University of Cebu-Main
Subject Name: Psych 101
Subject Descriptive Title: Understanding the self
Lesson 1: The self from the perspective from the various Philosophers
Welcome to Lesson 1!
In this module, you will have preview of the self from various perspectives of different
philosophers.
At the end of this module, you should be able to:
Know the different perspective of self, express, demonstrate & care better your unique
self.
It is nice to know what people think of us. We sometimes pretend to be somebody
to be accepted. However, Aristotle said, “Knowing oneself is the beginning of wisdom".
Now, are you knowledgeable enough to identify yourself? Or are you still waiting for
other people’s opinions?
This video will help you identify important information in knowing one’s self.
1. Watch Self Awareness video
[Link]
Self is a complex idea we thought we can easily handle. However, there are
certain points in our life that we have to look deeper to fully understand our own self.
So, what is self? How important is self awareness?
SELF is the totality of the individual, consisting of all characteristics, attributes,
conscious and unconscious, mental and physical. Apart from its basic reference to
personal identity, being, and experience. According to William James, self can refer
either to the person as the target of appraisal or to the person as the source of agency.
Elements of self
Physical or Physiological revolves around the physical body of a human being,
its processes, functions, mechanisms, and chemistry- from the cells as the smallest
units, the tissues these cells create when united, the organs these tissues give shape to,
to the organ systems that pretty much are responsible to keeping us alive, walking,
talking, breathing. This dimension is responsible for giving us the ability to move our
muscles, to perceive our surroundings, and to think of the ideas and opinions that bring
wonders to our lives and of others.
Mind/ Cognitive or Heart/ Affective comes with psychological dimension which
contains the concepts of stress, cognition, behavior, attitude, emotion, and ultimately,
personality. As compared to the physical dimension which could be observed directly
and be measured, the psychological dimension has both internal and external that can
or cannot be measured, observed, and calculated.
Social dimension is how we perceive ourselves in relation to others. You might
interact with others. All of those moments, and how you feel about yourselves during
that interaction, make up your social self.
Spiritual dimension allows you to view yourselves on a spiritual level-as spiritual
being. This dimension cannot be measured or observed but can be subjectively altered
and perceived by the person. It holds relevance to a perceived existence of God, of a
greater good, or a Superior Being related to the humble individual.
Each one has its own distinct physique, character, emotion, and spiritual belief.
These three things that make up the unique self: Characteristics, Habits, and
Experiences. Characteristics are unique features or qualities typically describing you
as an adolescent. Habits are your special unique tendencies, activities, or practices that
you find yourself having difficulty to let go of or give up. Experiences are your significant
experiences that contributed to your unique self and created an impact in your life and
changed you.
Getting to know oneself is important. It will help us deal with our problems and
the people around us. The Johari window is one of the techniques used to help know
oneself. The Johari window was created by psychologists Joseph Luft (1916–2014)
and Harrington Ingham (1916–1995) in 1955, and is used primarily in self-help groups
and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.
About Johari Window
[Link]
"Achieving one's potential requires understanding ourselves, accepting our strengths
and weaknesses, and being aware of the development tasks and challenges that
accompany our development.
The Philosophical view of self
1. Socrates – Know Yourself
He considers man from the point of view of his inner life. The famous line of Socrates,
“Know yourself”, tells us each man bring his inner self to light.
Virtue- is the deepest and most basic propensity of man.
2. Plato - The Ideal Self, Perfect Self
According to him, man was omniscient or all-knowing before he came to be born into
this world.
3. Immanuel Kant- Respect for Self
Man is the only creature who governs and directs himself and his actions, who sets up
ends for himself and his purpose, and who freely order means for the attainment of his
aims.
Respect others as you would respect yourself.
4. Rene Descartes- I think, therefore I am.
His famous principle was “Cogito ergo sum” which means, “I think therefore I am”.
-Man must use his own mind and thinking abilities to investigate, analyze, experiment,
and develop himself.
5. John Locke: Personal identity
He holds that personal identity (the self) is a matter of psychological continuity. For him,
personal identity is founded on consciousness (memory) and not on the substance of
either the soul or body. – past *nature & nurture
6. David Hume – The Self is the Bundle Theory of Mind
For Him, man has no clear and “intelligible” idea of the self. He posits that no single
impression of the self exists; rather, the self is just the thing which all perceptions of a
man is prescribed.
Thus, Hume asserts that we call the “self” is really just “a bundle or collection of
different perceptions which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity.
The Christian or Biblical View of Self
The Holy Bible
Genesis 1:24-28
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the
livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each
according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their
kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the
ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may
rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild
animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth
and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living
creature that moves on the ground.”
According to the Holy Writ, man, following his redemption by the Savior from eternal
bondage , now shares in the infinite merits of his Redeemer, and has become not only
the inheritor of the new earth but also the heir of heavenly kingdom. Thus, it is
appropriate to think of the “self” as the multi-bejeweled crown of creation- the many
gems thereof representing and radiating the glorious facets of man’s self that include
the physical, intellectual, moral, religious, social, political, economic, sentient,
aesthetic, sensual, and sexual aspects
7. St. Augustine: Love and Justice as the Foundation of the Individual Self
-Dynamism of Love
Loving God means loving one’s fellowmen; and loving one’s fellowmen denotes never
doing any harm to another one, or as the golden principle of justice states, doing unto
others as you would have them do unto you.
