5. INTRODUCTION
Philosophy employs questioning to discover
and understand the causes, reasons, and
principles of everything. It goes beyond scientific
investigation by exploring all areas of knowledge
such as religion, psychology, and medicine.

6. The etymological definition of Philosophy
“love of wisdom” pertains to the desire for truth
and answers to every question about the nature
of existence and this s one of the topics of
interest among philosophers. The great Greek
philosophers were the ones who seriously
questioned myths and moved away from them
to understand reality and respond to perennial
questions of curiosity, including the question of
the self.

7. The Philosophers and
their Perspective of
the Self.

9. For Socrates the self is synonymous
with the soul. He believes that every human
possesses an immortal and enduring soul that
survives the physical body. He was the first to
focus on the full power of reason on the human
self: who we are, who we should be and who we
will become.
He also suggests that REALITY divided
into two categorical realms: the physical and
the ideal realm. The Physical realm is
changeable, momentary, and imperfect while
the Ideal realm is unchanging, eternal, and
immortal or undying. Hence, our physical world
and body belong to the physical realm while the
real meaning of soul, life, truth, beauty and
goodness belong to the ideal realm.

10. Socrates explains that the essence or
real meaning of the SELF or the SOUL is the
everlasting being for it is the soul that strives
for wisdom and perfection and the dictate of
reason as the soul’s tool to achieve a dignified
and noble state of human being. Socrates thus
suggests that man must live an examined life
and a life of purpose and value. For him
examining our thoughts and emotions through
a process called introspection increases self-
awareness and inclines us to become virtuous
as we continuously search for a meaningful life.

12. PLATO believes and elaborates on
Socrate’s concept of the soul on the basis of
process of self-knowledge and purification of
the soul. Specifically, he introduces the idea
of a three-part soul/self: reason, physical
appetite and spirit of passion. He points out
Reason as the divine essence that enables
us to think deeply make wise choices and
achieve a true understanding of eternal
truths. Our basic emotions such as love,
anger, ambition aggressiveness and
empathy are the Spirit or Passion while
our biological needs like hunger, thirst, and
sexual desire are Physical Appetite.

13. Further, having described his
vision of the soul/self, Plato
elaborates his Theory of Forms where
he introduced the concepts of the two
worlds: the world of Forms (the non-
physical ideas) is real and permanent
while the world of Sense (reality) is
temporary and just a replica of the
ideal world. He claims that the
sensible world is dependent on the
ideal world where the concept of the
self/soul belongs and since the soul is
regarded as something permanent, we
should give more importance to it
than the physical body which resides
in the world of sense.

15. ARISTOTLE believes that the soul is
merely a set of defining features and does not
consider the body and soul as separate
entities. He suggests that anything with life
has a soul and holds that the soul is the
essence of all living things. However, he
claims that we, humans differ from other
living things because of our capacity for
rational thinking. His discussion about the
self centers on the three kinds of soul we
possess: the Vegetative Soul includes the
physical body that can grow, the Sentient
Soul includes sensual desires, feelings, and
emotions, thirdly, the Rational Soul is what
makes us human it includes the intellect that
allows us to know and understand things.
Thus, Aristotle suggests that the rational
nature of the self is to lead a good and
fulfilling life which includes doing virtuous or
righteous actions.

17. St. Augustine integrates the ideas of Plato
and teachings of Christianity and regarded as a saint
in the Catholic Church. He views the body as spouse
of the soul, united and inseparable and according to
him, this is what makes us entirely complete as
human. As a religious philosopher, he considers soul
as an important element of man and that the soul is
what governs and defines us as man.
In his work, Confessions, Augustine describes
humanity as likeness of God and takes everything
created by God who is all good is good. He is
convinced that the self is known only through
knowing God and self-knowledge is a consequence of
knowledge of God. For him, knowledge can only
come by seeing the truth that dwells within us. The
TRUTH which Augustine speaks refers to the truth of
knowing God. God is transcendent and the self seeks
to be united with God through faith and reason.

