UNDERSTANDING THE SELF  The soul is the self and is divided into

three:
THE PHILOSOPHICAL SELF
 Rational Soul (reasoning)
Philosophy o Located in the head
o Enables the person to think ,
- From the Greek word “philo” means reflect and analyze
love  Spiritual soul (feeling)
- “sophia” means knowledge and o Located in the chest
wisdom o Enables a person to experience
happiness, joy, sadness, anger,
 Philosophy requires the cultivation of a
and other emotional feelings
certain quality in a man: to wonder
 Appetitive soul
o Located in the abdomen
 Means “loving knowledge” or
o Drives the person to experience
“loving wisdom” means “the pursuit of
physical pain, hunger, thirst,
knowledge for its own sake”
and other physical wants
 When this is attained, the human
 Set of ideals, standards or beliefs
person’s soul becomes just and
used to describe behavior and thought
virtuous
 it investigates the legitimacy of Rene Descartes :I THINK THEREFORE I
concepts by rational argument concerning AM (Cotigo ergo sum)
their implications, relationships as well as
reality, knowledge, moral judgment etc.  The father of Modern Philosophy
 Descartes proposed that doubt was a
Socrates : KNOW YOUR SELF principal tool of disciplined inquiry.
 Hyperbolical / metaphysical doubt
 Concept of virtue and knowledge
 Methodological skepticism.
 Virtue – natural tendency to do
 It is a systematic process of being
something
skeptical about the truth of one’s
 Knowledge – facts, information,
beliefs to determine which beliefs
and skills acquired by a person
could be ascertained as true.
through experience or education
 Socratic method “What then am I? A thinking thing, that
 inquiry in testing an idea doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills,
 An idea was tested by asking refuses; that imagines also and
questions to determine underlying perceives.”
beliefs and the extent of knowledge
to guide the person toward better  A man must use his mind and
understanding thinking abilities to investigate,
analyze, experiment, and develop
“The unexamined life is not worth living” himself.
 The only thing one can’t doubt is the
 We all believe in truth, we know
existence of the self, for even if one
ourselves better then anyone else
doubts oneself, that only proves that
does
there is a doubting self, a thing that
Plato : THE IDEAL SELF, THE PERFECT thinks and therefore cannot be
SELF doubted

