GEC 01: UNDERTANDING THE SELF

Module 01: The Self from Various Philosophical Perspectives

Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson the students will be able to:
1. Explain why it is essential to understand the self:
2. Describe and discuss the different notions of the self from various point-of-view of the
various philosophers across time and space.
3. Compare and contrast how the self has been represented in different philosophical
schools; and
4. Examine oneself against the different views of self that were discussed in class.

The concept of the self has been explored by many philosophers across history, each
offering unique perspectives influenced by their time, culture, and philosophical approach. This
module also explores how different thinkers conceptualized what it means to be a "self"—our
identity, consciousness, and existence.

1. SOCRATES
 The first philosopher who questioned about the self and knowing oneself is the
true task of a philosopher.
 Believes that every human person is Dualistic- every man is composed of body
and soul.
 Socrates believed that the essence of being human is found in the soul, not in
physical attributes. The soul, for him, is the seat of reason, morality, and
identity. He advocated for self-examination, arguing that an unexamined life is
not worth living. Through dialogue (Socratic Method), he encouraged people to
reflect inwardly to find truth and virtue. The soul is immortal, and its
development should be the focus of life.
 “An Unexamined Life is not Worth Living”
 Most men were not fully aware of who they were and the virtues that they were
supposed to attain to preserve their souls for the afterlife. Socrates taught that
the self is the soul, which must be constantly examined and improved through
reason and virtue. Living without reflection is living without true purpose.
2. PLATO
 Plato is Socrates’s student who supported his master’s idea that the man is
dual nature of body and soul.
 Body – material, mortal, subject to desires and distractions.
 Soul – immaterial, immortal, the true essence of a person.
 Three components of the soul: The rational soul - forged by reason and
intellect, the Spirited soul - in charge of emotions, and the Appetitive soul
which oversees the base desires.
 Rational Soul – seeks truth and wisdom; governs the whole soul using
reason.
 Spirited Soul – source of courage and willpower; supports the rational part.
 Appetitive Soul – desires physical pleasures, food, money, etc.
 The soul is virtuous when: Rational rules, Spirited supports reason,
Appetitive is controlled. According to him, the human person’s soul becomes
virtuous and just when the ideal state is attained. Plato saw the self as the
soul, composed of three parts. A just and virtuous person achieves inner
harmony by allowing reason to govern their emotions and desires. The soul,
not the body, defines one’s identity.
3. St. AUGUSTINE
 Augustine’s view of the human person reflects the entire spirit of the medieval
world when it comes to man.
 Augustine was deeply influenced by Plato’s dualism and Christian theology. He
agreed that the human person is made up of body and soul but emphasized the
soul's relationship with God. He agreed that man is a bifurcated nature meaning
the body is bound to die and the soul is to anticipate living eternally in a realm of
spiritual bliss in communion with God.
 The true self is the soul, and it is spiritual, immortal, and capable of reason and
will. The purpose of the self is to seek truth, goodness, and ultimately, 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.
 The soul is weakened by original sin, making humans prone to error and
selfishness.
 Through divine grace and self-reflection, the soul can return to God and achieve
eternal peace. Self-awareness and inner experience are central to knowing God
and oneself.
4. St. THOMAS AQUINAS
 Aquinas synthesized Aristotle’s philosophy with Christian theology. He adapted
some ideas from Aristotle and Aquinas said that indeed, man is composed of
two parts namely: Matter and Form.
 Matter- or hyle in Greek, refers to the “common stuff that make up everything in
the universe”
 Form- or morphe in Greek, refers to the “essence of a substance or a thing “. To
him, just as Aristotle, the soul animates the body; it is what makes us humans.
 St. Thomas Aquinas viewed the self as a composite of body and soul, where
the soul is the essential form that gives life and meaning to the body. He
emphasized the unity of the human person and the soul’s rational, immortal
nature aimed toward truth, goodness, and God.
5. RENE DESCARTES
 He is the father of modern philosophy, conceived of the human person as
having a body and a mind. Descartes initiated a shift from traditional, faith-
based views to rational and scientific thinking. He emphasized doubt and
