UNDERSTANDING THE SELF MIDTERM REVIEWER

➣ Philosophical Perspective of the Self

PHILOSOPHY is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and the existence, especially in
academic discipline.
● Socrates
- “Know thyself”
- His famous line is; “The unexamined life is not worth of living”
- He underwent trial for corrupting the minds of the youth.
- He believed that every man is DUALISM/DUALISTIC which means man is composed of a Body
and a separate entity which is the Soul.
- For him to know yourself, you should be able to bring your inner self to life.
“ The man who does not follow good fails to do so because he does not recognize it.”
Meaning, we’re actually born to be good. If you don’t see the good in yourself what brings up is
our negative characteristics. So for Socrates, you should be able to know yourself by analyzing
yourself. You have to get to know yourself.
- Virtue is the deepest and most basic propensity of man.
- Self-Knowledge is the source of wisdom.

● Plato
- The Ideal Self, the Perfect Self
- He’s a student of Socrates and he supported his advisors’ philosophy.
- Man is a dual nature of body and soul but for Plato, he added the three(3) components of the
soul;
a. Rational Soul
- it allows us to be omniscient or all-knowing, thinkers. We use our intellect.
- Reason & intellect to govern affairs.
b. The spirited soul
- it allows us to be contemplative, it allows man to regain perfection. So when you
contemplate you think of your emotions.
- Emotions should be kept at bay.
c. The appetitive soul
- it is the in-charge of our basic urges; our desire, sexual urges, and etc.
- When these are attained, the human person’s soul becomes just and virtuous.
- These three components shall be in sync or it should be in harmonious with itself for us to
attain happiness (Happiness is the fruit of virtue; attained by constant imitation of the divine
exemplar of virtue). If not there is chaos, there will be chaos.

● St. Augustine
- He is known for his quote “Si fallor, sum” which means “I am mistaken, I am”.
- He also believed that man is bifurcated nature. ( Bifurcated means there are also two natures.
There is still a body and soul but it is by the illumination of God by “Divine light”, that we can
have knowledge. We are able to know ourselves once we acknowledged the presence of God.
- “only some divinity can show man what is true”.
- So there is a body and soul but it is Christian influenced.
- Body dies on earth but the soul lives eternally in spiritual bliss with God

● St. Thomas Aquinas

- There is self-knowledge if a man acknowledges that he/she is composed of MATTER and FORM.
a. Matter (hyle) - common stuff that makes up everything/
b. Form (morphe) - the essence of substance or thing : (what makes it what it is)
- Theory of Self-knowledge - all our self-knowledge is dependent on our experience of the world
around us. Meaning we know ourselves because of our experiences.
- He argues, our awareness of ourselves is triggered and shaped by our experiences of objects in
our environment.
- The body of human is similar to animals/objects, buy what makes a human is his essence.
- “The soul is what makes us humans”

● Rene Descartes
- The father of modern philosophy.
- Human person is composed of body and mind.
- He is famous for his quote; “Cogito, ergo sum” which means “i think, therefore I am”.
 - Man is a thinking entity distinct from the body. Must use his mind and thinking abilities to
investigate and develop himself.
- In short whatever you think that you will be, then you‘ll be it.

● David Hume
- The self is the bundle theory of mind.
- Man has no clear and intelligible idea of the self.
- There is no “self” only a bundle of constantly changing perceptions passing through the theater
of our minds.
- Self is actually a collection of impressions, your ideas.
- Self is a bundle or collection of different perceptions which succeed each other.
a. Impressions - basic objects of our experience of sensation.
b. Ideas - copies of impressions.

● Emmanuel Kant
- He contradicts the previous philosopher.
- Immanuel Kant: Respect for Self
- Man only creature who governs and directs himself and his actions.
- The man should not be used as a tool. & man should be treated
- The self is a unifying subject, an organizing consciousness that makes intelligible experience
possible.

● Gilbert Ryle
- According to him, SELF is how you behave. The collection of our behaviors would be your
identity.
- The self is the way people behave.
- He supported the philosophy of Plato, St. Augustine, and others that the essential elements of
the dualistic view of the self are the mind and body as distinct entities. However, the “self” is
not an entity one can locate and analyze, but simply the convenient name that people use to
refer to all behavior that people make.