John Locke : TABULA RASA

 “self” to Include the memories of that regarding themselves as equal in
thinking thing. moral status to other persons
 Self consists of the sameness of  SELF is the seat of knowledge
consciousness. acquisition for all human person.
 It consists of memory, that the person  It is transcendal, which means the self
existing now is the same person is related to a spiritual or nonphysical
yesterday because s/he remembers realm.
the thoughts, experiences, or actions
“All persons are owed respect just because
of the earlier self.
they are persons, that is, free rational
 Defense of Accountability
beings”
 since the person is the same “self”
in the passing of time, s/he is can  Two kinds of consciousness of self
be held accountable for past (rationality)
behaviors.  Consciousness of oneself and one’s
 He insisted that a person could psychological states in inner sense,
only be held accountable for and
behaviors s/he can remember.  Consciousness of oneself and one’s
states by performing acts of
David Hume : THE SELF IS THE BUNDLE
apperception.
THEORY OF MIND
 Apperception
 He is one of the main figureheads of  is the mental process by which a
the influential Empiricism movement. person makes sense of an idea by
 Empiricism assimilating it to the body of ideas
 the idea that the origin of he or she already possesses.
knowledge is a sense of  Two Components of Self:
experience.  Inner self
 One can know SELF only through the o the self by which you are aware
senses and experiences of alterations in your own state
 SELF is nothing else but a bundle of  Outer self
expressions o Includes your sense and
 Impressions physical world
o experiences or sensations that
form the core of thought. Sigmund Freud : WISH FULFILMENTS IS
o These are the perceptions that THE ROAD TO THE UNCONSCIOUS
are most strong.  Psychoanalysis
 Ideas  a practice devised to treat those
o mechanisms that copy and who are mentally ill through
reproduce sense data dialogue.
formulated based upon the  Psyche
previously perceived  is the totality of the human mind,
impression. both conscious and unconscious.
 Three Levels of Consciousness
“SELF is simply a collection of all
 Conscious
experiences with a particular being”
o deals with the awareness of
Immanuel Kant : RESPECT FOR SELF present perceptions, feelings,
thoughts, memories, and
 Person have a duty to respect
fantasies at any particular
themselves, which consists in
moment.
  Pre-conscious/Subconscious  What truly matters is the behavior that
o related to the data that are a person manifests in his day-to-day
readily available to the life.
individuals conscious  The self is not an entity one can locate
awareness or scrutiny. and analyze but simply the convenient
 Unconscious name that people use to refer to all the
o data retained but not easily behaviors that people make.
available to the individual’s
Paul Churchland : MATERIALISTIC VIEW
conscious awareness or
scrutiny  Belief that nothing matters exists.
 If something can be seen, felt, heard,
touched, or tasted, then it exists.
 Psychoanalytic Theory  There is nothing beyond sensory
 personality theory based on the experience.
notion that an individual gets  Eliminative Materialism
motivated by unseen forces,  the claim that people’s common
controlled by the conscious and sense understanding of the mind is
rational thought. false
 Central to Freud’s psychoanalytic  certain classes of mental states
theory was the proposed existence of that most people believe in do not
the unconscious as: exist.
 A repository for traumatic  The sense of “self” originated from the
repressed memories; and brain itself
 The source of anxiety-provoking  a product of electrochemical
drives that is socially or ethically signals produced by the brain
unacceptable to the individual.
Thomas Aquinas : MATTER AND FORM
 Structure of the Mind
 Id- operated on the pleasure  Matter
principle.  the common stuff that makes up
 Ego- operates according to the everything in the universe.
reality principle  Forms
 Superego- it incorporates the  the essence of the substance of
values and morals of society. things.
o Conscience- if the ego gives in
to the id’s demands, the MAN= Matter + Form
superego may make a person  It is what makes it what it is.
feel bad through guilt.  What makes a human person a human
o Ideal self- is the imaginary person is his essence.
picture of how you ought to be.
St. Augustine : LOVE AND JUSTICE AS
Gilbert Ryle : BODY DICHOTOMY THE FOUNDATION OF THE SELF
 The mind does not exist and therefore  Man is divided into two parts:
can't be the seat of self.  Body
 self comes from behavior. o a part of man that dwells in the
 We're all just a bundle of behaviors world, and yearns to be divine
caused by the physical workings of the  Soul
body. o capable of reaching immorality
 The body is bound to die on earth and Immanuel Kant
the soul is to anticipate living eternally
- seat of knowledge acquisition for all
in communion with God.
human person.
- Transcendal, related to a spiritual or
nonphysical realm.

Sigmund Freud

- Has level of consciousness and

structure of mind

Gilbert Ryle

- The mind does not exist

- comes from behavior.
- not an entity one can locate and
analyze
- convenient name that people use to
refer to all the behaviors that people
SELF ACCORDING TO PHILOSOPHERS make.

Socrates Paul Churchland

- concept of virtue and knowledge - Nothing matters exists

- There is nothing beyond sensory
Plato
experience
- the soul is the self - Originated from the brain itself
- Rational soul, spiritual soul, and
Thomas Aquinas
appetitive soul
- Essence
Rene Descartes
St. Agustine
- doubting one’s selves proves that
there is a doubting self - Love and justice as the foundation of
self
John Locke

- memories of that thinking thing

- consists of the sameness of
consciousness.
- the person existing now is the same
person yesterday because of the
earlier self.
- held accountable for past behaviors
s/he can remember.

David Hume

- through the senses and experiences

- a bundle of expressions
- collection of all experiences with a
particular being
 as thinking, reasoning, or
remembering.