19. RENE DESCARTES is a French philosopher
and the father of modern philosophy for he
brought an entirely new perspective to philosophy
and the self. The Latin phrase Cogito ergo sum- “I
think therefore I am” is the keystone of
Descartes’ concept of the self. For him, the act of
thinking about the self is in itself proof that there
is a self and no rational person will doubt his or
her own existence as a conscious thinking human
being. Further, he contends that if man reflects
thoughtfully he will realize that there are two
dimensions of the human self: The self as a
thinking entity and the self as a physical body.

21. The human mind at birth according to
JOHN LOCKE is a blank slate “tabula rasa”. He
explains that the self or personal identity is formed
from sense experiences and these experiences
shape and mold the self throughout a person’s life.
For him, self awareness and memory of
experiences are keys to understanding the self and
the essence of the self is its conscious awareness
of itself as thinking, reasoning, and reflecting
identity. At this point, he proposes that people
could use the power of reason to gain knowledge
and consequently use this knowledge to
understand experiences. Knowledge is based on
careful observation of experiences. Reason plays
an important role in helping to figure out the
significance of sense experience and to reach
intelligent conclusions.

23. DAVID HUME explains that people experience is just a
bundle or collection of different perceptions. He maintains that if
people carefully examine the contents of their experience, they will
find that there are only distinct entities: impressions and ideas.
Impressions are the basic sensations of people’s experience, vivid,
and are strong and lively such as hate and love.
Hume asks us to consider what impression gives us our
concept of self. We tend to think of ourselves as selves—stable
entities that exist over time. But no matter how closely we examine
our own experiences, we never observe anything beyond a series of
transient feelings, sensations, and impressions. We cannot observe
ourselves, or what we are, in a unified way. There is no impression
of the “self” that ties our particular impressions together. In other
words, we can never be directly aware of ourselves, only of what we
are experiencing at any given moment. Although the relations
between our ideas, feelings, and so on, may be traced through time
by memory, there is no real evidence of any core that connects
them. This argument also applies to the concept of the soul. Hume
suggests that the self is just a bundle of perceptions, like links in a
chain. To look for a unifying self beyond those perceptions is like
looking for a chain apart from the links that constitute it. Hume
argues that our concept of the self is a result of our natural habit of
attributing unified existence to any collection of associated parts.
This belief is natural, but there is no logical support for it.

25. According to IMMANUEL KANT,
we all have an inner and an
outer self which together form our
consciousness. The inner self is
comprised of our psychological state
and our rational intellect. The
outer self includes our sense and the
physical world. For him, the self is an
organizing principle that makes a
unified and intelligible experience
possible. In other words, the self
constructs its own reality, actively
creating a world that is familiar and
predictable. Jump to Self-
consciousness - Enlightenment is
about thinking for oneself rather than
letting others think for you. Hence the
self is the product of reason.

26. INTRODUCTION
Sociological theories of the self attempt to explain
how social processes such as socialization influence the
development of the self. When we are born, we have a
genetic makeup and biological traits. However, who we are
as human beings develops through social interaction.
Many scholars, in the field of sociology, have described the
process of self-development as a precursor to
understanding how that “self” becomes socialized.
Sociology as a scientific study of social groups and
human relationships generates new insights into the
interconnectedness between the self and other people.
Hence, sociologists offer theories to explain how the self
merges as a product of social experience.

28. CHARLES HORTON COOLEY: The Looking-Glass Self
Cooley's most significant contribution was his
idea of the “looking-glass-self.” The concept of
the looking glass self explains that people whom we
interact with become a mirror in which we view our
self. For him, self-identity or self-image is achieved
through a threefold event which begins by conceiving
an idea of how we present ourselves to others, how we
analyze other’s perception about us, and how we
create an image of ourselves. Since these perceptions
are subjective, we might have wrong interpretations of
how other people evaluate us and it would be critical
if we think that others judge us unfavorably because
we could also develop a negative self-image.