● Maurice Merleau-Ponty
- According to him, the self is embodied subjectivity.
- The division between the “mind” and the “body” is a product of confused thinking.
- The mind and body are so intertwined that they cannot be separated from one another.
- The self is one entity of mind and body.

● John Locke
- Personal identity is made possible by self-consciousness.

● Sigmund Freud
- Sigmund Freud's theory suggests that human behavior is influenced by unconscious memories,
thoughts, and urges. This theory also proposes that the psyche comprises three aspects: the id,
ego, and superego.
- Id is the most primitive part of the personality that is the source of all our most basic urges. The
id is entirely unconscious and serves as the source of all libidinal energy.
- Ego is the component of personality that deals with reality and helps ensure that the demands
of the id are satisfied in ways that are realistic, safe, and socially acceptable.
- The Superego is the part of the personality that holds all of the internalized morals and
standards that we acquire from our parents, family, and society at large.
- In Freudian theory, the human mind is structured into two main parts: the conscious and
unconscious mind. The conscious mind includes all the things we are aware of or can easily
bring into awareness. The unconscious mind, on the other hand, includes all of the things
outside of our awareness—all of the wishes, desires, hopes, urges, and memories that we aren't
aware of, yet continue to influence behavior.
- Freudian psychology compares the mind to an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg that is actually
visible above the water represents just a tiny portion of the mind, while the huge expanse of ice
hidden underneath the water represents the much larger unconscious.
- The preconscious consists of anything that could potentially be brought into the conscious
mind.
- The conscious mind contains all of the thoughts, memories, feelings, and wishes of which we
are aware at any given moment. This is the aspect of our mental processing that we can think
 and talk about rationally. This also includes our memory, which is not always part of
consciousness but can be retrieved easily and brought into awareness.
- The unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that are outside
of our conscious awareness. The unconscious contains contents that are unacceptable or
unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict.

● Paul Churchland
- He is a modern philosopher who studies the brain.
- He contradict/disagree with the dualism. Churchlang sticks to ELIMINATIVE MATERIALISM and
the belief that there is nothing but matter exits .
- ELIMINATIVE MATERIALISM/ELIMINATIVISM churchland asserts that since the mind can be
experienced by our senses then the mind doesn’t really exists. Eliminative materialism argues
that the minds ordinary folk psychology is wrong it is the physical brain and not the imaginary
mind that gives us our sense of self.
- He doesn’t believe that there is really such thing as the mind or the mental states. Mind is
based on FOLK PSYCHOLOGY which is, it is referencing behavior in the brain. According to
Churchland, the idea of folk psychology is insufficient.

➣ Sociological and Antropological Perspective of the Self and (The Self in Western and
Oriental/Eastern Thought)

SOCIOLOGY is a social science that studies human societies, their interactions, and the process that preserve
and change them. SOCIOLOGY comes from the Latin word “socios” which means “companion” and the greek
word logos, which means “the study of”. Thus, Sociology means the study of companionship.

➤THE SELF AS A PRODUCT OF SOCIAL INTERACTION

↪ The self is not present at birth. It develops only with social experience wherein language, gestures, and
objects are used to communicate meaningfully.
↪ • The sociological perspective of the self is based on the assumption that human behavior is influenced by
group life.
↪A particular view of oneself is formed through interactions with other people, groups, or social institutions.

● Charles Cooley
- HE is perhaps best known for his concepts of the looking-glass self, which is the concept that a
person’s self grows out of society’s interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others.
- The concept of the “looking glass-self” is undoubtedly his most famous, and is known and
accepted by most psychologists and sociologists today.
- The term “looking glass-self” was first used by Cooley in his work, Human Nature and the Social
Order in 1902.
- LOOKING GLASS-SELF is the process by which people evaluate themselves based on how others
see them. Who we are is shaped by socialization; the people, groups, institutions, and ideas that
we are surrounded by.

STEPS IN LOOKING GLASS SELF:

1. You imagine how you appear to the other person.
2. You imagine the judgment of the other person.
3. You feel some sense of pride happiness, guilt, or shame.

