UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

C. ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)

 Self is composed of body and
THE SELF ACCORDING TO ANCIENT soul, mind and matter, sense and
PHILOSOPHERS intellect, passion and reason.
 Taught the theory of golden
mean.
 The Golden Mean means
A. SOCRATES (496-399 B.C.)
moderation; avoid extremes;
 Believed that self exists in two
avoid too much and too little.
parts; body (physical, tangible
and mortal) and soul (mortal).
 According to him the true self is
not to be identified with what THE SELF ACCORDING TO MEDIEVAL
we own, with our social status, PHILOSOPHERS
with our reputation, or even A. ST. AUGUSTINE (354-430 A.D.)
with our body. Instead, Socrates  Combine Greek philosophy and
maintained that our true self is truths contained in the
our soul. scriptures.
 Known for his dictum  The self is made up of a body
‘’Ignorance is the beginning of and a soul, ‘’ a soul in a
wisdom’’ and his advice ‘’know possession of a body’’ which
thyself.’’ ‘’does not constitute two
 He is also famous for his quote persons but one man.’’
‘’The unexamined life is not  His concept of self is in the
worth living.’’ context of his relation to God.
 According to St. Augustine,
‘’virtue is the order of love.’’
B. PLATO (428-348 B.C.)
 ‘’Immortal soul in a perishable
body.’’ B. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
 The soul has tripart nature  Like Aristotle, Aquinas
consists of: proclaimed the supremacy of
a.) soul or an immortal rational reason in a human person.
part  A human person can know the
b.) courageous or spirited truth with certainty by the use of
c.) appetitive part his reason. However, he stressed
 In BOOK IV of Plato’s Republic, that there are some truths which
the soul is the ‘’giver of life to cannot be known by human
the body, the permanent, reason alone and which can be
changeless and divine element as perceived only with the aid of
opposed to the changing, divine revelation.
transitory and perishable body.
This makes the self a ‘’soul using
the body.’’
THE SELF ACCORDING TO MODERN
 The body is just a shell of the AND CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHERS
soul.
 A. MAURICE MERLEAU PONTY (1908-
1961)
MODERN DAY PHILOSOPHERS (1596-
Self is an inextricable union
1650)
between mind and body.
A. DESCARTES (1596-1650) There is no experience that is
Self is immaterial mind and not embodied experience.
material body. ‘’Everything that we experience
With his ties to dualism, in this world- experience of joy,
Descartes believed that the mind sadness, love, remorse- happens
is the seat of consciousness. with our bodies. There is never
Known for his ‘’I think, a moment in which we are
therefore, I am.’’ separated from our bodies as if
it is a clothing that we can shed
off.’’
B. JOHN LOCKE (1631-1704)
In his Essay Concerning Human
Understanding, John Locke B. GILBERT RYLE (1900-1976)
explained that at birth the Believes that ‘’the workings of the mind
(human) mind is a tabula rasa are not distinct from the actions of the
which means ‘’blank slate.’’ The body but are one and the same.
mind is empty at birth. The mind is a mysterious entity that
According to Locke, controls the mechanical workings of the
impressions during infancy have body.
important and lasting
consequences. C. PAUL CHURCHLAND (1942- )
He argued that the ‘’association Adheres to materialism, the
of ideas’’ that individuals make belief that nothing except matter
when young are more important exists.
than those made later because He asserts that since that since
they are the foundation of the the can’t be experienced by our
self. senses, then the mind doesn’t
really exist. It is the physical
brain and not the mind that
C. IMMANUEL KANT (1724-1804) gives us our sense of self.
A human person has an inner
and outer self.
Inner self consists of his/her of THE SELF FROM SOCIOLOGICAL
psychological state and rational PERSPECTIVE
intellect.
The outer self is a human
person’s senses and the physical SOCIALIZATION
world.
Is the whole and lifetime process by
which people learn the values, attitudes
and behaviors that are appropriate and
CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHERS
expected by their culture and
community.
 It is the process of internalizing the The egocentric person lives by the
norms of society which influence one’s maxim ‘’be true to yourself’’ at the
beliefs, actions and behavior. expense of being unpopular to the
According to both Cooley and Mead, the group.
concept of self is developed through a
socialization process.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD (1863-1931)
Is the idea that a person’s beliefs, values
Claims that the self is not there at birth.
and practices should be understood
This means that the self is not based on
based on that person’s culture, rather
inherited traits and other biological
than be judged against the criteria of
factors. Rather, the self is developed
another.
over time from social experiences and
activities. ETHNOCENTRISM
CHARLES COOLEY Is the belief that one’s culture is superior
to that of others.
Explains how we develop our sense of
self or self-image by looking-glass self XENOCENTRISM
theory.
According to Cooley, there are three Is the thinking that other’s culture is
steps in the formation of looking-glass superior to one’s culture.
self: THE SELF FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL
1. We imagine how we appear to PERSPECTIVE
others
2. We imagine how others judge our SIGMUND FRUED (1856-1939)
appearance.
For Freud, the human psyche could be
3. We develop feelings about and
divided into three (3) parts: id, ego and
responses to these judgements.
super-ego.
ID- Is the completely unconscious,
impulsive, child-like portion of the
TWO CONTRASING MODELS OF THE psyche that operates on the ‘’pleasure
SELF: EGOCENTRIC AND principle’’ and is the source of basic
SOCIOCENTRIC impulses and drives. It seeks immediate
pleasure and gratification.

