— ig BACHELOR OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY Understanding the Self (GE 101) Module CHAPTER I Defining the self: personal and developmental perspectives on self and identity Lesson 1: The Self from Various Philosophical Perspectives At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. explain why it is essential to understand the self, 2. describe and discuss the different notions of the self from the points of view of the various philosophers across time and place, 3. compare and contrast how to self has been represented in different philosophical schools; and 4, examine one’s self against the different views of self that were discussed in class. Growing up, we were told to refer back to this name when talking about ourselv. parents painstakingly thought about our names. Should we be name after famous celebrit respected politician or historical personality, or even saint? Were you named after one? Our name represent who We are. It not has been a custom to just randomly pick a combination of letters and number (or even punctuation marks) like 2hik756!! to donate our being, Human. beings attach names that are meaningful to birthed progenies because names are supposed to designate us in the world. Thus, some people get baptized with names such as “precious,” “beauty”, or “lovely”. Likewise, when our parents call our names, we were taught to respond to them because our names represent who we are. As a student, we are told to always right our names on our paper, project or any output for that matter. Our names signify us. Death cannot even stop this bond between the person and her name, Names are inscribed even into one’s gravestone. A name is not the person itself no matter how intimately bound it is with the bearer. Itis only a signifier. A person who Was named after a saint most probably will not become an actual saint, He may not even turn out to be saintly! The self is thought to be something else than the name, The self is something that a person perennially molds, shapes, and develops. ‘The self is not a static thing that one is simply bom with like mole on one’s face or is just assigned by one’s parents just like a name. Everyone is tasked to discover one’s self. Have you truly discovered yours?CHAPTER I: Lesson | ee Ouse TT BEMESTER: [actniry > Do you truly know yourself? Articulate observations on yourself. Follow the instructions very carefull Precisely as_you can. Ho do people describe you? ena aquesep saad nok op mop ‘rom the rest? What makes "yoursel special? | | 1. Were you able to answer the questions above with ease? Why or why not? 2. Can one truly know the self? Do you really know yourself?‘The history of philosophy is complete with men and women who inquired into the fundamental nature of the self. The Greeks were the ones who seriously questioned myths and moved away from them in attempting to understand reality and respond to Perennial questions of curiosity, including the question of the self. Let’s leam the different perspectives and views on the self that ean be seen and understood by... revisiting its prime movers and identify the most important conjectures. m Philosophers from the ancient times to the contemporary period. Every man is composed of body and soul * Every human person is dualistic, composed of two aspects of his/her Socrates personhood. ‘© Allindividuals have an imperfect, impermanent aspect while ‘maintaining that there is also a soul that is perfect and permanent. ‘© Socrates's student, who supported the idea of Socrates that man is a dual nature of body and soul. ‘+ He added the Three components of the soul (1) Rational soul- forged by reason and intellect has to govern the affairs of the human person (2) Spirited Soul- in charge of emotions should be kept at bay, Plato (3) Appetitive soul- in charge of base desires like eating, drinking, sleeping, and having sex are controlled as well © Inhis magnum opus, “The republic” (Plato 2000) he emphasizes that Justice in the human person can only be attained if the three parts of the soul are working harmoniously with one another. ‘© When this ideal state is attained, then the human person’s soul becomes. just and virtuous ‘+ His view of human person reflects the entire sprit of the medieval world when it comes to man, ¢ He agreed that man is of bifurcated nature. An aspect of man dwells in the world and is imperfect and continuously yearns to be with the Divine and the other is capable of reaching immortality + The body is bound to die on earth and the soul is to anticipate living eternally in a realm of spiritual bliss in communion with God. The goal of every human person is to attain this communion and bliss with the Divine by living his life on earth in virtue. Augustine * Adopted some ideas of Aristotle, man is composed of two parts: Matter and form. ‘+ Matter or hyle, refers to the common stuff that makes up everything in the universe. Man’s body is part ofthis matter. ‘Thomas Aquinas ‘¢ Form or morphe, refers to the essence of a substance or thing, The bosy of a human person is something that he/she shares even with animals. ‘* What makes us different from other is because of