reason as the foundation of knowledge.
 He claims that there is so much that we need to doubt. He doubted everything
that could possibly be doubted—including his senses, body, and the external
world.
 But one thing was certain: the act of doubting proves the existence of the self as
a thinking being. Hence: “I think, therefore I am” (Cogito, ergo sum).
 For Descartes, the true self is the mind, not the body. The body can be doubted,
but the mind (self-awareness, thought) cannot.
 In his view, the body is nothing else but a machine that is attached to the mind.
 The self for him is a combination of two distinct entities, the cogito, the thing that
thinks, which is the mind, and the extenza or extension of the mind, which is the
body.
6. DAVID HUME
 Hume was a leading figure in empiricism, the view that all knowledge comes
from sense experience. He rejected the idea of a permanent, unchanging self.
 Hume argued that we never observe a "self" directly—only a stream of changing
experiences: Thoughts, emotions, sensations, and memories constantly arise
 and pass. Thus, the self is not a single, unified entity, but a bundle or collection
of perceptions in constant flux.
 The self is nothing else but a bundle of impressions. For Hume, when tries to
examine his experiences, he finds that they can be categorized into two:
Impressions and Ideas.
 Impressions – vivid, immediate experiences (e.g., seeing, feeling).
 Ideas – faint copies of impressions in memory or imagination.
 David Hume claimed that the self is not a fixed entity but merely a bundle of
constantly changing perceptions. There is no underlying “I”—only a series of
experiences that we falsely group together as a self.
7. IMMANUEL KANT
 Kant recognizes the veracity of Hume’s account that everything starts with
perception and sensations of impressions.
 Kant agreed with Hume that knowledge begins with experience. However, he
argued that experience alone is not enough to understand the self. He
introduced a "transcendental" view: the self is necessary to organize and make
sense of experiences which means the self is related to a spiritual or
nonphysical realm.
 Two components of the self: Inner self - the self by which you are aware of the
alterations in your own state. Outer self - It includes your senses and the
physical world.
 Proposed that the human mind creates the structure of the human experience.
 We cannot perceive the self directly, but it is the precondition for any unified and
meaningful experience. The self is not a substance, but a function of
consciousness. Kant believed that the self is not directly experienced but is
known through its activity. It is the “transcendental unity of apperception” — the
self that organizes all thoughts and perceptions into a unified consciousness.
We do not see the self; we see the world through it.
8. GILBERT RYLE
 Ryle strongly rejected Descartes’ mind-body dualism. He called Descartes’ idea
of the mind as a separate inner entity the “ghost in the machine.” This phrase
criticized the belief that the mind exists apart from the physical body.
 According to Ryle, the self is not an invisible, inner substance or soul. Instead,
the self is what a person does — it is expressed through observable behavior,
actions, habits, and choices. For Ryle, what truly matters is the behavior that a
person manifests in his day-to-day life.
 The self is not something hidden inside, waiting to be discovered. It is a way of
acting in the world, shaped by context, habits, and social interactions.
 Gilbert Ryle argued that the self is not a separate inner substance, but rather a
collection of behaviors. What we call the self is simply how we think, speak, and
act—there is no hidden “ghost” inside the machine.
 He suggests that the self is not an entity one can locate and analyze but simply
the convenient name that people use to refer to all the behaviors that people
make.
9. MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
 Merleau-Ponty rejected Cartesian dualism, which separates the mind and body.
He argued that the self is neither purely mental nor purely physical—it is a
unified, lived body (corps vécu).
 Unlike previous thinkers who viewed the body as a thing owned by the mind,
Merleau-Ponty saw the body as the very subject of experience. We live through
our body, not merely in it or with it.
  He says that the mind and body are so intertwined that they cannot be
separated with each other. The living body, his thoughts, emotions, and
experiences are all one.
 Maurice Merleau-Ponty viewed the self as an embodied being—inseparable
from the body and the world. The mind and body are one, working together
through lived experience. The self is not hidden inside, but revealed through
action, perception, and interaction with the world.
Module 02: Sociological Perspective and Anthropological Perspective of the Self

SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: The Self as a Product of the Society

“Not only is the self-entwined in the society; it owes its society in the most literal sense.”
- Theodor Adoma

Sociologist are concerned with questions about the person in the community. Sociology
posits that socially formed norms beliefs, and values come to exist within the person to a
degree where these become normal and natural, thus developing the person’s self-identity.
 SOCIALIZATION
- Socialization is the whole lifetime process by which people learn the values,
attitudes and behaviors that are appropriate and expected by their culture and
community.
- The process of socialization helps shape a person’s image.
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
 George Herbert Mead was a sociologist from the 1800s. He is well known for his
“theory of the Social Self”. Mead’s work focused on how the self is developed. His
theory is based on the perspective that the self is a product of social interactions and
internalizing the external views along with one personal view about oneself… self is not
present at birth, it developed overtime through social experiences and activities.
 Mead developed a concept that proposed different stages of self-development. These
stages are language, play, and game.
 Language sets the stage for the self-development. Through shared understanding of
symbols, gestures, and sound, language gives the individual the capacity to express
himself or herself while at the same time comprehending what the other people are
conveying.
 Play - individuals role-play or assume the perspectives of others. Role playing enables
the person to internalize some other people’s perspectives; hence, he or she develops
an understanding of how the other people feel about themselves and about others too
in a variety of situations.
 Game - is the level where the individual not only internalize the other people’s
perspectives, he or she is able to consider societal rules and adheres to it.
 Mead further proposed two interactive facets of the self “I” and “me”
 Me - is the product of what the person has learned while interacting with others and the
environment. Learned behaviors, attitudes, and even expectations compromise the
“me”. The “me” exercises social control over the self. It sees to it that rules are not
broken.
 I - is the part of the self that is unsocialized and spontaneous. It is the individual’s
response to the community’s attitude toward the person. The “I” presents impulses and
drives. It enables him or her to express individualism and creativity. The “I” does not
blindly follow rules. It understands when to possibly bend or stretch the rules that
governs social interactions. It constructs a response based on what has been learned
by the “me”.

 MODERNIZATION
 - Modernization has significantly changed society, and this has affected how an
individual builds and develops his or her self-identity. Modernization refers to a
model of a progressive transition from a pre-modern or transitional to a modern
society.
- Modernization – however, has improved people’s living conditions a person in the
modern society is free to choose where to live, what to do, and who to be with.
However, stability has also decreased as transitions and traditional support
systems, such as the family, have decreased in importance. In modern societies,
individualism is dominant, and developing one’s self-identity is central.

Key characteristics of Modernity

According to Giddens (1991), the most patent, major characteristics of modernity are:
1. Industrialism – the social relations implied in the extensive use of material power and
machinery in all processes of production
2. Capitalism – a production system involving both competitive product markets and
commodification (putting a price tag) of labor power. Evil effects: social inequality
3. Institutions of Surveillance – the massive increase of power and reach by institutions
especially in the government, resulting in power politics and economic competition
4. Dynamism – the most evident characteristic of a modern society. Dynamism is
characterized as having vigorous activity and progress. Effect: Proliferation of computer
products and emerging new lifestyles leading to a modern society that is consumer
society – consumerism.
Sociologist George Simmel expressed that people create social networks by joining social
groups.
SOCIAL NETWORK
- refers to the ties or connections that link you to your social group
SOCIAL GROUP
- is described as having two or more people interacting with one another, sharing
similar characteristics, and whose member identity themselves as part of the group.
Social group is either organic or rational.
Organic group is naturally occurring, and it is highly influenced by our family. This is usually
formed in traditional societies because there is a little diversity in these communities. Simmel
stated that you join these groups because your family is also a part of it, in the first place. It is
called organic motivation.
Rational groups occur in modern societies. Modern societies are made up of different people
coming from different places. Rational groups are performed as a matter of shared interest:
moreover, people join these groups out of their own free will. Simmel called this rational
motivation.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF

“Indeed, much of self is learned by making new memories out of old ones”
- Joseph E. Ledoux
Anthropology is the study of people, past, and present. It focuses on understanding the
human constitution in its cultural aspect. In a general series. It is concerned with understanding
how humans executed and how they differ from one another.
 Neuroscientist Joseph Ledoux conceptualized the implicit and explicit aspects of the
self that you are consciously aware of is the explicit self while the one that is not
immediately available to the consciousness is the implicit aspect. The concept can be
traced to the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud levels off consciousness.
 According to LeDoux (2002) the self is not static; it is added to and subtracted from by
genetic maturation, learning, forgetting, stress, aging, and disease. This is true of both
the implicit and the explicit aspects of the self.
 Self as Representation
 Ewing asserted that a “self” is illusory. People construct a series of self-representations
that are based on selected cultural concepts of person and selected “chains” of
personal memories.
 According to Ewing, people from all cultures have been observed to be able to rapidly
project different self-representations, depending on the context of the situation. The
person is unaware of these shifts; however, he/she still experience wholeness and
continuity despite these shifts.
The self-embedded in culture
 How individuals see themselves, how they relate to other people, and how they relate
to the environment are deeply defined by culture.
 Cultural Anthropologist argued that the self is culturally shaped and infinitely variable.
“Cultural traditions and social practices regulate, express, and transform the human
psyche, resulting less in psychic unity for humankind than in ethnic divergencies in
mind, self, and emotion.
 Cultural Psychologist distinguished two ways of how the self is constructed These are
the independent and interdependent constructs. These self-construal’s are also
embedded in culture. Construal is an interpretation of the meaning of something;
hence. in this sense, the meaning of the self.
 The independent construct is characteristics of individualistic culture, such as North
America and Europe.
 Interdependent construct is typical of the collectivist culture in East Asia stressing the
essential connection between the individual to other people.
 Developmental Psychologist Catherine Raeff (2010) believed that culture can influence
how you view: Relationship, Personality traits, achievement, and expressing emotions.
 Relationships - culture influences how you enter relationships.
 Personality Traits - culture influences whether (and how) you value traits like humility,
self-esteem, politeness, assertiveness, and soon, as well as how you perceive
hardships or how you feel about relying on others.
 Achievement - culture influences how you define success and whether you value
certain types of individual and group achievements.
 Expressing emotions - culture influences what will affect you emotionally, as well as
how you express yourself, such as showing your feelings in public or keeping it private.
 The self, as a social being is influenced by his culture, but in the process, man created
culture on his own, altered it. And will always have the power to change it as he deems
it fit.
Two components of culture
1. Material culture – consists of human technology, all the things that people make and
use.
2. Non-material culture – defined as inclusive of the intangible human creations
(beliefs, values norms and symbols), which help shapes our perspective of society, of
ourselves, and even on the material world.