SOCIOCENTRIC VIEW
Self-focuses on one’s social group; EGO- Acts on the ’’reality principle’’.
socially oriented.
The sociocentric person abides by the SUPER-EGO – Acts on moralistic and
group and so is highly accepted by and idealistic principles.
is popular in the group.
WILLIAM JAMES (1842- 1910)

EGOCENTRIC VIEW JAMES THEORY OF THE SELF

Self- focuses on individual self.

 The self is the totality of all that a SELF- CONCEPT
person can call his or hers.
Is a collection and construction of
He divides this Self into the ‘’ME’’ and
individual’s thoughts, feelings and
into the ‘’I’’.
beliefs that he/she holds about
‘’ME’’ is the material self, social self
himself/herself and the responses of
and spiritual self. It can be thought of as
others about him/her.
a separate object or individual a person
Refers to knowledge and belief that we
refers to when describing his/her
have and the evaluation that we make
personal experiences.
about ourselves.
‘’I’’ is the thinking self. It is the pure
ego. It is the self that knows who he/she SELF- ESTEEM
is and what he has done in his/her life.
Refers to how much you appreciate,
value and like yourself.
THE MATERIAL SELF
The core of the material self is the body. FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH AND
Associated with the body are clothes, DEVELOPMENT
family, home and material possessions.
THE SOCIAL SELF
HEREDITY
Is who a person in a social situation.
It is how he represent himself/herself in Is the transmission of physical
public. characteristics from parents to children
through their genes.
INTELLIGENCE
THE SPIRITUAL SELF
Specifically in emotion, means honestly
Is a person’s subjective and most evaluating and paying attention to how
intimate self. you feel.
It is who a person is at his/her core.
Includes things like personality, core
values and consciousness.

ENVIRONMENT
IMPORTANT CONCEPTS RELATED TO Is observed that a well-nurtured child
PHYSICAL SELF THAT WE NEED TO does better than a deprived one and the
FULLY UNDERSTAND: environment that they are constantly
SELF-IDENTITY immersed in contributes to this.

Is how we are known. (e.g. name, status,

profession, place of origin, place where THE SEXUAL SELF
you reside etc.)
SEXUAL SELF
SELF- IMAGE
Refers to the idea one has of his/her
abilities, appearance and personality.
 Comprises a complex of schemas that Is used to described a gender identity
allow us to understand and express when the binary conceptualization of
ourselves as sexual beings. gender, male or female, does not
We hold self-schemas that pertain to our accurately describe an individual’s
sex, gender, sexual orientation and gender outlook or self-concept.
sexual expression/responses.
INTERSEX
SEX
Describes a variety of medical
Refers to the biological and conditions wherein an individual’s
physiological characteristics that define reproductive anatomy or genitals do not
men and women. fit the binary definition of male or
female.
GENDER
TRANSGENDERMAN/ FEMALE TO MAN
Refers to the attitudes, feelings and
behaviors that a given culture associates Is a man whose sex is female but he
with person’s biological sex. lives and identifies as male.
GENDER IDENTITY TRANSGENDER WOMAN/ MALE TO
FEMALE
Is an internal awareness of where the
individual belongs the feminine and Is a woman whose sex is male but she
masculine categories. lives and identifies as female.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Refers to the direction of one’s sexual GENDER EXPRESSION
and romantic interests.
The manner by which people express
themselves and behave may be true to
their gender identity such as when they
GENDER AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION
convey their sense of femininity or
GENDER masculinity outwardly.