29. Figure 1. How the Looking-Glass Self works

31. GEORGE HERBERT MEAD: Theory of the Social Self
He supports the view that a person develops a sense of self
through social interaction and not the biological preconditions of
that interaction. He posits that the social self is based on the
perspective that the self emerges from social interactions, such as
observing and interacting with others, responding to others'
opinions about oneself, and internalizing external opinions and
internal feelings about oneself.
Mead’s theory of the social self explained that the self has
two divisions:
The ‘I’ and the ’ME’. The “me” is the social self and the
objective element of the self that represents the internalized
attitudes and demands of other people and the people’s awareness
to these demands. The “I” is the response to the “me” and the
subjective element and the active side of the self. It is the
individual's impulses and unique traits.

32. Figure 2. The self and the interaction between the I and the me.

33. Further, the full development of the self is attained when
the ‘I’ and ‘ME’ are united. According to Mead, the self is not present
at birth, it develops only with social experience and it is through
this experience that we learned to understand the world from
other’s point of view. This explains that in our social contacts, we
infer other’s actions and this process allows us to direct our
behavior which Mead suggests Role Taking process. It is when we
perform our own particular role.
The SELF in a three-stage process
1. Preparatory Stage (0-3 years old), Children imitate the people
around them without understanding underlying intentions, and
so at this stage they have no sense of self.
2. Play Stage (3-5 years old), children start to view themselves in
relation to others as they learn to communicate through
language and symbols. At this stage, role-taking is exhibited.
3. Game Stage (begins in the early school years; about 8-9 years
old), children understand not only their own social position but
also those of others around them.

35. The SELF as a Product of Modern and
Postmodern Societies
According to GERRY LANUZA, the
attainment and stability of self-identity are
freely chosen and it is not restricted by
customs or traditions. However, this newfound
freedom may hinder the full development of
human potentials because of infinite
possibilities for self-cultivation and problems
such as alienation and humanization. For him,
there is a need to discover the “authentic core”
of the self for the individual to freely work
towards self-realization.

37. French sociologist JEAN
BAUDRILLARD exposes the negative
consequences of post modernity to
individuals in the society. He
explains that the postmodern
individuals achieve self-identity
through prestige symbols that they
consume. Thus, the postmodern
person has become an insatiable
consumer and may never be satisfied
in his or her life.

38. INTRODUCTION
Anthropology is concerned with how
cultural and biological processes interact to
shape human experience. Contemporary
anthropologists believe that culture and self
are complementary concepts that are to be
understood in relation to one another.
Compared with other disciplines,
anthropology possesses a holistic and
integrated approach in examining human
nature. Perhaps the most important
contribution of anthropology is providing
insights into the nature of self based on
continuous understanding of the basic
elements of culture (Peacock, 1986).

40. The Cultural Construction of Self and Identity
EDWARD TYLOR defines culture as
complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any
other capabilities and habits acquired by man
as a member of society. It is emphasized that
culture is not behavior itself but the shared
understanding that guide behavior and are
expressed in behavior. Therefore, it is how we
make sense of our experience and behave
according to socially shared ideas, values, and
perceptions.

42. MARTIN SOKEFELD, German anthropologist, believes
that the concept of self is a necessary supplement to the concept
of culture in anthropology and should be regarded as a human
universal. Thus, culture and self-become complementary
concepts that have to be understood in relation to one another.
In social anthropology the concept of identity was used
mostly in the context of “ethnic identity” that is to point out the
sameness of the self with others and within a group. This
identity therefore makes a human being a person and an acting
individual.
The two ways in which the concept of self is viewed in
different societies are egocentric and sociocentric. In the
egocentric view, the self is seen as autonomous individual who
can act independently from others. While in the sociocentric
view, the self is dependent on a situation or social setting. This
is a view of the self that is context-dependent which emphasizes
that there is no intrinsic self that can possess enduring qualities.