● GEORGE HERBERT MEAD

- Mead’s theory of the self is completely social. Your self develops through interacting with
others, through reflecting on that interaction, to thinking about how others are perceiving
you, and that helps you generate an image of your self.
(According to George Herbert Mead’s theory of the self develops through interacting with
others, through reflecting on that interaction, to thinking how others are perceiving you, and
that helps you generate an image of yourself. So basically, we learn through social experiences.
The self is created through social interaction.)

- Mead theorized that the self has two parts; which are, Self-Awareness and Self-Image.
- (Wherein, “self-awareness” involves being aware of different aspects of yourself, your traits,
your behavior, and your feelings. Practicing self-awareness is about learning to better
understand why you feel what you feel and why you behave in a particular way. Also, having this
awareness gives you the opportunity and freedom to change things about yourself enabling you
to create the life that you want. The next one is the “self-image”, according to Mead, self-image
on the other hand is a mental picture of yourself both as a physical body and an individual. A
healthy body image means that you see yourself as you really are and that you feel good in your
own skin. Basically, the self-image is a mental picture of yourself.)

- According to Mead, there are different stages in the development of the self.
a. Preparatory Stage. It is the language that develops the self by allowing individuals to
respond to each other through symbols, gestures, words, and sounds.

(Herein the stage where the child does what others act. For example, when someone
slapped a person, the child will do the same.)

b. Play Stage. This is where the children pretend to play the role of a particular or
significant other, usually the parents. Play develops self by allowing individuals to take
different roles, pretend and express expectations of others. Play also develops one’s
self-consciousness through role-playing.

(For example, as we recall our childhood memories, there are times when we played the
called “bahay-bahayan” together with our friends, wherein some of us played as the
role of a father and at that moment they try to imitate and internalize the roles and
pretend to be a father that is included in the play stage.)

c. Game Stage. The game develops self by allowing individuals to understand and adhere
to the rules of the activity. Self is developed by understanding that there are rules in one
must abide by in order to win the game or be successful.
 (In the game stage, this is where children play organized games and take on the
perspective of the generalized other, meaning it is not only the person that surrounds
us, for instance, when we play team games and then we internalize the different roles.
For example, in a “Mataya-Taya” I am the bet and I will chase you and if I chased you,
you’ll be the bet. So here, we learn the rules and internalize the rules, then we use that.
We have the term “generalized other”, which is the perspective and expectations of a
network of others or basically the society. What does society expect from us? If you’re a
girl you should play with dolls and if you're a boy you should play with cars, swords, and
etc. what happens next is that we internalize those expectations and used it to shape
our own behavior which results to the dual nature of the self or the belief that we
experience the self both subject and object, the “I” and “me”. So what’s the difference?
The “I” is spontaneous and unpredictable, it is your part wherein you don’t care about
society, you are only concerned about yourself, on the other hand, we have our “me”, it
is the part of you that is being socialized to think beyond yourself. Here, you’re not just
thinking about yourself, but also the expectation of your society. In short, “me” is
selfless, and “I” is selfish.)

● GERRY LANUZA
- According to Gerry Lanuza, in modern societies, the attainment and stability of self-identity is
freely chosen. It is no longer restricted by customs and traditions.
- These freedom and changes offer opportunities for self-cultivation but problems may also
arise(e.g., alienation and dehumanization).
- For instance, it limits the face to face, close relationships with others, especially among family
members

● ERVING GOFFMAN
- We use “impression management” to present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived.
DRAMATURGY
- Each situation is a new scene and we perform different roles depending on who is present.
- In his theory of dramaturgical analysis, he argued that people live their lives much like actors
performing on a stage.
( So basically here, he is trying to say is that people routinely behave like actors on a stage.
Everyday social life becomes theatrical there are roles, scripts, and actions. His concept is
focused on individuals, on taking on their roles and act them out. To whom and why? We act to
the people around as and he called them as our audience because we want to give a positive
impressions to the audience, and he called his concept as DRAMATURGY (Uses the metaphor
of theater to explain human behavior).
- The self is constructed through interaction and he proposed the concept of interaction order.
- Interaction order - it is what we do in the immediate presence of others.

AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION is a lifelong process during which learn about social expectations and how to
interact with other people. Nearly all of the behavior that we consider to be human nature is actually learned
through socialization. Socialization occurs throughout our lives but some of the most important socialization
occurs in childhood.