Is a term used to describe the

characteristics, whether biologically or
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
socially-influenced, that people use to
define male and females. Refers to the stable pattern of attraction
or sexual interest that one has to a
member of a particular sex.
GENDER IDENTITY TERMINOLOGIES
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
CISGENDER TERMINOLOGIES

Is a male or female that identifies with ASEXUAL

the sex that was assigned at birth.
Refers to the absence of physical or
sexual attraction to another human
being.
GENDERQUEER
BISEXUAL
 Describes either a male or female who is simplex virus (HSV) and
attracted to both males and females. immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
GAY METHODS OF CONTRACEPTION
(NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL)
Gay males are self-identified men who
are emotionally, physically, romantically NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING
and/or sexually attracted to people who
Also known as periodic abstinence and
identified as male.
fertility awareness method.
LESBIAN Calendar-based
Symptoms-based methods
A self-identified female who is
emotionally, physically, romantically ARTIFICIAL METHODS
and/or sexually attracted to people who
Long-acting reversible contraception
identified as female.
(LARC)
HETEROSEXUAL Hormonal Methods
Barrier methods
An individual who identifies as either a
Emergency contraception and
male or female and is attracted to
Sterilization
individuals of the opposite sex.
THE SPIRITUAL SELF
QUEER
SPIRITUAL SELF
Is an umbrella term that is used to
described an individual’s self-concept of Another dimension of the self. It is
their sexual orientation identity. personal to each of us.
Referred to as the real, true or authentic
SEXUAL HEALTH
you.
Is described as a state of physical, Is usually associated with our own
emotional and social well-being in existence and a search for the purpose of
relation to sexuality not merely the life.
absence of disease, dysfunction or
infirmity.
RELIGIOSITY
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES
Is defined by Sherkat (2015) as a
(STD)
characteristic of individuals and
OR SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTION collectivities that displays various
(STI) features of beliefs about the
supernatural.
Are spread generally through sexual
contact, including anal, vaginal, or oral THE POLITICAL SELF
sex.
POLITICAL SELF
STDS can be caused by bacteria such as
in the cases of gonorrhea, syphilis and Is that aspect of the self that helps the
chlamydia, by parasites such as in individuals understand and function
trichomoniasis, or by viruses such as in effectively in society.
human papillomavirus (HPV), herpes
FOUR (4) CATEGORIES OF FILIPINO
VALUES
COLONIAL/ ACCOMODATIVE SURFACE Is thinking about thinking.
Is about being aware of your own
Hiya (propriety/dignity), utang na loob
thinking and learning progress.
(gratitude/solidarity) and pakikisama
It can also refer to learning to learn.
(companionship).
It came from the words meta, which
CONFRONTIVE SURFAVE VALUES means of its self or beyond itself and
cognitive which means to understand
Bahala na (determination), sama/lakas and to know.
ng loob (resentment/guts) and
pakikibaka (resistance).
PIVOTAL INTERPERSONAL VALUE 1. KNOWLEDGE OF COGNITION
Corresponds to what learners know
Pakiramdam/pakikipagkapwa-tao about themselves, strategies and
(shared inner perception). conditions under which strategies
CORE VALUES are most useful to acquire
knowledge.
Kapwa or pagkatao (shared identity)

2. REGULATION OF COGNITION
THE DIGITAL SELF Corresponds to knowledge about the
way learners plan, implement
Aspect of the self that we present online.
strategies, monitor, correct
SELF PRESENTATION comprehension errors and evaluate
their learning.
Refers to the act of creating a favorable
impression or the desired image to an
external (others) and internal (self)
audience.
SELECTIVE SELF-PRESENTATION
Is more intense on the internet in which
online users carefully decide what
aspects of information about themselves
they will share and when.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS
Include traces of our various self-
presentations through our online
profiles, comments, likes; traces of our
activity and other things we share
online.
METACOGNITION AND STUDY
STRATEGIES
METACOGNITION