Understanding the Self

CHAPTER 2 : The Self as a Social Construct

According to Clifford Geertz

“Culture is not just an ornament of human existence but the principal
basis of its specificity- as essential condition for it.”

Notes:
- Knowing the self requires understanding our society and its culture
- It is quite impossible to ultimately know the self without comprehending
the culture of our society.
- The self, as a social being, is influenced by his culture.
- We mirror the values, traditions and beliefs that our society holds dear.
- “Ded na si Lolo” – depicts how a grieving family is faced with the many
superstitious beliefs and traditions, and their influence in the family’s
decisions as they prepare for the interment of their dead love one.

Edward B. Taylor
Founder of cultural anthropology, classically defined culture as “that
complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, customs,
and any other capabilities and habits required by a human as a member of
society.”
- Anthropology and Sociology, though considered as distinct disciplines,
are very much related if not intertwined

Anthropology
- Inclusive study of the human race, its cultures and society, and its
physical development.
- Understanding man in light of its cultural context
- Dealing with the origin of humanity
- Shares in the academic discussion of what society is and its cultural
development.
- It understands cultures, the dynamic and evolving socially constructed
reality that exists in the minds of social group members

Notes:
- The physical development of man is significant in humanity’s self-
understanding
- Cultural progress is understood from humanity’s physical development
 - Man created culture on his own, altered it, and will always have the
power to change it as he deems it fit.
- Culture: is as dynamic as how humanity would want it to be.

Sociology
- The scientific study of human life, social groups, whole societies and the
human world whose subject matter is our own behavior as social beings
in relationship with many other people. (Giddens, A. & Sutton P.W)
- Digs into understanding the self in reference to the behavior of the
society.

Culture
- Meeting point of anthropology and sociology in our self-understanding,
digging deep into how we see ourselves
- Almost everything that we see, and hold dear around us, is part of our
culture.
- As a sociological concept, culture is made up of all the ideas, beliefs,
behaviors, and products common to, and defining a group’s way of life
(Stolley)
- Sets the norms of our people.
- It was introduced to us the very moment we were born.
- Has become an integral and an inescapable part of our humanity
- Immediate family- where we learn the “ought and ought nots”
- The very big part of who we are is a product of how culture was
instilled in the very depths of our selfhood
- Culture is dynamic, it changes from time to time
- The fluidity of culture can be ascribed to man’s distinct ability to
create, transform, and re-create culture itself.
- The significance of culture in our self-understanding and awareness is
vital since we have been brought up with it- the traditions and customs
of our family, the laws we need to obey, and even the different art forms
that our society regards so dearly.
- Culture affects perception
- Culture is a significant factor in the continuity of a society.
- It is what distinguishes a communal group from another
- It develops the behavioral foundations of the social self.
- The self is clearly linked to his or her culture.
Norms
- Cultural standards of our community
- Are what dictates our behavior in the society
- The acceptability of an act, the approval and the disapproval
- Dependent on social standards which are the product of our people’s
commitment to uphold the very essence of our cultural values.
Notes:
 - All human beings have their particular culture. Thus, the self from a
social and anthropological perspective, cannot be dichotomized from his
culture.
- Material and non-material culture: two components that are essential in
understanding how the self is influenced by it.

Material Culture
- Consists of human technology- all the things that people make and use.
- This is the physical manifestation of culture itself
- The goods we buy, the products we us.
- The evolution of material culture can be attributed to the technological
advances that humanity was able to make
- It drastically changed particularly in the globalized world.
- Cultural exchanges also paved the way for the alteration of material
culture.
- Changes overtime

Non-material culture (Ferrante)

- Inclusive of the intangible human creations that include beliefs, values,
norms and symbols
- May or may not change depending on the influence of outside factors in
the society, and the changes that societal values go through.
- It shape our perspective of the society, of ourselves, and even of the
material world.
- Could also manifest in the material culture of people.

Notes:
- On December 6, 2017, the Australian parliament finally passed the law
legalizing same-sex marriage in their country. Prime Minister Malcolm
Turnbull said “This is Australia: fair, diverse, loving and filled with
respect for everyone”
- Material and non-material values are both creations of man. They
significantly and critically affect how we see the self as part of the social
context.

George Herbert Mead

- He studied the interesting link between the behavior of man, and the
emergence of the self as part of the society.
- He expounded that an individual explains his actions through the lens of
his society
- Social structure: social order
 - The individual sees himself as the focus of everything
- The emergence of the self becomes evident as the individual goes
through the preparatory, play, and game stages.
- Game stage: the individual considers a group of people before he acts,
invoking the rules of the games he is playing
- Generalized other: those individuals who are most important in the
development of the self ( prominent people around him )
- Macro-level: the self then becomes aware at this stage of the cultural
values, norms, traditions, and beliefs, acting in consideration of
everything that the society holds dear.

Geertz
- Elucidated that culture should not be seen as a complex behavioral
pattern but as a set of control mechanisms- engineered programs in
directing human behavior.
- Describing man as an unfinished animal, always dependent on
structures to control his behavior.
- He believed that it is thus necessary for him to look governed by rules to
guide him in making sure his actions will make him a better member of
the society.
- Unfinished animal: highlights age-old assumption
- Human thought is both social and public

Notes:
- Laws of the land: most comprehensive rules by which man is expected
to abide
- our laws are reflections of our beliefs, traditions, and values
- Self-construction is a form of cultural activity
- As Triandis said, this individualism and collectivism syndrome could be
the most noteworthy difference among cultures.
- Markus and Kitayama: explain that construals of the self, of others, and
of the relationship between the self and the people around him may be
even more powerful than previously suggested. Their influence is clearly
reflected in cultural differences.

Individualistic societies/ Individualism

- The self is a separate entity in the community who decides on his own
logic
- The self here concentrates on self-actualization not minding the
expectations of the social group where the self is part of.
- Marcel Mauss explained that the western world views man as
disengaged from the social matrix

Collectivism
 - Interdependent view of the self
- A person sees himself as an integral part of the communal group
- His view of the self then is not separate from the values that his family
holds dear.

Notes:
- Ferrante explains that culture serves as the blueprint that guides, in
some cases, even determines the behavior of the nation as a whole, and
in the micro-level, affects the perspective, and decisions of man for
himself.

- Globalization, as a product of the modern world, has then affected the

way we view the self.
- Gergen believes that “technologies of social saturation” has become a
vital in the transformation of the social world, ultimately giving a make-
over of the social self.
- Digital technologies: forced us to confront the vast array of our cultural
traditions, challenging our own belief systems and values, and exposing
the strengths and weaknesses of our own worldviews
- Technology has allowed us to do things unimaginable before.

Generation Z / Self(ie) Generation

- Not considered as a passive user of culture
- Become culture creators
- Born between 1995 and 2010

Confucius
- Supreme Sage and the founding father of Chinese civilization
- His influence in teachings and philosophies have been infused
particularly in East Asian countries like Japan, and South Korea
- At the heart of Confucianism is a system of social and ethical philosophy
rather than a religion, built on an ancient religious foundation to
establish the social values, institutions and transcendent ideals of
traditional Chinese society
- Symbiosis of selfhood and otherness is the Confucian concept of the self
as a dynamic process of spiritual development
- Confucianism is a social philosophy, delineating the very core of human
relationships, with the end goal of spiritual growth.
- According to Confucius, as we ritualize and perfect human
relationships, we in turn develop spiritually

Summary notes:
- The self as a social construct integrates man as a member and a product
of society
- The self is embedded in the culture which he himself created, and is able
to generate, alter and restore for his own purpose
- Culture is an indispensable part of the self