Understanding the Self

The Self from Various Perspectives: Philosophical View of Self

Lesson 1. Philosophical View of Self

“Who am I (Short film)”

- was awarded “First Place at the Prize of the Canadian Bureau for International Education Video Contest
2014.

- It was filmed at the University of Calgary, Canada.

- The short film depicts each student’s description of themselves.

Lesson 2. Philosophical View of the Self

Socrates: “Know Thyself”

- Socrates (c. 469 BC – 399 BC) was a classical Greek philosopher and is one the founders of Western
philosophy. He is known chiefly through the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays
of his contemporary Aristophanes. Socrates spent his days walking about the marketplace of Athens
urging people to question and examine how they were living.

- “Without this work on yourself, life is worthless”- Socrates

Plato: The Ideal Self, the Perfect Self

- Plato, through the words of Socrates, asserts that societies have a tripartite class structure
corresponding to the appetite, spirit, reason structure of the individual soul. The appetite, spirit, reason
stand for different parts of the body. The body parts symbolize the castes of society.

- “The Essence of knowledge is self-knowledge”- Plato

St. Augustine

- Augustine of Hipponesis was an early Christian theologian and philosopher who lived from
approximately 354 AD to 430 AD. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius, which is modern - day Algeria.
Having adapted Classical thought to create a powerful theological system and having helped lay the
foundation for much of medieval and modern Christian teaching, St. Augustine is perhaps the most
significant Christian thinker after St. Paul. He approaches the theme of humanity with particular tools
that include experience, reason, and language.

Thomas Aquinas

- Aquinas begins his theory of self – knowledge from the claim that all our self - knowledge is dependent
on our experience of the world around us. For Aquinas, we don’t encounter ourselves as isolated minds
or selves, but rather always as agents interacting with our environment.

- “We don’t encounter ourselves as isolated minds or selves, but rather always as agents interacting with
our environment.” – St. Thomas Aquinas

Rene Descartes

- René Descartes is often credited with being the “Father of Modern Philosophy.” This title is justified
due both to his break with the traditional Scholastic- Aristotelian philosophy prevalent at his time and to
his development and promotion of the new, mechanistic sciences Educated by Jesuits in traditional
Aristotelian philosophy (Skirry, 2020). He believed that the mind is the seat of our consciousness.
Because it houses our drives, intellect, and passions, it gives us our identity and our sense of self.

- “It is not enough to have a good talent; the main thing is applied it well.” – Rene Descartes

David Hume: The self is a bundle, Theory of Mind

- David Hume is Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist known especially for his
philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He created the Bundle Theory by 18th Century Theory in which
an object consists only of a collection (bundle) of properties. According to bundle theory, an object
consists of its properties and nothing more (Cranston, 2020). Hence, there can’t be an object without
properties, nor can one even conceive of such an object.

- “All knowledge degenerates into probability.” –David Hume

Immanuel Kant: Respect for Self

- Morality is about respect for persons. Kant wished to justify a conviction in physics as a body of
universal truth. The other being to insulate religion, especially a belief in immortality and free will. In
Kant’s thought there are two components of the self: 1. Inner self 2. Outer self.

- “Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind” –Immanuel Kant
John Locke: Personal Identity

- He considered personal identity or the self) to be founded on consciousness (viz. memory), and not on
the substance of either the soul or the body (World Heritage Encyclopedia, n.d.). According to him,
personal identity (the self) “depends on consciousness, not on substance” nor on the soul. Identify
involves ‘sameness at a time’ or ‘sameness over time’.

- “Personal identity depends on consciousness not on substance.” –John Locke

The Self from Various Perspectives: The Anthropological View

Lesson 1. The Self in Differing Cultural Context

Definition of Terms

1. Anthropology – “Anthropology is the science of humanity which studies human beings in aspects
ranging from the biology and evolutionary history of Homo sapiens to the features of society and culture
that decisively distinguish humans from other animal species.” (Rafferty, 2020))

2. Culture – “Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing
language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.” (Zimmermann, 2017)

3. Self – “The set of someone's characteristics, such as personality and ability, that are not physical and
make that person different from other people.” (Cambridge Dictionary, 2020)

4. Personality – “Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling

5. Responsibility – “Responsibility is also the obligation of an individual to perform the duty or task
assigned to him.” (Toppr, 2019)

6. Attitude – “Attitude, in social psychology, a cognition, often with some degree of aversion or
attraction (emotional valence), that reflects the classification and evaluation of objects and events.” (The
Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013).
Culture, Self, and Personality

Culture’s Impact on Personality

- The human personality and how it develops has stimulated the interest of scholars.

- According to Cherry (2020), personality is something that people tend to think a lot about. When we
meet new people, whether through work, school, or social events, it is often their personality on which
we immediately focus.

Role of Culture

- Theoretical controversial becomes more pronounced underscoring the need for a cross-cultural
perspective psychology.

Five (5) Basic Dimensions of Personality “The Big Five”

Openness

- People who are high in this trait tend to be more adventurous and creative. People low in this trait are
often much more traditional and may struggle with abstract thinking.

Conscientiousness

- Highly conscientious people tend to be organized and mindful of details. They plan ahead, think about
how their behavior affects others, and are mindful of deadlines.

- While people who are low in this trait tend to dislike structure and schedules, procrastinate important
tasks, and fail to complete the things they are supposed to do.

Extroversion

- People who are high in extraversion are outgoing and tend to gain energy in social situations. People
who are low in extraversion (or introverted) tend to be more reserved and have to expend energy in
social settings.

Agreeableness

- People who are high in agreeableness tend to be more cooperative while those low in this trait tend to
be more competitive and sometimes even manipulative
Neuroticism

- Individuals who are high in this trait tend to experience mood swings, anxiety, irritability, and sadness.
Those low in this trait tend to be more stable and emotionally resilient. To easily remember the 5 traits,
you can remember OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism)
or CANOE (conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extroversion.

Lesson 2. Culture and Theoretical Perspectives

There are three (3) contrasting views of personality development:

1. Conflict Model (Freud)

2. Fulfillment Model (Humanistic)

3. Consistency Model (Cognitive)

Freud’s Intra-Psychic Model / Conflict Model

- As stated in Jules Henry’s “Culture against Man,” culture plays an inhibitory or repressing role. Freud
believed that events in our childhood have a great influence on our adult lives, shaping our personality.

- As an example, anxiety originating from traumatic experiences in a person's past is hidden from
consciousness and may cause problems during adulthood.

The Humanistic / Existential Model Fulfilment Model

- According to Bronislaw Malinowski, culture provides various channels for self-realization.

- Malinowski was one of the most colorful and charismatic social scientists of the twentieth century; a
Founding Father of British Social Anthropology between the two worlds wars, his quasi-mythical status
has fascinated his disciplinary descendants who continue to measure themselves against his
achievements (Young, 2014).

The Consistency or “Cognitive” Model

- Personality is mostly learned, represents the history of feedback from interacting with the world The
role of culture is to reduce anxiety. Culturally based routines enable predictable patterns or behavior
which in turn keep anxiety low. Culture provides structure and meaning in our lives (Culture and
Personality - UTSA, 2020). Cognitive consistency can be defined as the concept that individuals have a
preference for their thoughts, beliefs, knowledges, opinions, attitudes, and intents to be congruent,
which is to say that they don’t contradict each other.