44. One’s identity is not inborn, it is something
people continuously develop in life. ARNOLD VAN
GENNEP believes that changes in one’s status and
identity are marked by a three-phased rite of passage:
1.Separation phase- people detach from their former
identity to another. Example: separation from one’s
family to become part of a new one.
2.Liminality phase- a person transition from one
identity to another. For example, the wedding
ceremony itself is the process of transition of the
bride and groom from singlehood to married life.
3.Incorporation phase- the change in one’s status is
officially incorporated. For example, the wedding
ceremony and reception serve as the markers that
officially recognize the bride and groom’s change
towards being husband and wife.

46. CLIFFORD GEERTZ (1973), an American anthropologist,
offers a reformulation of the concept of culture which favors a
symbolic interpretative model of culture. He defines culture as a
system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by
means of which people communicate, perpetuate, and develop
their knowledge and attitude toward life. Further, he proposes
that it is necessary that we give meanings to our experiences so
that order in the world can be established. Thus, the concept
of culture has its impact on the concept of man. In his attempt
to illustrate an accurate image of man, Geertz suggests two
important ideas:
1. Culture should not be perceived only as complex of concrete
behavior patterns.
2. Man is precisely the animal most desperately dependent upon
such extra-genetic outside the skin control mechanisms, such
cultural programs for ordering his behavior.
The Self as Embedded in Culture

47. INTRODUCTION
The development of self-
understanding in adolescence involves
several theories about the self, identity,
and personality. As the following theories
illustrate, adolescents construct their own
understandings of their selves well by
integrating the information into their lives.
Understanding of the elf is highest when
the different parts of the self-become
integrative.

48. WILLIAM JAMES’ Concept of Self: The
Me-Self and the I-Self
William James suggests that the self is divided into
two categories: the I-self and the ME-self. The I-self refers
to the self that knows who he or she is which is also called
the thinking self. It also reflects the soul of a person or the
mind which is also called the pure ego. The ME-self on the
other hand, is the empirical self which refers to the
person’s personal experiences and is further divided into
sub-categories:
1. The material self is attributed to an individual’s
physical attributes and material possessions that
contribute to one’s self image.
2. The social self refers to who a person is and how he or
she acts in social situations in a different social self
depending on the context of a social situation.

49. CARL ROGERS’ SELF THEORY:
Real and Ideal Self
Self-concept refers to the image of oneself and an aspect
of self understanding that is important in adolescent years.
Rogers defines the self as a flexible and changing perception of
personal identity. He suggests that the self develops from
interactions with significant people and awareness of one’s own
characteristics and level of functioning. He also emphasizes
human beings’ determination for self-fulfilment or self
actualization. When the needs of the self are denied, severe
anxiety may arise. Central to achieving self actualization is the
development of self-concept.
Rogers suggests two components of self-concept. The real self
and the ideal self. The real self consists of all the ideas,
including the awareness of what one is and what one can do. On
the other hand the ideal self is the person’s conception of what
one should be or what one aspires to be which includes one’s
goals and ambitions in life.

50. CARL ROGERS’ SELF THEORY:
Real and Ideal Self

51. CARL ROGERS’ SELF THEORY:
Real and Ideal Self

52. MULTIPLE VERSUS UNIFIED
SELF, TRUE VERSUS FALSE SELF
Self-understanding in adolescents also includes
conceptualizing the self as multiple or unified and true or false. The
construction of multiple selves varies across different interpersonal
and intrapersonal roles and relationship. Coping with different
selves constitutes an alarming and difficult task among adolescents.
These challenges contribute heavily to the young person’s struggle
for a unified self. The task of integrating one’s multiple selves
naturally causes concern. Given the enormous challenges of self-
integration, it is important that adolescents are supported in their
effort to create a consistent, coherent, or unified theory of the self.
D.W. WINNICOTT has found that the self is composed of
the true self and the false self. The function of the false self is to
hide and protect the true self. In other words, adolescents tend to
display a false self to impress others while the true self is shown
when with their family and close friends.