● FAMILY
- Family is a crucial part of the community. Families introduce children to the expectations of the society.
- Family is our first teacher who enlightens our minds about life and morality. It serves as the foundation
of love that enhances an individual’s integrity to develop self-love, confidence, behavior, and cognitive
growth that will help us to become better person within the community.

● SCHOOL
- In school, teacher and other students are the source of expectations that encourage children to
think and behave in particular ways.
- School is the agent of socialization not only gives us knowledge but teaches us the life skills and
the significance of life. Socializing in school gives us tons of experience that help us to shape our
behavior and attitude. School provides knowledge and learnings that serves as a useful tool
that we can use to secure our life in the future.

● PEERS
- Peer culture is an important source of identity. Through interaction with peers, children learn
concepts of self, gain social skills, and form values and attitudes.
 - Peers are groups of people with similar interests, ages, and backgrounds in life. They are
valuable sources of knowledge, feedback, and support for people and build strong friendship
that shapes our identity. Our friends are the beam of light in our darkest times that brings joy
and excitement to overcome our fear and trials.

● MASS MEDIA
- The average young person (age 8-19) spends almost 7 hours per day immersed in media in
various forms, often using multiple media forms simultaneously.
- It is essential in our development. It works to transmit heritage, cultural values and spread
educational information that makes us more knowledgeable and smart. It connects us with
people through modern technology and influences the younger generation to express
themselves to even better. It is also a credible source of information that gave us the chance to
value our sense of belongingness in our society.

● RELIGION
- Children tend to develop the same religious beliefs as their parents. Very often those who
disavow religion return to their original faith at some point in their life, especially if they have
strong ties to their family of origin and after they form families of their own.
- It is an essential agent of socialization for many people in society. Its morals and beliefs can
open the mind of people to reinforce gender roles positive behaviors, and foster a shared
socialized value. It makes our faith stronger and connects our hearts and soul to God.
➣ The Self in a Psychological Perspective

According to Carl Rogers, the self or our self-concept” is organized, consistent set of perceptions of and beliefs
about oneself” (Passer& Smith, 2007, p. 451). These perceptions and beliefs that comprise our self-concept are
called self-schemas.
➣ The Self in a Physical Perspective

There is always a pressure in our society to look good, and to seek a visually-better version of ourselves. We
often get so caught up with the ways we can make sure that we look beautiful and nice, that sometimes, we
frown at our natural looks, our dark complexion perhaps, or even our short stature.

The social pressure of looking perfect gave rise to the many beauty products and enhancement procedures,
being patronized by a large portion of our population, no matter how expensive they might be, just to fit in,
to be accepted, and be beautiful. In the global society where fairer skin and a size zero for women are deemed
attractive if not stunning, we can only expect ourselves to follow and abide by the mantra, “Beauty is Power”,
no matter how destructive it might be for us.

Science explains that our parents are very much instrumental in understanding why we look how we look.
● Gregor Mendel first figured out how genes are passed from parents to offspring in plants, including
humans. His experiments on pea plants showed that genes are passed intact from generation to
generation and that traits are not blended. Mendel’s discovery was that it is through the genes that
traits were passed from parent to offspring through several generations. (Cummings, 2016).
● Genetics definitely has a hand on our physical appearance. Our biology dictates that our looks are a
result of the genes transferred to us by our parents. From our skin tone, hair color, to our height, our
physical features are an evidence that we are our parents’ children. When heredity is actually at work,
we find ourselves being the mirrors of our parents, which was the result of their DNAs
(deoxyribonucleic acid) at work in us, and for some, even looking like carbon copies of them.

- Beauty can define or describe according to the culture you belong in. Different cultures have different
standards of beauty.

- Lakoof and Scherr (1989), in their book Face Value: The Politics of Beauty, explain this perfectly saying that...
“beauty was not just a product of wealth, but a commodity in and of itself. In other words, it was no longer
a matter of looking to wealth to find beauty, but of looking to beauty to find status. Now, beauty could give
the illusion of wealth.”
(Meaning, when you are beautiful it seems a good asset. When you are beautiful you have the privilege to be
first in line, you have the privilege to have a seat in the public vehicle, like there will be someone that will give
their seat to you, and so on. It shows that beauty is a commodity for a person to get status.)