Individualistic Vs Collective Self

◦ Cross-cultural values have become an important part of organizational life caused by
globalization and an increasingly multicultural workforce. Organizational behavior
researchers have studied several cross-cultural values, but none has as much attention
as the two measured in a self-assessment.
◦ The self-assessment estimates your level of individualism and collectivism. At one time,
experts thought that these two cross-cultural values were opposites.
◦ Individualism refers to the extent that you value independence and personal
uniqueness. Highly individualist people value personal freedom, self-sufficiency, control
 over their own lives, and appreciation of their unique qualities that distinguish them
from others.
◦ Collectivism refers to the extent that we value our duty to groups to which we belong
and to group harmony. Highly collectivist people define themselves by their group
membership and value harmonious relationship within those groups.
◦ Culture plays a very significant role in the development of the self-concept. It embodies
the specific values, thoughts, or ideas that play a central role in determining a person’s
sense of “self”. The two dominant self-concepts are the Individualistic Self and the
Collective Self.
Individualistic Self
◦ Individualistic cultures emphasize the moral worth of the individual. Individuals
encourage asserting one’s goals and desires; they highly value independence and self-
reliance.
◦ They insist that the interests of the individual should take precedence over the state or
a social group. They also strongly oppose external interference by society or
institutions upon one’s own interest.
Collective Self
◦ A study conducted by Patricia Licunan, a Filipino psychologist and educator,
determined that one of the strengths of the Filipino character is our deep love and
concern for the family, which includes not simply the spouses and children, parents,
and siblings, but also grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, godparents, and all other
ceremonial relatives. To Filipino, one’s family is the source of personal identity, the
source of emotional and material support, and the person’s main commitment and all
responsibility.

MODULE 03: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF

The Self as a Cognitive Construction

 Psychology is the scientific study of how people behave, think, and feel. It includes
topics on how the brain works, how our memory is organized, how people interact in
groups, and how children learn about the world. In Psychology, the sense of self is
defined as the way a person thinks about and views his or her traits, beliefs, and
purpose within the world.
Carl Roger’s Personality Development and the Self-concept
 Rogers based his theories of personality development on humanistic psychology and
theories of subjective experience. According to him, all behavior is motivated by self-
actualizing tendencies and these tendencies drive you to reach your full potential. He
believes that the world a person exists in is in the center of constant changes, and the
person reacts to these changes.
 As a result of these constant interaction of the environment and others, an individual
forms a structure of the self or self-concept. Self-concept is an organized, fluid,
conceptual pattern of concepts and values related to the self.
Ideal self vs. Real Self
 Ideal Self - the person you would like yourself to be. It is your concept of the “best me”
who is worthy of admiration.
 Real Self - is the person you actually are. It is how you behave right at the moment of a
situation. It is who you are in reality.
The Importance of Alignment
 Rogers accentuated the need to achieve consistency between the ideal self and the
real self.
 When your real self and your ideal self are very similar, you experience congruence.
High congruence leads to a greater sense of self-worth and a healthy productive life.
  When there is a great inconsistency between your ideal self and your real self or if the
way you are not aligned with what you want to be, then you experience incongruence
that could lead to maladjustment. Which means the inability to react successfully and
satisfactorily to the demands of one’s environment.

SIGMUND FREUD
 Freud believed that the self is shaped by unconscious forces, particularly conflicts
between our instincts and societal rules. Sigmund Freud's theory of self, or personality,
proposes that the human psyche is composed of three interacting parts: the id, ego,
and superego. These components develop at different stages and influence our
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
 The id - is the most primitive part, driven by instincts and the pleasure principle.
 The superego - represents internalized societal norms and morality.
 The ego - operating on the reality principle, mediates between the id's desires and the
superego's constraints, helping us navigate the real world.
 Freud maintained that the self is a multiplicity of forces, and that other people are
inherently a part of understanding one's self. He proposed that the "self" is comprised
of three fundamental components: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id represents
the most primitive aspect of the self. When Freud refers to the "self," he critically
implies that this has something to do with the ego; this is the part of the self that is
affected by the external world as the self which we experience every day. The
superego is the ethical wage that we internalize, often through education or parental
admonitions. In trying to bring some focus to the mess of drives that the id represents,
the ego will seek pleasure and avoid unpleasure. However, it is the ego's job to filter
these requests and, the ego does this primarily in reality; the ego attempts to satisfy the
desires of the id in a rational way. For example, if our id impulses tell us we are hungry,
the ego will help us find some food, thereby satisfying the id. We also find ways to avert
the id impulses, when and how to express them, as the ego operates on a conscious
level. When we are thirsty, we do not just run to the sink and start slurping down water
with our hands.
ERIK ERIKSON’S
 Erik Erikson's perspective on the self centers on psychosocial development, a lifelong
process where individuals navigate eight stages, each marked by a unique conflict that
shapes their sense of identity and personality.
 He proposed eight stages, each marked by a unique psychosocial crisis that individuals
must resolve to develop a healthy sense of self and navigate future challenges. These
stages involve a conflict between two opposing forces, and successfully resolving these
crises leads to the development of basic virtues and a strong sense of identity.