JEAN PIAGET: THEORY OF COGNITIVE

DEVELOPMENT

 a Swiss clinical psychologist known for

pioneering work in child development.
 “Theory of Cognitive
Development”
 a comprehensive theory about the
development of human
intelligence.
 Dealt with the nature of knowledge
itself; and how humans gradually
come to acquire, construct, and
use it.
 Cognitive development is at the center
of the human organism.
 In 1952, Piaget observed how children
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE processed and made sense of the
OF SELF world around them
 Developed a four-stage model of how
“The self thus becomes aware of itself, at
the mind processes new information
least in its practical action, and discovers
encountered.
itself as a cause among other causes and
as an object subject to the same laws as
other objects.”
BASIC COMPONENTS TO PIAGET’S
Jean Piaget- COGNITIVE THEORY

The self as a Cognitive Construction  Schemas/ Schemes

 these are the building blocks of
 Psychology
knowledge.
 scientific study of how people
 Schemes are the mental
behave, think, and feel.
organization that individuals use to
 It tells us how the brain works, how
understand their environments and
our memory is organized, how
designate action.
people interact in groups, and how
 Adaptation
children learn about the world.
 it involves the child’s learning
 From the basic workings of the human
processes to meet situational
brain to consciousness, memory,
demands.
reasoning and language, to personality
o Assimilation
and mental health, and everything
 application of previous
about the human experience
concepts to new
 Psychology will scrutinize it so you as a
concepts.
human being will understand how it is
o Accommodation
to be “you”.
 happens when people
 Cognitive
encounter completely
 relating to, being or involving
new information or when
conscious intellectual activity, such
 existing ideas are developmental changes observed
challenged. across early childhood, later childhood,
 Stages of Cognitive Development and adolescence could be interpreted
 reflect the increasing sophistication within a Piagetian framework.
of the child’s thought process.  Development of Self-Concept:
 Early Childhood
PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE
o the child describes the “self” in
DEVELOPMENT
terms of concrete, observable
 SENSORIMOTOR characteristics, such as physical
 0-2 years old attributes, material
 The children learn by doing: possessions, behaviors, and
looking, touching, sucking. preferences.
 The child also has a primitive  Middle to Later Childhood
understanding of cause-and-effect o the “self” is described in terms
relationships. of trait-like constructs that
 Object permanence appears would require the type of
around 9 months. hierarchical organizational skills
 PREOPERATIONAL characteristics of logical
 2-7 years old thought development.
 The child uses language and  Adolescence
symbols, including letters and o the emergence of more
numbers. abstract self-definitions such as
 Egocentrism is also evident. inner thoughts, emotions,
 Conservation marks the end of the attitudes, and motives.
preoperational stage and the  Emerging Adults
beginning of concrete operations. o having a vision of “possible
self”. It is the “age of
possibilities

WILLIAM JAMES: THE ME SELF; I SELF

 CONCRETE OPERATIONS
 7-11 years old  known as the “Father of American
 The child demonstrates Psychology”
conservation, reversibility, serial  His groundbreaking masterpiece:
ordering, and a mature  “The Principles of Psychology”,
understanding of cause-and-effect written in 1890.
relationships.  According to James (1950), the “self”
 Thinking at this stage is still has two elements: the I-self and the
concrete. Me-self.
 FORMAL OPERATIONS  I-self is the pure ego. It is the
 12+ years old subjective self. It is the “self” that is
 The individual demonstrates aware of its actions.
abstract thinking at this stage is  A sense of being the agent or
still concrete. initiator of behavior.
o I believe my actions have an
SUSAN HARTER: SELF DEVELOPMENT
impact; that I cause an effect in
 A psychologist, author and professor my environment.
who detailed the emergence of self-  A sense of being unique.
concept and asserted that the broad
 o This is how I am different from tendencies drive you to reach your full
everything in my environment; I potential.
perceive is only one Me.  He believes that the world a person
 A sense of continuity. exists in is the center of constant
o I am the same person from day changes, and the person reacts to
to day. these changes.
 A sense of awareness about being  Rogers further divided the “self” into
aware. two categories: the ideal self and the
o I understand what is going on in real self.
me and around me, and I know  The ideal self
I understand it.  the person that you would like
 Me-self is the self that is the object. It yourself to be; it is your concept of
is the “self” that you can describe, the “best me” who is worthy of
such as your physical characteristics, admiration.
personalities, social roles,  It is an idealized image of self that
relationships, thoughts, and feelings. the individual has developed based
 This is the empirical self. on what you have has learned and
 Material experienced.
o physical appearance and  The Ideal self could include:
extensions of its such as  Notions influenced by your parents
clothing, immediate. family,  What you admire in others
and home  What the society sees as
 Social acceptable
o social skills and significant  What do you think is in your best
interpersonal relationships. interest
 Spiritual  The real self
o personality, character, defining  the person you are. It is how you
values. behave right at the moment of a
situation.
CARL ROGERS: IDEAL SELF VS. REAL  It is who you are n reality- how you
SELF think, feel and act at present
 The Importance of Alignment
 American psychologist and among the
 Rogers accentuated the need to
founders of humanistic approach to
achieve consistency between the
psychology.
ideal self and the real self.
 Humanistic Psychology
 the individual’s innate drive toward “If the way that I am (the real self) is
self-actualization and the process aligned with the way that I want to be
of realizing and expressing one’s (the ideal self), then I will feel a sense
capabilities and creativity. of mental well-being or peace of
mind”.