In the Philippines, the construction of local standards of beauty can be traced from our colonial influences.
Skin color signifies the value of the people in society. Lighter skinned individuals are considered higher in terms
of social status, and therefore, in the social rank compared to those with brown or dark skin (Rondilla, 2012).
Our concept of physical selves as Filipinos is largely associated with our skin color. Historically, our people were
colonized by fairer skinned races- the Spaniards, the Americans, and the Japanese.
The colonization of our country by these white-skinned people lasted for more than three centuries. We were
forced to believe that they were the more superior people, more civilized, and even how they look were
deemed as standard beauty – a very Eurocentric perspective which has influenced our concept of
attractiveness even today. Free as we are claiming we are, still our mindset is still a slave to the whiteness has
become a goal for most Filipino that even our television and movie personalities here mirror their looks.
● As our society puts premium to Eurocentric centric standard of beauty, we victimize our own people for
looking otherwise.
➣ The Self in a Sexual Perspective

•The Biological feature that distinguishes male and female:

- Male reproductive system
- female reproductive system
• The two reproductive organs are called the PRIMARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS because they are present at
birth and compromise the external and internal genitalia. On the other hand, there is what we called the
SECONDARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS which happen during puberty. When a person is in adolescent period there
is changes in the physical appearance of the person such as having an engagement on their adam's apple,
facial hair, broad shoulder body becomes more muscular, and etc, for male, and mature breast, broader hips
for women, and pubic hair for both gender.
• SECONDARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS happens during puberty because of the hormones;
- Oestrogen for females in which responsible for breast growth, pubic hair grows, and wide hips develop.
- Testosterone for males which is responsible for body hair growth, voice breaks, and muscle growth
increases.

• When PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES are triggered within the adolescent's reproductive system, he/she is likely
to experience sexual urges, become more sensitive to sexual stimuli, and feel sexual arousal.

• A person should be aware of his/her sexuality and sexual attributes in order to make responsible decisions.
Adolescents need to realize the importance of having informed choices.

SEXUAL IDENTITY AND GENDER ORIENTATION

• Their differences:
- Sexual Identity - it refers to your biological sex if you are male or female. One's assignment upon birth and
is dependent on physical features.
- Gender Orientation - it is an identity that is learned and embraced by an individual. For example, the
members of the LGBTQIA+ Community. / It is how you express yourself.

GENDER ROLES

•There is what we called Traditional Gender Stereotypes; here are the examples
THE CONSEQUENCES OF SEXUAL CHOICES

Sexual Intercourse is also known as copulation. And it is done not only with female to male but also male to
male, female to female, or by a group.

•Unprotected sex results to:

- Having a baby
- Sexually-Transmitted diseases (STDs)

=Syphilis is a bacterial infection usually spread by contact. The disease starts as a painless sore — typically
on your genitals, rectum, or mouth.
= Gonorrhea is an infection caused by a sexually transmitted bacterium that infects both males and
females. Gonorrhea most often affects the urethra, rectum, or throat. In females, gonorrhea can also infect the
cervix. Gonorrhea is most commonly spread during vaginal, oral, or anal sex.
= Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by a bacteria called chlayTrachomatis. Usually,
it doesn't cause any symptoms and can be easily treated with antibiotics. However, if it isn't treated early it can
spread to other parts of your body and lead to long-term health problems.

The symptoms for women are;

- vaginal discharge
-burning or pain while urinating
- lower abdominal pain
- nausea
- fever
- pain during copulation
- bleeding between periods
The symptoms for men are;
- penis discharged
- burning or pain while urinating
- burning or itching in the opening of the penis
- testicular pain
- swelling of the testicles (although this is uncommon)
= Genital Warts are soft growths that appear on the genitals. They cause pain, discomfort, and itching.

The most alarming sexually transmitted disease is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) caused by the
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
= It can be transmitted by contact between broken skin, wounds, or mucous membranes, and HIV-infected
blood or blood-contaminated body fluids.

RESPONSIBLE SEXUAL BEHAVIOR ENTAILS THE FOLLOWING:

- Respect for one's body
- Respect for maturity in thoughts and deeds
- Being guided by one's personal beliefs and core values
- Being future-oriented

“Finding yourself is a life-long journey”

- Toni Gonzaga -