PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE SELF ● there is also a soul that is perfect and permanent.

● to live but die inside.

WESTERN PHILOSOPHY Gadfly

 replete with men and women who inquired into the fundamental nature of ● disturbed Athenian men from their slumber and shook them off to reach
self. the truth and wisdom
INQUIRY ON THE SELF Plato
 preoccupied the earliest thinkers in the history of western philosophy: the ● claimed that Socrates unexamined life is not worth living. During his
Greeks. trial for allegedly corrupting the minds of the youth and for impiety.
GREEKS Supported that man has a dual nature of body and soul.
 ones who started to question myths and attempt to understand reality and three components of soul:
perennial questions of curiosity, including the self. ● the rational soul
● the spirited soul,
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY ● the appetitive soul.
Pre-Socratics magnum opus
● denote that some of them preceded Socrates while others existed around ● “The Republic” emphasizes that justice in the human person can only
Socrates’s time as well, attained if three parts of the soul are working harmoniously with one
Arché another.
● primary substratum, explains the multiplicity of things in the world. Rational soul
Concerned ● forged by reason and intellect has to govern the affairs of the human
● Thales, Pythagoras, Parmenides, Heraclitus, and Empedocles, concerned person,
with explaining what the world is really made up of, why the world is so, Spirited soul
and what explains the changes that they observed around them. ● charge of emotions should be kept at bay,
Homer and Hesiod Appetitive soul
● men endeavored to finally locate an explanation about the nature of ● in charge of base desires like eating, drinking, sleeping, and having sex
change, the seeming permanence despite change, and the unity of the are controlled as well.
world amidst its diversity. ● ideal state is attained, then the human person’s soul becomes just and
Socrates virtuous.

● concerned with the problem of the self. MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY

