
outside his country.
- Forethought refers to a person’s anticipation of likely outcomes of his behavior. This
allows for several actions which may lead to a positive outcome
▪ Kenneth chose an interview date for his passport application where most likely
he will be on-leave.
- Self-Reactiveness refers to a process in which the person is motivated and regulates his
behavior as he observes his progress in achieving his goals
▪ Example: Kenneth saves a larger portion of his salary in the bank so he can
have enough cash to travel to Japan.
- Self-Reflectiveness refers to a process of looking inward and evaluating ones
motivations, values, life goals, and other people’s effect on him/ her
▪ Example: Kenneth believes that he has to enjoy and experience life a little while
still able and capable.
▪ An important aspect of this feature is self-efficacy, in which the person believes
that he is capable of such a behavior
• Self-Regulation refers to the process of conscious personal management that involves
guiding one’s own thoughts, behaviors, and feelings to reach goals
- This allows the person to set goals that are better, and higher than before through
introspection
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V. THE SELF IN WESTERN AND EASTERN THOUGHT
In this lesson, we compare the difference between eastern and western perspectives of the self and how
it manifests in society.
• Through the process of introspection and reflection, a man decides to search for his
purpose in life and the role he plays in this world.
• A person who makes most of his life, going into the world with the life he chooses, making
decisions, acting upon these choices and taking full responsibilities of the consequences is
called an individualistic self.
• The individualistic self
- Is aware that he is not alone and exists with others.
- Sees himself as capable of living his own life, doing things he loves, making mistakes and
learning from it.
- Is aware of his rights and limitations of his freedom.
- Sets goals ang works hard to achieve them.
- Independence and self-reliance form development of the self in Western cultures.
▪ Ex. moving out at the age of 18
- Are expected to have the ability to stand alone
• The collective self
Emphasizes the cultures of the East is focuses with the collective self of individuals.
- Is where the identity of the individual is lost and does not exist except as a part of the
group.
- Establishes strong familial bonds bound by customs, traditions, and beliefs of a group.
This means that family and society has a major impact on how individuals act and
behave in society.
- Group members depend on each other.
- In such cases, individual freedoms may be sacrificed for the benefit of the group
- Examples of issues decided by the group are gender roles, marriage, practices and
patriarchy.
- In society, collectivism fosters nationalistic attitude as what the group believes.
• In contemporary society, both individualistic and collective self may exist in an individual
resulting from influences and intermarriages between people of the East and the West.
• The Self in Western Thought
- Plays a central role in almost all perspectives of intellectual inquiry.
- Has been an area of interest by the French and English philosophers.
- Is an entity whose proof of existence is most challenging by Greek philosophies of
Socrates and Plato.
- Descartes emphasized that the self exists regardless of his environment, and that the
cognitive basis of a person’s thoughts are proof of the existence of the self
- Kant on the other hand emphasized that Self is capable of actions that entities it to have
rights as an autonomous agent. This then inspired the recognition of human rights as
important in the expression of individual freedom.
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- The west introduced the concept of the ecological self, which sees the self as a process
that is undergoing development, wherein different factors such as race, gender, social
status, education, & culture affect self-development.
▪ This means that the self is seen as dynamic, different, and unique and is
constantly exposed to an ever-changing world
• The Self in Confucian Thought
• Confucius – the name for which Kong Zhongi of China was known in the West.
- Confucius was born in Zhou dynasty period in 551 BCE in small state of Lu.
- Grew up poor even though he descended from a scholarly family
- Zhou dynasty was characterized by political, social and moral disintegration in China.
- Through scholarly study, Confucius came to be known as ‘Master Kong’ and as ‘Great
Sage and Teacher’ (Koller, 2007).
• Confucius’ philosophy came to be known as humanistic social philosophy.
- This emphasizes man in society he finds himself in.
• According to Confucius, society and communities serves as the main source of values of
both human beings and society in general.
