The Self in Various Perspectives - GEUSELF N05BGroup 4

OCTOBER 2022 ISSUE

the self
IN VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

PHILOSOPHY PSYCHOLOGY

Mind: Personal Identity (The Narrative Self) Self Concept, Self Identity, Social Identity
Self: Personal Identity Toward a Psychology of Human Agency
The Limits of Authenticity
ORIENTAL
SOCIOLOGY
Self in Western Psychology
Who am I? A Sociological Perspective Self in Buddhist Psychology
Emergence of Sociology Six Ideas From Eastern Philosophy
Symbolic Interactionalism
The Self: Classical Sociology

ANTHROPOLOGY

Self as Embedded in Culture
Self, Identity, and Culture
The Filipino Self

GEUSELF N05B GROUP 4

the self

GEUSELF N05B GROUP 4

AGANA, MARIELLE / PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE
ALDAVE, EUNICE / ORIENTAL PERSPECTIVE
BALDE, SETH / SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
CAMU, DOROTHY / ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
MACALALAG, MARCUS / ORIENTAL PERSPECTIVE
MENDOZA, FRANCESCA / ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
MOSTAJO, FRIAH / PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE
REGALADO, REIGN / PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
SILVA, BIANCA / PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

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De La Salle University (DLSU)
A.Y. 2022-2023

introduction

The "self" is defined as a person's essential being that
distinguishes them from others. It's the quality that sets

oneself apart from others; one's own status.



However, the "self" in its true essence is too broad to have
just one pinpointed meaning. There are a lot of perspectives

to which the "self" is viewed as, whether it be it be on its
own or in correlation to its surroundings.



This October 2022 Issue entitled "The Self" offers an in-
depth discussion of the different significant and prominent

perspectives known to man today, namely, Philosophy,
Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, and Oriental.

Philosophical The Self In Various Perspectives

Narrative The word narrative is derived from the Latin
Theories of verb narrare, which means "to tell"; a

Personal narrative is a "story" that represents a series
Identity of events.


BY MARIELLE AGANA &
FRIAH MOSTAJO The strongest interpretations of the narrative
approach assert that both an individual's self-
concept and life have a narrative structure. A

person's narrative identity is the internalized
and ever-evolving story of the self that he or

she constructs to make sense of and seek
meaning in life.



The narrative is a selective reconstruction of
the autobiographical past and a narrative
expectation of the projected future that
conveys to the self and others how the
individual acquired who he or she is and
where the individual's life may be heading.

One of Philosophy's Who am I?
initial and
fundamental What makes
questions is the me, me?
concept of personal
identity. Philosophers' answers are
typically vague. Typically, they
Narrative View
of Personal treat personal identity as a
Identity special case of a more general

Humans are, in essence, sense- metaphysical problem by
making creatures, tellers, asking, "what are the
"homo narrans."
conditions on the preservation
and annihilation of this entity?"
And they usually respond with

farfetched thought
experiments.

Who we are is given by
the story we tell about

ourselves.

From a Narrative View: Because the narrative view
considers humans to be a
"who I am" is determined by the story I tell
myself. constructed out of multitude
to minimize rampant self-deception through of remembered details and
the narrative that an unusually honest and plans, it emphasizes that
introspective version of myself would tell. some human actions are
the startling realization that constructing a either:
"self" is a dynamic, ongoing process
concentrates on the particulars of 1. Central - deep part of humans
individual identities and their specific
places at various points in an entire journey 2. Accidental - happens unexpectedly
through life.
demonstrates the intuitive relationship and unintentionally
between determining who we are and
what we should do

The Problem of The narrative view
Narrative View: tells more about the

identity and
significance of LIVES
than the identity and

significance of
SELVES.

The narrative structure is teleological.

According to Aristotle, the most fundamental characteristic
of a story is that it has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

The significance of narrative events is derived from their
relationship to the story's ending, such as their role in
bringing it about, impeding its culmination, and so on.

But because the Narrative View DEFINES a self in terms of
the narrative it is embedded in, it ultimately holds the
meaning and worth of that self hostage to the conclusion of
the tale. One issue is that many, if not most, lives end at
inappropriate periods, either abruptly or after their primary
purpose has been fulfilled.

It shouldn't serve as the standard for defining and evaluating
personhood in general.

SOLUTION

In light of those problems, it is reasonable to wonder if there is an alternative to
the standard philosophical theories of confidential identity that better explains
the relevance and constructedness of particular selves.

The Self as a Character

The character view, like the narrative view, posits that while constructing our own
identities and interpreting the identities of others, we search for more than a list of

qualities.



As Iris Murdoch puts it, we attempt to turn this nexus of actions, habits,
commitments, and memories into a cohesive whole, a "coherent texture of being."

"Stories help,
but they aren't

necessary for
self-hood."