● 1st philosopher questioned about the self.
● True task of a philosopher is to know oneself. St. Augustine of Hippo
● Athens. ● reflects the entire spirit of the medieval world when it comes man.
● Every man is composed of body and soul. Following the ancient view of Plato and infusing it with the doctrine of
● Every human person is dualistic Christianity,
● individuals have an imperfect, impermanent aspect to him ● agreed that man is of a bifurcated nature.
 ● An aspect of man dwells in the world and is imperfect and continuously ● “I think therefore, I am.
yearns to be with the Divine and the other can reach immortality. two distinct entities
● The body is bound to die on earth ● cogito- thing that thinks, which is the mind,
● the soul is to anticipate living eternally in a realm of spiritual bliss in ● extenza- extension of the mind, which is the body.
communion with God.
● the body can only thrive in the imperfect, physical reality that is the DAVID HUME
world,  Scottish philosopher has a unique way of looking a man. As an empiricist
● the soul can also stay after death in an eternal realm with the all- who believes that one can know only what comes from the senses and
transcendent God. experiences
● The goal of every human person is to attain this communion and bliss  self is nothing like what his predecessors thought if it. The self is not an
with the Divine by living his life on earth in virtue. entity over and beyond the physical body.
 the self is nothing else but a bundle of impressions.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Empiricism
● the most eminent thirtieth century scholar and stalwart of the medieval
 is the school of thought that espouses the idea that knowledge can only
philosophy, appended to Christian view
be possible if it is sensed and experienced?
● the soul is what animates the body; it is what makes us humans
●  Men can only attain knowledge by experiencing. impressions and
MAN COMPOSED OF TWO PARTS: ideas.
Categorize of Experience
Matter  Impressions are the basic objects of our experience or sensation. They
● hyle in Greek, refers to the common stuff that makes up everything in therefore form the core of our thoughts. Impressions therefore are vivid
the universe. Man’s body is part of this matter. because they are products of our direct experience with the world.
Form  Ideas, on the other hand, are copies of impressions. Because of this,
● morphe in Greek refers to the essence of a substance or thing. they are not as lively and vivid as our impressions. When one imagines
the feeling of being in love for the first time, that still is an idea.
MODERN PHILOSOPHY Self
RENE DESCARTES
● Father of Modern Philosophy,  a bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each other
● human person as having a body and a mind. with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and
● In his famous treatise, The Meditations of the First Philosophy, claims movement.” (According to Hume)
that there is so much of what we should doubt.  Men simply want to believe that there is a unified, coherent self, a soul
● much of what we think and believe are not infallible, they may turn out to or mind just like what the previous philosophers thought.
be false  What one thinks is a unified self is simply a combination of all
● one cannot doubt is the existence of the self, for even if one doubts experience with person.
oneself, that means there is “doubting self
IMMANUEL KANT
● the body is nothing else but a machine that is attached to the mind.
cogito ergo sum
  Thinking of the “self” as a mere combination of impressions SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE SELF
was problematic for Immanuel Kant.
Self as a Social Construct
 veracity of Hume’s account that everything starts with
perception and sensation of impressions. ● The self as a social construct is derived from the idea that society which
apparatuses of the mind takes part in its shaping is a social construction
 mind that organizes the impressions that men get from the social interaction
external world, time and space, ● social reality by collective actions of people, living together and their
 Without self, one cannot organize the different impressions that relationships become meaningful.
one gets in relation to his own existence. active understanding
 intelligence in man synthesizes all knowledge and experience. ● individuals are not only passive participants in their social life. Through
 self is not just what gives one his personality, it is also the seat language, they privately and publicly utilize or share symbols within their
of knowledge acquisition for all human persons. interactions. This creates a pattern that shapes and influences who they
 are, how they behave and think.
The Self and Society
CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY
 In 1996, Steven self has been characterized as separate, self-contained,
GILBERT RYLE
independent, consistent, unitary, and private. self is distinct to others. It
 solves mind-body dichotomy that has been running for a long time in the
is self-contained and independent because it can exist by itself. It is
history of thought
contained in its own thoughts, characteristics, and volition.
 blatantly denying the concept of an internal, non-physical self.
 what truly matters is the behavior that a person manifests in his day-to-  self is isolated from the external world.
day life. discipline of Sociology
 the “self” is not an entity one can locate and analyze but simply the  asserts that humans cannot be understood apart from it social context.
convenient name that people use to refer to all the behaviors that people  society to individual inherently connected and dependent on each other.
make. Groups who lived together
 Simple denies the self  have the same cultures and predisposed to institutions which provide
MAURICE JEAN JACQUES MERLEAU-PONTY their physical, social, and psychological, maintain order and the values of
 phenomenologist the culture.
 mind-body bifurcation
 mind and body are so intertwined that they cannot be separated sociological imagination
from one another  seeing through his/her experiences and the larger society
 dismisses the Cartesian Dualism that has spelled so much
devastation in the history of man. Sociological Theories of the Self
 the Cartesian problem is nothing else but plain
misunderstanding. The living body, his thoughts, emotions, and A. The Looking Glass Self by Charles Cooley
experiences are all one.  prominent Sociological perspectives of the self.
  individuals develop their concept of self by looking at how others  self should not be seen as a static entity which remains constant through
perceive them, hence, coined his theory as “The Looking Glass Self”. time. Being active participant in its social world, the self, through
 understanding of self is socially constructed. interaction, is made and remade.
Steps  Illogical being the same person across time and space, when social world
1. An individual in a social situation imagines how they appear to others. is changing and dynamic this perspective, self is considered as multi-
2. Those individual imagines others’ judgment of that appearance. faceted.