53. THE SELF AS PROACTIVE AND
AGENTIC
ALBERT BANDURA (2001) posits that humans, through their
agency are perceived as proactive agents of experiences. Agency represents
the endowments, belief systems, self-regulatory capabilities, and distributed
structures and functions through which personal influence is exercised,
rather than reside as a discrete or detached entity. Its core features enables
us human beings to play a part in our self-development, adaptation, and
self-renewal with its main features: intentionality forethought, self-
reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness.
 Intentionality refers to acts done intentionally. Intentions center on
plans of action with the anticipation of possible outcomes.
 Forethought enables us to anticipate the likely consequences of
prospective actions. Through the exercise of forethought, we are guided
with our actions in the anticipation of future events.
 Self-reactiveness involves making choices and choosing appropriate
courses of action as well as motivating and regulating them.
 Self-reflectiveness gives us the ability to reflect upon and the adequacy
of our thoughts and actions.

54. INTRODUCTION
The Western concept of self is defined by
Geertz (2008) as a bounded, unique,
more or less integrated motivational and
cognitive universe, a dynamic center of
awareness, emotion, judgment, and
action organized into a distinctive whole
and set contrastively both against other
such whole and against its social and
natural background.

55. Western Self as Individualistic- Western individualism exhibits the
coexistence of favorable and unfavorable conditions inherent in
personal freedom. Although the right to individual freedom provides
opportunities for self-fulfillment, it also increases the likelihood of
experiencing alienation and frustration.
DAVID HO (1995), describes the Western self as an individualistic
self that is deeply aware of itself, its uniqueness, sense of direction,
purpose, and volition. For him, the self is located at the center within
the individual through which the world is perceived. Also, the self is
seen as an entity distinct from other selves and all other entities. This
implies that the self belongs to the individual and to no other. As a
consequence of this complete ownership of self, it becomes a sovereign
subject possessing a sense of personal control. Hence, in an
individualistic perspective, the Western self is the measure of all things,
the source of all reflections.
INDIVIDUALISTIC VERSUS COLLECTIVE SELF

56. Western Self as Collective - The collective self consists of
those aspects of the self that are based on memberships in social
groups or categories. It refers to a perception of self as an
interchangeable exemplar of some social category rather than a
perception of self as a unique person.
In contrast to individualistic cultures, collectivistic cultures to be
characterized by a cultural perspective that places less emphasis on the
uniqueness of the individual’s personal characteristics as the focal point
of predicting and understanding the individual’s actions. Instead, such
cultures place more of an emphasis on the person’s identification with a
group, such as family, country, occupation, or caste, and the
expectations, duties, and roles associated with being a member of a
group as the primary source for understanding the individual (BENET-
MARTÍNEZ & OISHI, 2008).These cultures appear as ‘tight’ societies
because of the high expectations they place on people to conform to
societal values, roles, and norms.
INDIVIDUALISTIC VERSUS COLLECTIVE SELF

57. Due to their restrictive nature, such tight,
collectivistic cultures illustrate the proverb ‘the
nail that stands out gets pounded down’. These
descriptions of individualistic and collectivistic
cultures represent general patterns of thinking
and behavior associated with certain cultural
guidelines. As a point of clarification, within any
given culture there will be personal expression by
individuals who do not conform to such cultural
guidelines. More specifically, even in tight,
collectivistic cultures reflect a greater degree of
personal needs, motives, and values.
INDIVIDUALISTIC VERSUS COLLECTIVE SELF

58. The Confucian doctrines are found in the Analects
(Conversations of Confucius). The core of Confucian
thought is the Golden Rule: “Do not do to others what you
would not want others to do to you.”
The basic virtue or proper conduct is knowing how to
act in relation to others. The most important of
relationships are the FIVE CARDINAL RELATIONSHIPS
between:
1. ruler and minister
2. father and son
3. husband and wife
4. siblings
5. friends
The SELF AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT IN
CONFUCIAN THOUGHT