Essence. To Aquinas, just as in Aristotle, the soul is what animates the body; it is what makes us humans.Rene Descartes David Hume Immanuel Kant Githert Ryle Merleau-Ponty Father of Modem Philosophy. According to him, the only thing that one cannot doubt is the existence of the self, for even if one doubts oneself, that only proves that there is a doubting self a thing that thinks and therefore, that cannot be doubted Cogito ergo sum, “I think therefore, I am”. The fact that one thinks should lead one to conclude without a trace of doubt that he exists. Self is also a combination of two distinct entities, (1) Cogito, the thing that thinks, whih is the mind (2) Extenza or extension of the mind, which is the body. The body is nothing else but a machine that attached to the mind An empiricist who believes that one can know only what comes from the senses and experiences The self is not an entity over and beyond physical body The self is nothing else but a bundle of impressions(basic objects of our ‘experience or sensation). Ideas (copies of impressions) According to Hume, Self is simply a bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and movement. In reality, what one thinks is a unified self is simply a combination of all experiences with a particular person. Thinking of the “self” is a mere combination of impressions was problematic. ‘There is necessarily a mind that organizes the impressions that men get from external world (Aparatus mind). Self is not just what gives one his personality, it is also a seat of Knowledge acquisition for all human persons. Self is the behaviour that a person manifest in his day-to-day life. Self is not an entity one can locate and analyse but simply the convenient name that people use to refer to all the behaviors that people make, ‘The mind and body are so intertwined that they cannot be separated from ‘one another. One cannot find any experience that is not an embodied experience. All experienced is embodied. One's body is his opening toward his existence to the worlds. ‘The living body, his thoughts, emotions, and experiences are all one.CHAPTER I: Lesson | NAME: COURSE/YEAR: DATE: SEMESTER: Choose only 3 among the nine Philosophers that we have discussed and in your own words, explain how your concept of self is compatible with how they conceived of the “self”.Lesson 2: The Self , Society, and Culture At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. explain the relationship between and among the self, society, and culture; 2. describe and discuss the different ways by which society and culture shape the self, 3. compare and contrast how the self can be influenced by the different institutions in the socie and 4. examine one’s self against the different views of self that were discussed in the class. Across time and history, the self has been debated, discussed, and fruitfully or otherwise conceptualize by different thinkers in philosophy. Eventually, with the advent of the social sciences, it ‘became possible for new ways and paradigms to reexamine the true nature of the self. People put a halt ‘on speculative debates on the relationship between the body and soul, eventually renamed body and the ‘mind. Thinkers just eventually got tired of focusing long standing debate since sixth century BC between the relationships of these two components of the human person. Given the new ways of knowing and the growth of the social sciences, it become possible for new approaches to the examination of the self to come to the fore. One of the Loci, if not the most important axis of analysis is the relationship between the self and the extemal world.CHAPTER I: Lesson 2 NAME: COURSE/YEAR: DATE: SEMESTER: [ERE > ay nn i Paste « picture of you when you were in elementary, in high school, now that you are in college. Below the picture, list down your salient characteristics that you remember. eros ey 1. Are there some similarities in different stages? What are these? 2. Ifyou have given a chance to change something from yourself what is it? And did you choose it?WHAT IS THE SELF? The self, in contemporary literature and even common sense, is commonly defined by the following characteristics: “separate, self-contained, independent, consistent, unitary, andl private.” (Stevens 1996), SELF SEPARATE: it is mean that the self is distinet from other selves, The self is always ‘unique and has its own identity SELF-CONTAINED & INDEPENDENT. Its distinctness allows it to be self-contained with its ‘own thoughts, characteristics, and volition, It does not require any other self for it to exist. SELF CONSISTENT. if it has personality that is enduring and therefore can be expected to persist for quite some time. It's consistency allows it to be studied, described, and measured, Consistency also means that a particular selfs traits, characteristics, tendencies, and potentialities are more or less the same, Social constructivist argues that the self should rnot be seen as a static entity that stays constant through and through, Rather, the self should not be seen as a static entity that stays constant through and through. Rather, the self has to be seen as something that is unceasing