3. The individual develops feelings (of pride or shame) and responds to
those perceived judgments. The Moi and Personne Self
Feedback for one plays an important role in the process. Misinterpretations  society is a result of a process whereby actions of humans is built upon
of signals may also occur from the point of view of the person examining everyday social continuity. As an Anthropologist and Sociologist, he
him/herself. asserted that self-adapts to its everyday social condition.
B. Theory of the Self-Development by George Herbert Mead  Cultural identity therefore is intertwined with space and time (Airton
 Self must develop self-awareness. This can be derived from looking at José Cavenaghi, 2016) making oneself determined according to its
ourselves from the perspective of others, through social interaction circumstances and context.
 According to Mead, the “self” in such case is not being developed
(Theory of Self Development,nd). SELF HAS TWO FACES--THE PERSONNE AND MOI.
By stages, Mead states that self develops through social interaction.
1. Preparatory Stage: Children in this stage are only capable of  MOI a person’s sense of who he is, his body and his basic identity, his
imitating actions of others. They have no ability to imagine yet how others biological givenness. It is a person’s basic identity.
see things.  PERSONNE is composed of the social concepts of what it means, to be
2. Play Stage: At this stage, children begin to try to take on the role of who he is. It has much to do with what it means to live in a particular
other person by acting outgrown up behaviors, dressing like adults, etc. institution, a particular family, a particular religion, a particular
nationality, and how to behave given expectations and influences from
3. Game Stage: While children learn about several roles of others, they others. Personne therefore shifts from time to time to adapt to his social
understand how these roles interact with each other in this stage. They learn to situation (Alata, EJ et. al., 2018).
understand complex interactions involving different people with variety of
purpose. Filipino personne-of who they are-- is their territory. This includes
4. Generalized other: In this stage, children develop, understand, considering their immediate surroundings as part of them, thus the perennial
and learn the idea of the common behavioral expectations of the general society. “tapat ko, linis ko”.
They can imagine how they are viewed by one or many. Mead pointed out that
“self” in this stage is being developed. Language is also an interesting aspect of who Filipinos are. “Mahal
kita”. This phrase if translated in English means, “I Love You”. Unlike in
The Self and Culture English, the Filipino version of “I Love You” however does not specify who the
subject and the object of love.
 “mahal” in the Philippines can both mean “love” and “expensive”. Love is  primary provider or source of a child’s needs (human, social,
intimately bound with value while being expensive means being precious. economic).
Someone whom we love is valuable. When taken from its Sanskrit origin “lubh,”  main avenue for teaching young individuals the basic things that they
love can also mean desire. need to learn to fit in the society.
 Learning self in the family is conscious or unconscious
Another interesting facet of the Filipino is gender neutral. The word  reared with respectful family = becomes respectful
“siya” is used to refer to a boy or girl. In English, “he” is referred to male while  raised with a conversational family=becomes conversational.
“she” refers to female. “El” in Spanish is male while “ella” is females.
 the initial conception of selfhood for social survival and becoming a
human person is learned in the family.
The “I” and the “Me” Self
 Gender partly determines how one sees him/herself in the world.
TWO FACETS OF SELF
“me” is the social self, the result of the “I”, and the known. SOCIALIZATION
“I” is the response to the “me”, responding to the attitudes of the others, is  whereby one learns basic ways of living, language, values, etc. by way
the knower. of imitating or observation or teaching by an adult member of the family
such as the mother and the father.
Lev Vygotsky
CONSERVATIVE CULTURES
 stressed the important role of language acquisition and interaction
with others in human development.  husbands expected to provide for the family, the son in the family is
 Mind is made or constituted through language that one acquires or future provider to behave and think like a man.
experiences with his/her external world.  Female members imitate the mother’s roles tend to care providers
 internalize values, norms, practices, social beliefs,
 For Mead, role-playing of children indicates that they create scripts in Nancy Chodorow a Feminist Providing dolls instead of guns to girls also
their head, thus a manifestation of internal dialogue within self. reinforces the notion of what roles they should take, thus, the kind of self-concept
they should develop.
 For Vygotsky, a child internalizes real life dialogues that he/she had
with others by recycling this during one of their mental and practical
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF
problem solving (Alata, et. al, 2018).
Origin of Self
Self in Families ● explores that selfhood plays in defining human society.
Edward's
FAMILY ● argues that other awareness is a relatively early evolutionary
development
● human construction of selfhood involves seven different types of self.
self-awareness Edward Taylor
● product of the sharing of social models, only humans appear to do ● defined that culture is a complex whole that includes knowledge, belief,
self-came art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired
● process that orchestrates an individual's personal experience following by man.
which s/he becomes self-aware and self-reflective about her or his place
in society. INTERRELATED ASPECTS OF HUMAN CULTURE:
Anthropology
● The study of human societies and cultures and their development Material culture
● it is concerned with how cultural and biological processes interact to ● “Physical objects”
● resources, and spaces that people use to define their culture.
shape human experience
● These include homes, neighborhoods, cities, schools, churches,
synagogues, temples, mosques, offices, factories and plants, tools, means
Self as Embedded in Culture
of production, goods and products, stores, and so forth.
Self-concept
● refers to all understanding and knowledge of oneself. Non‐material culture
components of self-concepts ● nonphysical ideas
● psychological, physical, and social attitudes, ideas and beliefs that one ● people have about their culture, including beliefs, values, rules, norms,
has. morals, language, organizations, and institutions.
Family’s history ● consists set of ideas and beliefs about God, worship, morals, and ethic
● influence in terms of self-concept ● culture uses to shape its members' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Four
● refers to culture one has been brought up in, and the experiences he or of the most important of these are symbols, language, values, and norms.
she has undergone.
Two Anthropological Perspectives of the Self

