UNDERSTANDING THE SELF ● Development of the mind
PHILOSOPHY ● Division of the mind:
Socrates ○ Id – body pleasures, animal’s only instinct
● Highest form of wisdom/thinking ○ Ego – result of the battle of id and
● All existed as (omniscient) souls before being superego
humans ○ Superego – demands moral standard
○ Problems started to arise once assumed
human form Gilbert Ryle
○ Knew everything before being humans ● Contradict Rene’s concept
● Socratic Method (continuously ask questions to ● Mind is part of the body
remind yourself of the things you knew before) ● Behavior is the reflection of the mind
Plato Maurice Ponty
● Made everything published based on Socrates ● Self is the product of human experience
(reinforcement of Socrates) ● We manifest what we want
● Body & Soul (replica of one’s self; soul never dies) ● Similar to John Locke’s concept
● Contemplation / Metacognition talk to self)
● Dichotomy of ideal world and material world Paul Churchland
○ World of forms (Material World) - ● Neurological explanation of the mind and body
changing ○ Scientific explanation
○ Ideal World - unchanging ● Based on the stimuli that we receive
St. Augustine SELF-CONCEPT
● Did not believe in God at first ● Defined as the totality of a complex, organized, and
● We’re consumed by our material self dynamic system of learned beliefs, attitudes and
● Material world is a temporary world opinions that each person hold to be true about his
● Real world is where God is or her personal existence
● “life being aware of itself”
Rene Descartes ● Different from self-esteem or self-report
● Cogito Ergo Sum / “I think, therefore I am” ○ Self-esteem – feelings of personal worth
○ Product of our own thinking and level of satisfaction regarding one’s
○ We only exist because we think we exist self
● Mind and body are different ○ Self-report – what a person is willing and
○ Body: confined in a specific structure able to disclose
○ Mind: free to process thoughts ● Image of who you are; total picture of who you are
or how you see your whole self; how you perceive
John Locke the different parts of yourself that combine to form
● Our identity is not locked in the mind, soul or body a total picture.
only, a person's memory is part of the definition of ○ Psychological self
the self ○ Physical self
● Focused on the person’s memory ○ Spiritual self
○ Same as the person in the past ○ Social self
○ We simultaneously live in the present and ○ Intellectual self
the past. ● Knowing how others see you.
● Through feedback from the process of
David Hume communicating with other people, you acquire a
The mind is composed of impressions sense of how others feel about you.
(perceptions; not created) & ideas (created) ○ As a result, you get to see the big picture of
Permanent / true self doesn’t exist who you are.
o Changing world ● Constantly modifying your sense of self
o We can never fix ourselves ● We are always interacting/communicating with
other people, we therefore always learn more
Immanuel Kant about ourselves.
● We became who we are because we are free agents ● Made up of two components:
○ Nobody is trying control you. 1. Self-image – literally a picture of who you are;
● Free reasoning / free will describes you.
a. Achieved roles – roles that you work to
accomplish or to achieve (e.g. professor,
honor student, etc.)
b. Ascribed roles – roles that you are born
Sigmund Freud into (e.g. son, brother, sister, daughter)
2. Self-esteem – how you evaluate yourself in
those roles
- Process of self-evaluation; how
you feel about each of those roles.
- Affected by how others evaluate
your performance in a particular
role
● Intrapersonal communication processes depend
upon communicators:
1. Frame of reference
2. Creativity
3. Self-talk
4. Risk-taking behavior
PERSONALITY TYPES
Four Temperaments
1. Sanguine Personality Type -tend to be lively,
optimistic, buoyant and carefree
o Marketing
o Travel
o Fashion
o Cooking
o Sports
2. Phlegmatic Personality Type – usually a people
person
o Nursing
o Teaching
o Psychology or counseling
o Child development
o Social services
3. Choleric Personality Type – usually a goal-
oriented person
o Management
o Technology
o Statistics
o Engineering
o Programming
o Business
4. Melancholic Personality Type – love traditions
o Management
o Accounting
o Social work
o Administration