flu, in a constant with external reality and is malleable in its dealings with society. ‘The self is capable of morphing and fitting itself into any circumstances it finds itself in. THE ELF AND CULTURE Every self has two faces: personne and moi. ‘Moi refers to a person's sense of who he is, his, body and his basic identity, his biological givenness, It isa person’s basic identity Personne- on the other hand, is composed of the social concepts of what it means to be who he is. It has much to do with what it means to live in particular institution, a particular family, a articular religion, a particular nationality, and how to behave given expectations and influences from others -Mareel Mauss, French AnthropologistLanguage is another interesting aspect of this social constructivism. We have notice how language has something 10 do with culture. It Is salient part of culture and ultimately, has a tremendous effect. in our crafting of the self. This Might also be one of the reasons why. cultural divide spells out differences in how one regards onesell. For example, the way by which we articulate our Love is denoted by the phrase, “Mahal Kita”. This, of course, is the Filipino translation of “I love you”. Interesting in the word, ‘mahal. In Filipino, the word can mean both “love” — and “expensive”. In our languages, love is intimately bound with value, with being expensive, being precious. Something expensive is valuable. Someone whom we love is valuable to us. 2? ? e928 THE SELF AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL WORLD More than his givenness (personality, tendencies, and propensities, among others), one is believed to be in ‘active participation in the shaping of the self. Most often, we think the human persons are just passive actors in the whole process of the shaping of selves. That men and women are bom with particularities that they can no longer change. 4 The way that human persons develop is with the use of language acquisition and interaction with others. The way that we process information is nomally a form of an intemal dialogue in our head. (Dilemmas; “Should I do this or that?”/ “Don’t I want the other option?”) And so cognitive and emotional development of a child is always a mimicry of how it is done in the social world, in the external reality here he is in. Both Vgotsky and Mead treat the human mind as something that is made, constituted through Janguage as experienced in the extemal world and as encountered in dialogs with others. -Mead and Vgosky 4 Ittakes place as a child assumes the “other” through language and role-play. A child conceptualizes his notion of “self” through this, It is through this that a child delineates the “I” from the rest. -Mead 4A child intemalizes real-life dialogs that he has had with others, with his family, his primary caregiver, or his playmates. They apply this to their mental and practical problems along with the social and cultural infusions brought about by the said dialogs. -Vgotsky -PasntiySELF IN FAMILLE In the relationship between the self and the social world, the sociological likewise struggled to understand the real connection between the two concepts. In doing so, sociologists focus on the different institutions and powers at play in the society. Among these, the most prominent is the FAMILY. ‘ ‘The impact of one’s family is still deemed a given in understanding the self, the kind of family that we are bom in, the resources available to us (human, spiritual, economic), and the kind of development that we will have certainly affect us as we go through life, Human beings are bom helpless and the dependency period of a human baby to its parents for nurturing is relatively longer than most other animals. Human persons leam the ways of living and therefore their selthood 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, Without a family, biologically and sociologically, a person may not even survive or become a human person. Let's have Tarzan as an example, In more ways than one, the survival of Tarzan in the midst of the forest is already a miracle. His being fully human person with a sense of selfhood is different story though. ENDER AND THE SELF Gender is one of those loci of the self that is subject to alteration, change, and development. We have seen in the past years how people fought hard for the right to express. Validate, and assert their gender expression. Many conservatives may frown upon this and insist on the biological. However, from the point- of view of the social sciences and the self, it is important to give the leeway to find, express, and live his identity. This forms part of selfhood that one cannot just dismiss Our gender partly determines how we see ourselves in the world. Oftentimes our society forces a particular identity unto us depending on our sex and/or gender (Patriarchy, Matriarchy and the LGBT Community). The gendered self is then shaped within a particular context of time and space, The sense of self that is being taught makes sure that an individual fits in @ particular environment. This is dangerous and detrimental in the goal of truly finding one’s self, self- determination, and growth