Impact of culture to self- concept Egocentric- a concept of the self where the self is seen as an autonomous and
● Erdman (2006) using American and Chinese students, early childhood distinct individual.
memories were a big part of self-concept. Socio-centric- according to this view, there is no intrinsic self that can possess
Findings enduring qualities.
● different cultural memories brought about by early childhood years and
persist into adulthood. Three-Phased Rite of Passage by Arnold Van Gennep
● differences formed both in the extended cultural contexts which defines
the meaning of the self and the immediate family environment. Separation Phase- people detach from their former identity to another
Culture Liminality Phase- a person transitions from one identity to another
● is the set of unwritten norms of conduct that guide the behavior of a Incorporation Phase- the change in one's status is officially incorporated
group?
Anthony Wallace and Raymond Fogelson- coined the term "identity struggles"
Identity Struggles- characterize interaction in which there is a discrepancy  define their characteristics (self-knowledge)
between the identity a person claims to possess, and the identity attributed to that  how people use task and social feedback to monitor their goal progress
person by other. (self-regulation)
Self-identification- individuals must overcome many obstacles  the influence of personal standards, expectations, and values on
Katherine Ewing- formulated the "Illusion of Wholeness" perception of others (self in social judgment)
Illusion of Wholeness- implies that the cohesiveness and continuity of self are  , and how people maintain desired self-images.
only illusory  The self has been studied as an individual difference variable (primarily
Cultural Differences- exists when groups of people assign different meanings to by personality theorists), as a determinant of social perception,
different life events and things attribution, and judgment, and as an essential element in social relations.
Key Terms
Social Identities- people construct their self-identity from the similarities and
The self as a cognitive construction:
differences in characteristics among individuals.
Family Membership- the most significant feature to determine a person's social
William James (1842–1910)
identity.
 was one of the first to postulate a theory of the self in The Principles of
Example: A person’s social identity can be determined based on the
Psychology.
influence of his/her family background (history, status, traits, or even resources)
Language- viewed as an essential for the maintenance of group identity.  two aspects of the self that he termed the “I Self”and “Me Self.”
Example: As people become members of a social group and learn to
share that group's identity, they need to adapt to the group’s language.
I Self
Religious Affiliation- an important marker for group identity in each society.  reflects what people see or perceive themselves doing in the
Example: In a predominantly Catholic country, most Filipinos qualify physical world (e.g., recognizing that one is walking, eating,
themselves as members of the Roman Catholic Church. writing).
Name- an important device to individualize a person and legitimize him or her as Me Self
a member of a social group.  is a more subjective and psychological phenomenon, referring to
Example: When you were born, you were given a name documented individuals’ reflections about themselves (e.g. Characterizing
through a birth certificate to legalize your birth. oneself as athletic, smart, and cooperative).
 self-view,self-image, self-schema, and self-concept
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE SELF
3 COMPONENTS OF ME SELF
(1) The material self (e.g., tangible objects or possessions we collect for
 prior conceptions of the self as knower tended to posit a
ourselves)
“transcendental” capacity for the ego
(2) The social self (e.g., how we interact and portray ourselves within different
 James’s distinction perseveres in the interest that self-theorists accord to
groups, situations, or persons)
how people acquire self-knowledge and how this knowledge is
(3) The spiritual self (e.g., internal dispositions).
manifested in behavior.
Sigmund Freud preconscious memory. Similar example could be what is your mom's birthday,
when did it last rain, and how long does it take to drive to the mall.
 human personality is complex and has more than a single component.
 psychoanalytic theory of personality, personality is composed of three The Unconscious: The unconscious contains thoughts, memories, and desires that
elements, id, the ego, and the superego—work together to create complex are buried deep in ourselves, well below our conscious awareness. Even though
human behaviors. we are not aware of their existence, they exert great influence on our behavior.
Example: Things in your unconscious would be forgotten negative
THREE ELEMENTS OF PERSONALITY experiences in your past, extreme dislike for a parent, or a terrible event that you
pushed out of your preconscious.
ID is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate
gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. I. True self
EGO operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's  sense of integrity, of connected wholeness that harks to the early stage.
desires n realistic and socially appropriate ways. II. False self
SUPEREGO is the aspect of personality that holds all our internalized moral  When the person must comply with external rules, such as being polite
standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society—our sense of or otherwise following social codes, then a false self is used. The false
right and wrong. self constantly seeks to anticipate demands of others to maintain the
relationship.
Two Kinds of False Self
The 3 Levels of Awareness
Healthy false self
The conscious: The conscious consists of what someone is aware of at any point
 false self is functional both for the person and for society.
in time. It includes what you are thinking about right now, whether it is in the
front of you mind or the back. If you are aware of it then it is in the conscious  The healthy false self feels that that it is still being true to the true self.
mind. It can be compliant but without feeling that it has betrayed its true self.
Example: Right now, as you are reading about Freud you could be thinking  When the situation becomes difficult, the true self can still override the
about what is being said in the text and that your eyes are tired from staring at this true self and so acts as an effective conscience or super-ego.
screen. In the back of your mind, however, you might be thinking "wow this
website is really cool, if I was a psychology teacher, I would give whoever made Unhealthy false self
it an A". Both thoughts occur in the conscious mind.
 A self that fits in but through a feeling of forced compliance rather than
loving adaptation
The Preconscious: The preconscious contains information that is just below the
surface of awareness. It can be retrieved with relative ease and usually can be  false self-wins debates against the true self, the person finds that they are
thought of as memory or recollection. unable to be guided by their true self and so must adapt to the social
Example: Right now think of your middle name. That is an example of situation rather than assert itself.
Discussion  contains different modes of the self, “appear, one after another and side-
by-side in the consciousness.”
 An unhealthy and pathological false self never gains independence
from the mother, and so never gets to transition to independence. V. Agentic Self and Proactive Self