- “that although the way of humans is grounded in the way of heaven and operates in
harmony with the way of nature, it is to the ideals of the human way that people must
turn for guidance in reforming and renewing society.” - Confucius
• The philosophical concept of Confucianism is centered on ren which can be understood as
human goodness.
- This human goodness, is what supposedly separates man from animal, according to
Confucius
- Involves thinking and feeling which serves as the foundation of human relationships
- Emphasizes Chinese culture’s perspective that feelings, or the heart is the more
important than the head, or that of thinking
- Confucius never gave a specific definition for ren, but believed that it is simply a
reflection of a person’s own understanding of humanity
- Going against ren means abandoning what is truly human
• Confucius believed that ren can only be realized through
- Li (propriety – state or quality conforming to conventionally accepted standards of
behavior or morals)
▪ Self-mastery involves self-development.
▪ Self-mastery is characterized by self-control and the will to redirect impulses
and change socially accepted expressions of human nature.
▪ Li conforms to the norms of humanity.
▪ Confucius believes that everyone has duties and responsibilities hence five
relationships. 1. Father and Son, 2. Ruler and Subject, 3. Older and Younger
Brother, 4. Husband and Wife, 5. Friend and Friend (These acts and rituals
whether, religious or cultural highlight the social and public character of
human action )
- Xiao (filiality – relation, or attitude of a child to a parent)
▪ According to Confucius, this is the virtue of reverence and respect for the
family
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20
▪ Parents should be revered for the life they had given.
▪ Children show respect to their parents by exerting efforts to take care of
themselves. (ex. exerting effort to be healthy)
▪ Reverence for parents and family is further demonstrated by bringing honor to
the family, making something of himself to earn the respect of others.
▪ If the person is having difficulty giving his family honor, he should do his best
not to disgrace the family.
▪ Relationship that exist in the family reflect how the person relates to others.
▪ Family is the reflection of a person.
▪ How the person interacts socially, and values acted upon can be traced back to
his family environment which forms the bases of the person’s moral and social
virtue.
▪
- Yi (Rightness – The Right way of behaving)
▪ Unconditional and absolute.
▪ Right is right and what is not right is wrong.
▪ There are no gray areas.
▪ Actions must be done because they are the right actions. (Ex. obedience to
parents which is expected from children because it is morally right and
obligated to do so.)
- In summary, Li, Xiao and Yi are virtues observed in a person whose humanity is
developed, morally cultivated and aware. According to Confucianism, virtuous people
result in a well-rounded, civilized, humane society.
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REFERENCES
Business Jargons (n.d.) Socio-Psychological Theory. [Digital Illustration]. Retrieved July 24, 2020 from
https://businessjargons.com/socio-psychological-theory.html
Brockey, R. (n.d.) What is Social Cognitive Theory? [Digital Illustration]. Retrieved July 26, 2020 from
https://ryanbrockey.wordpress.com/edst-610-travel-journal-table-of-contents-and-main-page/edst-
610-travel-journal-what-is-social-cognitive-theory/
Porillo, J. E., Gazzingan, L. B., Guillen, L.A., Woolsey, N. G. B., Hermogenes, M. C., Estoperez, G. P.,. . . .
Castillo, V. M. (2018) Understanding The Self. Muntinlupa City: Panday-Lahi Publishing House, Inc. (ISBN
978-621-8094-12-3)
Jose,M. dL.. & Ong, J. A. (2016) Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences, Quezon City: Vibal Group, Inc.
(ISBN 978-971-07-3741-3)
Hergenhan, B. R., & Henley, T. B. (2014) An Introduction to the History of Psychology (7th ed.). Pasig:
Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd.
LumenCandela (n.d.) Psychodynamic Perspectives on Personality Retrieved July 23, 2020 from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/psychodynamic-perspectives-on-
personality/
Miller, B. [Brook Miller]. (2015) Introduction to Sociology: George Herbert Mead: The I and the Me.
[Video file]. Retrieved July 23, 2020 from, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A2GIct0UnQ
Thayer, H.S., Rosenthal, S. B. (2017) Pragmatism. Retrieved July 24, 2020 from,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/pragmatism-philosophy
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