of the self. Gender has to be personally discovered and asserted and not dictated by culture and the society.CHAPTER I: Lesson 2 __COURSE/YEAR: __ =e SEMESTER: Answer the following questions cogently but honestly. Write your answers in the space pro Fe A a a ae 2. What are the influences of your family and gender in your development as an individual? : ae See STN a ae aaa ener seem ae mane 3.Are you happy with your self at this moment? Why or why not? and ‘What aspects of yourself do you think may be changed or you would like to change? Sama SE “ce “oe | Jaume Jn your paper, list ten qualities or things that you think define who you are ‘round the human figure representing you in the first column, in the second column ask your parents/ member in the family and in the last column as ‘your lassmate{choose only one) forthe ten qualities on how they see you. *etans: ‘The Self as Cognitive Construct ‘At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. identify the different ideas in psychology about “self”; 2. create your own definition of the “self” based on the definitions from psychology; and 3. analyze the effects of various factors identified in psychology in the formation of the self As discussed in the previous lessons, every field of study. at least in the social sciences. have their own research, definition, and conceptualization of self and identify. Some are similar some are specific only their field. Each field also has thousands of research on self and identify as well as related or synonymous terms. The trend of the lessons also seems to define the concept of the “self” from a larger context down to individual. However it must be pointed out that modem. researchers acknowledge the contributions of each field and this is not some sort of a nature vs. nurture, society/culture vs. individual/brain, and other social sciences vs. psychology debate Psychology may focus on the individuaV/brain, and other possible factors that affect the individual. For students who take up psychology, discussions on theories, and development, among others actually take at least one semester and there are still more to be leamed about concept of “self” ‘This lesson provides an overview of the themes of psychology regarding the said concept.CHAPTER I: Lesson 3 NAME: — COURSE/YEAR: _ DATE: Eee seis _ activity > “YOU” Through Others’ Eyes From the given assignment, write down below the qualities that that you felt you were your “true self” and create a one stanza poem . Write your answers in the given banner below, Compare what you wrote about yourself to thase written by yout parent and classmate. 1. What aspects are similar and which are not? 2. What aspects are always true to you? What aspects do you think are not really part of your personality?“LAM WHO IAM” A lot of people usually say this one. Yet, this statement still begs the question “if you are ‘who you are, then who are you that makes you who you are? SELF is the sense of personal identity and of who we ate as individuals. According to William James self-have two aspects the “I” and “me”. “I” is the thinking, acting, and feeling self. The “me” on the other hand, is the physical characteristics as well as psychological capabilities that makes who you are. Carl Rogers captured this idea in his concept of se- Other concepts similar to schema oF Our organized system or collection of If are. identity and sll knowledge about who we are, Imagine an organized °O"eept. dentty i composed of aie Geataloa: personal characteristics, social f roles, and_ responsibilities, as well as affiliations that define ‘who one is. Sell concept is what basically comes to your mind when you asked about who you are Self Identity, and self- concept ate not fixed in one time frame, (Think about water. It can take any shape of container, but at its core, it is still the same element.) list or a diagram simit ‘The schema is not limited to the example above. It may also include your interest, work, course, age, name and physical characteristics, among others, As you grow and adapt to the changes around you, they also change, But they are not passive receivers, they actively shape and affect how you see, think, and feel about things.Several psychologist, especially during the field's earlier development, followed this trend of thought, looking deeper into the mind of the person to theorize about the self, identity, self-concept, and in turn, one’s personality. Freud saw the self, its mental processes, and one’s behaviour as the results of the interaction between the Id, the Ego, and the Superego However, as mentioned earlier, one 2 cannot fully discount the effects of PERSONALITY = *20city rs: pa niparie, society and culture on the formation of the self, identity, and self-concept, Even : = rote as Freud and other theories and researchers try to understand the person poe Mscrrmenes. | acamnorene by digging deeper into the mind, they irepie p cannot fully discount the huge and important effects of the environment. As in the abovementioned definitions of the elonce self, social interaction always has a part bere mn to play in who we think we are. This not nature vs. nurture but instead @ nature and nurture perspectives. Under the theory of symbolic 78 vtnesaerionmme™ anata interactionism, the self is created and developed through human interaction, Basically, there are three reasons why self and identity are social products 1. We do not create ourselves out of nothing, Society helped in creating the foundations of who we ate even if we make our choices, we will still operate in our social and historical contexts in one way or the other. \ 2. Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need others to affirms and reinforce who we think we are. We also need them as reference points about our identity. One interesting example is the social media interactions we have. 3. What we think is important to us may also have been influenced by what is important in our social or historical context. Education might be an important thing to your self- concept because you grew up in a family that valued education Social Interaction and group affiliation, therefore, are vital factors in creating ‘our self-concept especially in the aspect of providing us with our social identity or our perception of who we are based on our membership to certain groups. It is also inevitable that we can have several social identities, that those identities can overlap, and that we can have several social identities, that those identities can overlap, and that we automatically play the roles as we interact with our groups.There are times, however, when we are aware of our self-concepts; this is also called self-awareness. There were two types of self that we can be aware of: (1) the private self or your intemal standards and private thoughts and feelings, and (2) the public self or your public image commonly geared toward having a good presentation of yourself to others (Hogg & Vaughan 2010) Self-awareness also presents us with at least three other self-schema: © “ACTUAL” self is who you are at the ‘moment. © “IDEAL” self is who you like to be. © SOUGHT" self is who you think you should be Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and our next ‘course of action, Self-awareness can be too much that we are concemed about being observed and. criticized by others, also known as Self-consciousness. Our group identity and self- awareness also has a great impact on our self-esteem, one of the common concepts associated with the self “self”. It is defined as our own positive or negative perception or evaluation of our selves. Social comparison also entails The rd ne social shat. is called. self-evaluation ‘comparison is the more common type of comparing ourselves with others. As the name implies, we acreate a positive self- concept by comparing ourselves with those who are worse off than us. One of the ways in which our social relationship affects our self-esteem is through social comparison. According to the social comparison theory, we lear about ourselves, the appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our social status by comparing aspects of ourselves with other people. maintenance theory, which states that we can feel threatened when someone out-performs us, especially when that person is close to us. However, in attempt to inerease or maintain self-esteem, some people become narcissistic. Narcissism is a “trait” characterized by overly high self-esteem, self administration, and self centeredness”. They are often charismatic because of how they take care of their image. People with high self-esteem are commonly described as ouigoing, adventurous, and adaptable in a lot of situations. They also initiate activities and building relationship with people. However, they may also dismiss other activities that do not conform to their self-concept or boost their self-esteem. They may also be bullies and experiment on abusive behaviors with drugs, aleohol, and sex.CHAPTER I: Lesson 3 COURSE/YEAR: SEMESTER: __ Do a research and list five (5) things to boost your self-esteem or improve your self-concept, Cite your sources. Analyze which of those tips are more likely to backfire and make someone ‘conceited or narcissistic and revise them to make the statements both helpful to the individual as well as society in generalLesson 4: The Self in Western and Eastern Thoughts At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. differentiate the concept of selfaccording to Westem thought against Eastem/Orienta perspectives; explain the concept of self as found in Asian thoughts, and 3. create a presentation of the Filipino self. an Different cultures and varying environment tend to create different perceptions of the “self and one of the most common distinctions between cultures and people is the Eastem vs Westem dichotomy wher Eastem represents Asia and Western represents Europe and Northem America. It must be understood that this distinction and the countries included was politically colored at the same time that aforementioned concepts were accepted and used in the social sciences. Furthermore, it must be reiterated that while countries who are geographically closer to each other may share commonalities, there are also a lot of factors that create differences. In the Philippines alone, each region may have a similar or varying perception regarding the “self”CHAPTER I: Lesson 4 NAME: ___ COURSE/YEAR: DATE: _ SEMESTER: [RETR 1+esiss sane rina ‘Write top five (5) differences between Western and Eastem society, culture, and individuals in the table below. Western Eastern 1.Do you agree with the differentiation between the West and the East? 2:Where can you find the Philippines in the distinction? 