These principles help explain how people seem at ease or are constantly in tension The agentic self is defined as the aspect of human personality that is determined
and so act in dysfunctional ways. by future assessments of one's goals, objectives, and actions. Its functions are
adversely affected by degenerating planning, selecting, and implementing the
III. Ideal Self -concept capabilities of an individual.
 person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals and ambitions in
life, and is dynamic – i.e., forever changing. The proactive self-make things happen, instead of waiting for them to happen to
 The ideal self in childhood is not the ideal self in our teens or late you. Active means "doing something."
twenties etc.  The prefix pro- means "before."
 So if you are proactive, you are ready before something happens.
Proactive Attitude (PA) is a personality characteristic which has
implications for motivation and action. It is a belief in the rich potential
Real Self Concept of changes that can be made to improve oneself and one's environment.
 REAL SELF can be seen by others, but because we have no way of truly This includes various facets such as resourcefulness, responsibility,
knowing how others view us, the real self is our self-image. values, and vision.

According to the Humanistic Psychologist Carl Rogers

THE SELF IN WESTERN AND ORIENTAL/EASTERN THOUGHTS
 personality is composed of the Real Self and the Ideal Self.
 Real Self is who you are
EASTERN – MAIN PRINCIPLE
 Ideal Self is the person you want to be.
It is an idealized version of yourself created out of what you have learned
1. Cosmological unity
from your life experiences, the demands of society, and what you admire
in your role models. 2. Life is a journey towards eternal realities that are beyond the realities
that surround us
IV. Unified self 3. Circular view of the universe, based on the perception of eternal
 It is the integration of the sub selves into one recurrence
 integration is a task for the later part of life. 4. Inner-world dependent
 “Each” version of self includes cognitive elements as well as feelings, 5. Self-liberation from the false "Me" and finding the true "Me". The
drives, values, and behaviors organized around a certain point of view.” highest state is believed to be a state of 'no-self', where neither self-
worth nor self-importance have any real meaning.
Multiple self 6. Behavioral ethics
 WESTERN- MAIN PRINCIPLE
THE “ME” CONCEPT 1. Feeling oneself as an element of the Divine
 Eternal reality of the universal truth: self-liberation through getting rid of 2. Life is a service (to the God, money, business, etc.)
the false "Me" and discovering the true "Me"
3. Linear view of the universe and life, based on the Christian philosophy
 where everything has its beginning and the end.
SEARCH FOR ABSOLUTE TRUTH
4. Outer-world dependent
 HOLISTIC approach – all events in the universe are interconnected
 Searching INSIDE YOURSELF – by becoming a part of the universe 5. Self-dedication to the goal (life vision, success,happiness, etc.)
through meditation and right living
"Though he should live a hundred years, not seeing the Truth Sublime; yet better,
indeed, is the single day's life of one who sees the Truth Sublime." ~ Buddha
THE “ME” CONCEPT
 “Me” is here and now. The true “Me” in every human being is a part of
INDIVIDUALISM/COLLECTIVISM the Divine that need to become apparent. True “Me” is given and does
 A human being is an integral part of the universe and the society. People not have to be cognizable
are fundamentally connected. Duty towards all others is a very important
matter. SEARCH FOR ABSOLUTE TRUTH
COLLECTIVISM is stronger.  More focused on INDIVIDUAL EVENTS and the role of the person
 Searching outside yourself - through research andanalysis
ACHIEVEMENT & WINNING "The truth that survives is simply the lie that is pleasantest to believe."
~ H.L.Mencken
 Winning is INSIDE yourself.
 "Though he should conquer a thousand men in the battlefield a thousand INDIVIDUALISM/COLLECTIVISM
times, yet he, indeed, who would conquer himself is the noblest victor." ~  A human being has an individualistic nature and is an independent part of
Buddha the universe and the society. INDIVIDUALISM is stronger.
 "He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty."
~ Lao Tzu ACHIEVEMENT & WINNING
 "The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self."
– Mohammad  Winning is OUTSIDE yourself.
 "You're not a star until they can spell your name in Karachi."
LEADERSHIP ~ Roger Moore
 "Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties,
 SPIRITUAL; walking behind people; silence is golden. passing from one stop of success to another, forming new wishes and
 "In order to guide people, the leader must put himself behind them. Thus seeing them gratified."
when he is ahead they feel no hurt." ~ Lao Tzu ~ Samuel Johnson
  "It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we  body as the initial source of sensation and necessary for the origin and
do not dare that they are difficult." maintenance of personality.
Sigmund Freud's
LEADERSHIP  construction of self and personality makes the physical body the core of
human experience. Freud was of the view that the ego is first and
 HANDS-ON; walking ahead of people; speech is golden. foremost a body ego (Freud, 1937).
 "Leadership is done from in front. Never ask others to do what you, if For Erik Erikson
challenged, would not be willing to do yourself."  experience is anchored in the ground-plan of body (Erikson, 1963).
~ Xenophon According to him the role of bodily organs is especially important in
early developmental stages of a person’s life.
Carl Gustav Jung
 argued that physical processes are relevant to us only to the extent they
THE CONCEPT OF SELF IN THE CONFUCIAN THOUGHT are represented in the psyche. The physical body and the external world
can be known only as psychological experiences.
Self or No-Self B. F. Skinner
 was a staunch behaviorist and for him the role of body is of primary
The notion of self in Confucian thought is very similar to what Ames expresses in importance. For Skinner, the terms personality and self are mere
above quote, and to the understanding of self in our examples of the Maori. explanatory fictions and all there is, is the body.
Although it is by westerners often understood that there is no self in Confucian
thought, (because in Confucianism one does talk of the concept of "no-self") this The Physical Self: The Self as Impacted by the Body
concept may be misunderstood when taken into western paradigms of thinking.  Humans have five vital organs that are essential for survival.
 brain, heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs.
But what is really meant by the idea of "no self", is this: "If one had no selfish
motives, but only the supreme virtues, there would be no self. … If he serves  HUMAN BRAIN the body's control center, receiving and sending signals
selflessly, he does not know what service is [does not recognize it as service]. If to other organs through the nervous system and through secreted
he knows what service is, he has a self… [to think] only of parents but not of hormones. It is responsible for our thoughts, feelings, memory storage
yourself… is what I call no self." (Zoku Kyuo dowa [Kyuo’s Moral discourses and general perception of the world.
continued], 1835).  HUMAN HEART responsible for pumping blood throughout our body.
 KIDNEY remove waste and extra fluid from the blood. The kidneys take
THE PHYSICAL SELF urea out of the blood and combine it with water and other substances to
make urine.
 refers to the body, this marvelous container and complex, finely tuned,
machine with which we interface with our environment and fellow  LIVER functions detoxifying of harmful chemicals, breakdown of drugs,
beings. filtering of blood, secretion of bile and production of blood-clotting
William James proteins.
  LUNGS are responsible for removing oxygen from the air we breathe their surroundings either conducive to or resistant to the building of a
and transferring it to our blood where it can be sent to our cells. The healthy body image and self-esteem.
lungs also remove carbon dioxide, which we exhale.
The Impact of Western Culture