 When there is a great inconsistency

 Actualizing Tendency
between your ideal self and real self or
 person’s basic instinct to succeed
if the way you are is not aligned with
at his or her highest possible
what you want to be, then you
capacity.
experience a state Rogers call
 All behavior is motivated by self-
incongruence, and this could lead to
actualizing tendencies and these
maladjustment.
 o the theater of consciousness
because it is the first to
GORDON ALLPORT: PERSONALITY
experience its beingness (the
THEORY
state or fact of existing).
 Psychologist Gordon Allport (1961) o It is closely tied to memory.
proposed his “personality trait” theory  Private Self-Conscious
 every person possesses “traits”. o the narrator or interpreter. It is
 A trait is the essential characteristic the self that narrates the
that never, ever changes and sticks unfolding events and at the
with you all your life. same time tries to make sense
 Traits shape who you are (how you of the experience.
think, feel, or behave) on any given  Public Self/Persona
day. o the image you project to the
public. This is the image that
ERIC BERNE: THE EGO STATES
interacts with others and will
 In 1960, psychiatrist Eric Berne began influence how others see you.
to develop his transactional analysis
D. W. WINNICOTT: TRUE VS. FALSE
model as a basis for understanding
SELVES
behavior.
 Transactional analysis is anchored
on two notions:
 “self” is simply “the person who is
 Every person has three parts called
me”.
“ego states” in his or her
 False self
personality.
 The product of early experience
 People communicate with one
 Defensive organization formed by
another assuming roles of any of
an infant because of inadequate
these ego states.
mothering or failures in empathy.
 The Ego States:
 Based on being completely
 Parent Ego State- the voice of
obedient to the parent’s wishes.
authority.
 False self is a mask or persona
 Adult Ego State- the rational
 A form of defense that constantly
person
seeks to anticipate other’s
 Child Ego State
demands and complying with them,
o Natural Child- who loves to play
as a way of protecting the true self
but is sensitive and vulnerable.
from a world that is felt to be
o Little Professor- curious child
unsafe.
who wants to try everything.
 True Self
o Adaptive Child- one who reacts
 Sense of self based on spontaneous
to the world. S/he could be
authentic experience.
trying to fit in or is rebelling
 Flourishes in infancy if the mother
against authority
is positively responsive to the
GREGG HENRIQUES: DOMAINS OF THE child’s spontaneous expressions.
SELF  Part of an infant that feels creative,
spontaneous, and real.
 Human self has three related, but  It has a sense of integrity and
separable domains. connected wholeness.
 Experiential Self
 True self is a sense of being alive
and real in one’s mind and body,
having feelings that are
spontaneous and unforced.
 This experience of aliveness is
what allows people to be genuinely
close to others and to be creative.