1. Infancy (0-18 months): Trust vs. Mistrust

Conflict: Infants rely on caregivers for basic needs. Developing trust in caregivers is crucial for
a sense of security and optimism. If needs are not met, mistrust can develop, leading to
anxiety and insecurity.
Virtue: Hope.
2. Toddlerhood (18 months-3 years): Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Conflict: Toddlers strive for independence and self-control. Successful navigation leads to
autonomy, while excessive control or criticism can result in shame and doubt.
Virtue: Will.
3. Preschool (3-5 years): Initiative vs. Guilt
Conflict: Preschoolers explore their environment and take initiative. If this is encouraged, they
develop initiative; otherwise, guilt and fear of punishment can arise.
Virtue: Purpose.
4. Early School Years (6-11 years): Industry vs. Inferiority
Conflict: Children develop a sense of accomplishment and competence through school and
social interactions. Success leads to industry, while failure can result in feelings of inferiority.
Virtue: Competence.
5. Adolescence (12-18 years): Identity vs. Role Confusion
Conflict: Adolescents explore their identity, roles, and beliefs. Successfully navigating this
stage leads to a strong sense of self, while confusion can result in role confusion.
Virtue: Fidelity.
6. Young Adulthood (18-40 years): Intimacy vs. Isolation
Conflict: Young adults focus on forming intimate relationships. Success leads to intimacy and
commitment, while failure can result in isolation and loneliness.
Virtue: Love.
7. Middle Adulthood (40-65 years): Generativity vs. Stagnation
Conflict: Individuals focus on contributing to society and future generations. Successful
navigation leads to generativity, while stagnation can result in feeling unproductive.
Virtue: Care.
8. Late Adulthood (65 years to death): Integrity vs. Despair
Conflict: Individuals reflect on their lives and accomplishments. Successful reflection leads to
integrity and acceptance, while despair can result from regrets and unfulfilled goals.
Virtue: Wisdom

ALBERT BANDURA
 Albert Bandura's concept of self centers on self-efficacy, which is the belief in one's
ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task. This belief significantly
impacts how individuals approach goals, tasks, and challenges. Bandura's social
cognitive theory emphasizes that self-efficacy, developed through observational
learning and social experience, plays a crucial role in shaping behavior and
cognitive processes.
 Self-efficacy, a concept introduced by psychologist Albert Bandura, refers to an
individual’s belief in their capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce
specific performance outcomes. It’s the confidence in one’s ability to influence
events and control over one’s environment.
 Bandura's self-efficacy theory posits that individuals' perceptions of their
competencies influence their motivation, ambition, and outcome expectations.
People with high self-efficacy are more likely to view difficult tasks as challenges to
be mastered rather than threats to be avoided.
 Those with low self-efficacy may dwell on deficiencies and magnify potential
difficulties, leading to stress and impaired performance.
 Conversely, individuals with high self-efficacy focus their attention and effort on the
task demands, seeing obstacles as challenges that spur greater effort.
 Furthermore, self-efficacy plays a role in self-regulation, determining how much
effort is expended, how long someone perseveres in the face of difficulties, and
their resilience to setbacks.
People with strong self-efficacy tend to:
 Embrace difficult tasks as opportunities to learn.
 Recover quickly from setbacks.
 Attribute failure to insufficient effort or poor strategy (things they can change).
 Have lower stress and are less likely to develop depression.
People with low self-efficacy tend to:
 Avoid challenging tasks or give up easily.
 Focus on weaknesses and negative outcomes.
 Believe failures are due to lack of ability (a fixed trait).
 Experience higher stress and are more vulnerable to depression.