 The Western culture in general, for example, is one that tends to hyper-
Random Facts focus on dieting and body appearance. Digitally retouched photos are the
 The human body contains nearly 100 trillion cells. norm in which our society is saturated in, and this mentality can
 There are at least 10 times as many bacteria in the human body as cells. negatively influence an individual’s body image.
 The average adult takes over 20,000 breaths a day.  Other cultures that celebrate and uphold a person’s body and whose
 Each day, the kidneys process about 200 quarts (50 gallons) of blood traditions uphold what a person can do rather than their appearance may
to filter out about 2 quarts of waste and water more effectively support the building of a positive body image.
 Adults excrete about a quarter and a half (1.42 liters) of urine each
day. Culture Is Just One Factor
 The human brain contains about 100 billion nerve cells
 Water makes up more than 50 percent of the average adult's body  While culture alone is not responsible for a poor or negative body image,
weight the influence and potential in which it can impact how a person feels
 You use your eyes to see, your ears to hear and your muscles to do the about themselves and their body are substantial. Being aware of your
heavy lifting. In fact, most body parts are far more complicated than that, surroundings and understanding how culture and traditions may affect
while some seem to have no business being inside there at all. and impact how you think and feel about your body can be
The Impact of Culture on Body Image and Self Esteem helpful, especially in a conscious effort to build a positive body image
 Our body image, includes our perception of ourselves and our own body and increase self-esteem.
and the way we feel about our body, is influenced by a variety of factors.  Understanding each of the components that contribute to your body
Many aspects contribute to body image, including the environment in image is an important step towards making a difference in how you see
which we are immersed in as well as our biological makeup and genetic and feel about yourself.
predisposition. Understanding how each of these areas impact how we
feel about our body is important to understanding how we can create and Beauty is in the Mind of the Beholder
build a positive body image.  You are better off being good-looking. At all ages and in all walks of life,
attractive people are judged more favorably, treated better, and cut
Cultural Traditions Can Help or Hurt slacker. Mothers give more affection to attractive babies. Teachers
 The culture in which we are surrounded by has a significant impact on favor more attractive students and judge them as smarter. Attractive
how we feel about ourselves and the way we think about our body. Many adults get paid more for their work and have better success in dating
cultural traditions also contribute to body image and can influence either and mating. And juries are less likely to find attractive people guilty and
negative or positive body image and self-esteem. Depending on the recommend lighter punishments when they do.
culture and overall emphasis of traditions involved, a person may find
FACTORS IN PERSONAL ATTRACTIVENESS ‘Your Symmetry Lights Up the Room’
 the way you dress, the way you act, the way you carry yourself, even
things that are hard or impossible to change, like social status and wealth, No two faces are alike, and no two halves of a face are alike. Countless small
race, and body size and shape. variables make faces somewhat asymmetrical – a slightly wider jaw on one side,
 But the first thing we notice when we meet someone is their face. one eye a fraction of an inch lower than the other, a cheekbone that sticks out just
 Brain is beauty detector a wee bit more, a dimple on one cheek, etc. Some asymmetries (called directional
 When participants in a recent study were presented with attractive and asymmetries) are common across the population – for example, the left side of
unattractive faces for only 13 milliseconds, they were able to judge the most people’s faces is slightly larger than the right. But many asymmetries, called
faces’ attractiveness accurately (that is, in accordance with fluctuating asymmetries, arise when one’s unfolding genetic program is perturbed
experimenters’ ratings), even though they were not consciously aware of during development, for instance by parasites or other environmental challenges.
the stimuli and felt like they were just guessing (Olson & Marshuetz, The slings and arrows of life’s fortunes can literally knock our faces off of kilter,
2005). just like a punch to the nose. A symmetrical face, like a particularly masculine or
feminine one, is a sign of having stood up better to life’s figurative schoolyard
Truth in Beauty beatings.