3. What are the factors that make the Philippines similar or different from its Asian neighbors?In this lesson, we will look at religious beliefs and political philosophies that greaily influence the mindset of each nation or culture. Since almost all the theories about the self, which were discussed in the previous lessons, also came from the Westen scientific research, we will highlight the easter thoughts inthis lesson Confucianism can be seen as a code of ethical conduct, of how one should properly act according to their relationship with other people; thus, its also focused on having a harmonious social life. Therefore, the identity and self-concept of the individual are interwoven with the identity and status of his/her community or culture, sharing its pride as well as its failures. Self-cultivation is seen as the ultimate purpose of life but the characteristics of a chun-fau, a man of virtue or noble character, is still ‘embedded in his social relationship. The cultivated self in Confucianism is what some scholars call a “subdued self” wherein personal needs are repressed (subdued) for the good of many, making Confucian society also hierarchal for the purpose of maintaining order and balance in society. Taoism is living in the way of the Tao or universe. However, Taoism rejects having one definition of what the Tao is, and one can only state clues of what it is as they adopt a free-flowing, relative, unitary, as well as paradoxical view of almost everything Taoism rejects the hierarchy and strictness brought by Confucianism and would prefer a simple lifestyle and its teachings thus aim to describe how to attain that life. The self is not an extension of the family or the community; itis part of the universe, one of the forms and manifestations of the Tao, ‘The ideal self is selflessness but this is not forgetting about the self, it is living a balanced life with society and nature, being open and accepting to change, forgetting about prejudices and egocentric idea and thinking about equality as well as complementarity among humans as well as other beings. In this way, you will be able to act spontaneously because you will not be restricted by some legalistic standards but because you are in harmony with everything, WESTERN The self is seen as an illusion, born out of ignorance, of trying to hold and control things, or human-centered needs; thus, the self is also the source of all these sufferings. It i, therefore, our quest to forget about the self, forget the cravings of the self, break the attachments you have with the world, and to renounce the self ‘which is the cause of all suffering and in doing so, attain the state of Nirvana,‘Wester perspective does not discount the *<» role of environment and society in the -< gon formation of the self but the focus is ee always looking toward the self. You a (Sh ante compare yourself in order to be better; you amie, ) (Genz FINNS ‘reate associations and bask in the glory Decca puesta eye of that group for your self-esteem; you put primacy in developing yourself, ‘One can describe that Western thought looks at the world in dualities wherein you are distinct from the other person, the creator is separate from the object he created, in which the self is distinguished and acknowledged. On the other hand, the Eastern perspective sees the other person as part of yourself as well as the things you may create, a drama in which everyone is interconnected with their specific roles. Westemers also emphasize more on the value of equality even if they sce that the individual can rise above everything else Because everyone is on their own in the competition, one can say that they also promote ideals that create “fair” competition and protect the individual. Asians, with their collectivistic culture, put ‘more emphasis on hierarchy as the culture wants to keep things in harmony and order. The Westem Culture is what we would call an individualistic culture since their focus is on the person, Asian culture, on the other hand, is called a collectivistic culture as the group and social relations With the social media, migration, and intermarriages, variety that is given more between the Westem and Asian perceptions may either be blurred or highlighted. Whereas conflict is investable in diversity, peace is also possible through the understanding of where each of us is eoming from importance than individual needs and wantsCHAPTER I: Lesson 4 ‘NAME: ____ COURSE/YEAR: DATE: __ SEMESTER: Create a representation, diagram, or concept map of the SELF according to Filipino culture Provide a brief explanation of your output. You can also cite books and researchers about Filipino Culture, self and identity 10 further elaborate onthe topic. Write your answer on a bond paper.