 stereotype that “beautiful is good” does hold. Numerous studies have found that when men and women are asked to compare
 faces really are windows onto certain fundamental and important versions of faces that are more versus less symmetrical, the symmetrical ones
characteristics indicative of a person’s quality as a romantic partner and garner significantly higher ratings of attractiveness, dominance, sexiness, and
as a mate — qualities of health and genes, and even character. health, and are perceived to be more desirable as potential mates (Rhodes, Proffitt,
Grady, & Sumich, 1998; Shackelford & Larsen, 1997). So as with
 Our faces are sculpted by our hormones. These sex-typical facial
masculine/feminine features, the appeal of symmetry makes perfect sense to
features of adult men and women reflect the ratio of testosterone to
evolutionary psychologists. In a beautiful face, we are really seeing the artistry of
estrogen or estrogen to testosterone, respectively, acting on the
good genes. People prefer symmetrical faces even when they can’t actually
individual during development. We are programmed to be drawn to
perceive the symmetry – that is, when only face halves are presented. It may be
strong indicators of maleness (for women) and femaleness (for men)
that symmetry covaries with other desirable characteristics that reflect the same
partly because they reflect an individual’s health (Fink & Penton-Voak,
genetic endowment and overall health (Penton-Voak et al., 2001).
2002). The reason hormones equate to health is somewhat
counterintuitive. High levels of sex hormones during puberty
suppress the immune system, raising vulnerability to disease and It may not be all that surprising that we’d rather mate with a symmetrical Greek
infection. It sounds like a bad thing. But when a person with a god or goddess than with someone who stepped out of a Picasso painting. Less
particularly “male” or “female” face makes it to adulthood with all his or obvious is that a pretty or handsome face is also generally one that is,
her health intact, it means that the person has withstood the potentially well, average. When presented with individual faces and a composite of those
debilitating influence of those high hormones. In other words, it signifies individual faces, participants will judge the composite as more attractive than the
a more robust constitution. individual, more distinctive faces. And the more faces that contribute to the
composite, the more attractive it becomes (Langlois & Roggman, 1990). The most
attractive faces appear to be those whose features are closest to the average in the A group of University of Mexico psychologists have studied women’s shifting
population—that is, more prototypical. preferences for symmetrical men. They have found that this preference (which
women can not only see, but even smell in tee-shirts slept in by symmetrical men)
Averageness, like symmetry, reflects a favorable genetic endowment. Those with increases dramatically around the time of ovulation, when a woman is most fertile
average features are less likely to be carrying harmful mutations. Additionally, and the chance of conception is highest (Gangestad, Thornhill, & Garver-Apgar,
averageness reflects greater heterozygosity — having both a dominant and a 2005). So does a woman’s preference for more masculine-looking men. But this
recessive allele for given traits, rather than two dominant or two recessive alleles preference wanes during other times of the month. Again, evolutionary
(an advantage that symmetry also reflects). Heterozygosity confers relatively psychology provides a ready explanation.
greater resistance to pathogens, in many cases, and thus, along with all the other
indicators of resilience, we may be programmed to seek it out through its subtle Humans, like many other species, are socially monogamous but not necessarily
but telltale signs. sexually monogamous. When sex might result in getting pregnant, it’s health and
fertility that are particularly desirable in a mate. But good genes in the sense of
However, it has also been argued that there may be some much simpler cognitive physical health is not the same as good genes in the sense of character, and what
reasons for the preference for averages. Besides faces, people show a preference makes a good sperm donor may not make the best long-term, nurturing, helpful
for average-looking dogs, average-looking birds, and average-looking watches life partner. The flip side of high testosterone is an increased tendency toward
(Halberstadt & Rhodes, 2000). Prototypes are more familiar-looking than less aggression and antisocial behavior, a tendency to compete rather than help. Thus a
typical examples of a given class of objects, be it the face of a potential mate or male with less testosterone, indicated by less masculine features, may invest more
the face of a timepiece, and they are easier to process. Easy on the eyes = easy on in caring for offspring (whether or not he’s the biological father) and so may be
the brain. better to have around for the long term.

In the Sex of the Beholder A Thousand Ship

Men and women both show the above preferences when it comes to faces, but in beautiful women are disruptive of men’s reason, even causing them to go to war.
general men’s preferences tend to be more pronounced (Rhodes et al., 1998). We now know that there’s truth to the idea that men make worse decisions when
Males may place greater importance on physical beauty when it comes to mate exposed to female beauty, and we even are beginning to understand the neural
choice, while females also attend to characteristics like power and status. But a basis. A pair of McMaster University researchers found that looking at
number of factors contribute to how much — and when — male face photographs of attractive women (but not unattractive women) caused a
characteristics matter to women. significant increase in delay discounting in men — that is, choosing a smaller
immediate reward over a larger delayed one (Wilson & Daly, 2004). It’s the same
One factor is a woman’s own attractiveness: Preference for masculine and tendency found to a high degree in addicts and others with impaired self-control.
symmetrical features has been shown to be higher for women who regard Interestingly, viewing attractive men did not influence women’s decisions.
themselves as more attractive (Little, Burt, Penton-Voak, & Perrett, 2001).
Another is time of the month: The degree of women’s preferences for different The reason-unseating effect of a beautiful face partly involves the amygdala.
attractive qualities fluctuates strikingly across the ovulatory cycle. Activation of the amygdala, which detects the value of social stimuli, has been
associated with greater discounting of all kinds of future rewards, and sure
enough, this brain area shows much stronger activation to attractive faces than to And then there are the emotions we project through our faces. Not surprising,
more ho-hum ones. (It is actually a U-shaped relationship; the amygdala is also positive emotions increase attractiveness. We are drawn to those who smile, for
highly activated by unattractive faces; Winston, O’Doherty, Kilner, Perrett, & example. As when they wore makeup, women who smiled at men on entering a
Dolan, 2007.) bar were more likely to be approached and were judged more favorably (Gueguen,
2008a). Even a smile perceived only in the periphery of one’s vision will be seen
In both men and women, attractive faces cause greater activation in several other as more attractive than a face with a neutral expression (Bohrn, Carbon, &
brain areas involved in processing of rewards. These include the nucleus Hutzler, 2010). And attractive faces that smile produce even more activity in the
accumbens, which also activates in response to rewarding stimuli like money; the orbitofrontal cortex than do attractive faces wearing neutral expressions
medial prefrontal cortex; and the anterior cingulate cortex, which may be involved (O’Doherty et al., 2003).
in shaping future behavior from learning reward outcomes. In men (but not in
women), the orbitofrontal cortex, an area that evaluates the reward value of So here’s the timeless message of psychological science: Be beautiful—or, as
current behaviors, also activates in response to attractive female faces (Cloutier, beautiful as you can. Smile and sleep and do whatever else you can do to make
Heatherton, Whalen, & Kelley, 2008). your face a reward. Among its other social benefits, attractiveness actually invites
people to learn what you are made of, in other respects than just genetic fitness.
Beautify Yourself According to a new study at the University of British Columbia (Lorenzo,
Biesanz, & Human, 2010), attractive people are actually judged more accurately
Beauty is unfair. Not everyone can be born with great genes. Not everyone can —at least, closer to a subject’s own self-assessments—than are the less attractive,
be born symmetrical. Not everyone can be born enticingly, well, average. But because it draws others to go beyond the initial impression. “People do judge a
obviously there are many factors contributing to attractiveness that are potentially book by its cover,” the researchers write, “but a beautiful cover prompts a closer
under our control. reading.” œ

For women, makeup does have a strong effect. In one study, women wearing
makeup were approached more, and approached faster, by men at a bar than they
were on nights without makeup (Gueguen, 2008b). Effect sizes on beauty
judgments for makeup have been found to be as high as those for the facial
structural features mentioned earlier (Osborn, 2006).

Getting enough beauty sleep is something everyone can do to up their beauty

quotient. A group of Swedish and Dutch researchers conducted an experiment in
which observers rated the attractiveness (as well as health) of participants who
were photographed both after a period of sleep deprivation and after a good
night’s sleep (Axelsson, 2010). Not surprisingly, individuals who were sleep
deprived were rated significantly less attractive than those who were rested. They
were also rated less healthy.