To be able to maintain such consistency across one's
character can be a difficult and continual challenge.
Nietzsche describes it as "a great and rare art." And one
typical method of doing so is through the telling of stories.



However, these stories often focus on brief moments

within our lives, rather than our lives as a whole.
Furthermore, some people are either predestined to have
a consistent sense of who they are from birth or fortunate

enough to develop that sense of self gradually and
without any conscious effort.



Both stories and characters have the power to make
us question the veracity of our own constructed
identities.



There is no profound, metaphysical difference between us
other than the fact that we are numerically distinct and
have several distinctive traits, many of which are
insignificant.



However, this is not how we conduct our lives, nor is it
possible.



We are, after all, sense-making creatures; in order to
make substantial decisions, create meaningful bonds with

other people, and pursue ambitious initiatives over the
long term, we must first determine what it is that we

personally value, even if, when viewed dispassionately
from a cosmic perspective, such considerations seem to be

of little consequence.

Ben G. Yacobi asks if it is possible to live authentically.

Personal authenticity is often defined
as being true and honest with oneself
and others, having a credibility in one’s
words and behavior, and an absence of

pretence.

The pursuit of authenticity is connected, at least in
part, to the aspiration of gaining a certain level of
autonomy and liberty, or more generally, to the
want to act as one's own life's architect.

provides an antidote to the conditioning that one receives
from the outside world, and to some part, it is a reaction
to the inauthenticity that is prominent throughout culture,
religion, politics, and everyday life
crucial for both the unearthing of the realities of the world
as well as the attainment of one's goals in life, elevating
one's experience to a higher level of significance and
comprehension
a state of inauthenticity = profound dissonance

Authenticity is an individual pursuit, as each person has a unique
manner of being human, and as a result, each person's definition of

authenticity will be diverse.



highly contextual, depending on various social, political, religious, and cultural
characteristics

a continuous process, not an event
recognizing others and the mutual influence between individuals



However, if it is accompanied by an awareness of others and the larger world,
then it has the potential to be a meaningful objective. If, on the other hand, the
quest for personal authenticity is solely for self-fulfillment, then it is individualistic

and ego-based.

Philosophies of
Authenticity

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

social barrier to achieving authenticity (or self-realization)
personal authenticity is diminished by the need for the esteem of others in societies
characterized by hierarchy, inequality, and interdependence
authenticity is derived from the natural self, whereas inauthenticity is a result of external
influences

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)

authenticity is choosing the nature of one’s existence and identity
authenticity to an awareness of mortality

authenticity and inauthenticity are basic forms of being in the world,
and they cannot be separated

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

there is no unchanging essence to the self, but we have a free will that allows us complete
freedom to determine our lives from the choices available
existence precedes essence
authenticity requires taking full responsibility for our life, choices and actions
individual’s freedom is constrained by nature and society, as well as by their own limitations
– ‘facticity’.

Albert Camus (1913-1960)

awareness that we inhabit a universe which doesn’t care about us and
offers us no salvation compels the individual to recognize that the only path

to freedom is authentic self-realization

Common Theme of Personal Authenticity:

Rather than being a fixed condition of being, authenticity is a dynamic process of unending becoming that
takes place within society and the world that is constantly altering. Authenticity and inauthenticity should not

be viewed as mutually incompatible states, but rather as interdependent concepts.

Some Basic
Qualifications

AUTHENTICITY
lifelong project that may never be fully accomplished
involves principles and ideals which are continually re-

evaluated through self-examination and social
interaction

cannot be declared, publicized, instructed, marketed, or
exchanged as some sort of commodity; it must be
understated and unpretentious

capacities for unbiased self-examination and accurate
self-knowledge; reflective judgment; personal

responsibility; humility; empathy for and understanding
of the other [person], as well as a willingness to listen to

feedback from others

Paradoxes of
Authenticity

Immersing oneself in the outside world is the only way to uncover a degree
of personal authenticity; nevertheless, authenticity is attained through
resisting external influences in one's self-realization.

The only way to reach authenticity is to immerse oneself in doubt, yet
uncertainty impedes the revelation of one's genuine self, without which
authenticity cannot be accomplished.

No self-examination, no matter how in-depth or extensive, can ever
disclose one's genuine identity and hence what being authentic truly
entails.

Multiple identities, such as personal, occupational, cultural, ethnic, national,
political, and religious identities, will coexist inside a single individual based
on the responsibilities that an individual fulfills in society.

As opposed to the interpretation of reality itself, human judgments and
attitudes are founded on the interpretation of reality as perceived.

The language utilized is susceptible to misunderstanding, and words and
language are inadequate for conveying the whole range of one's thoughts
and feelings.

Personal authenticity is supposed to exhibit a degree of constancy, even
though the majority of personal characteristics vary with time.

Further Limitations
on Authenticity

lack of understanding of authenticity
one’s prior programming
the fear of rejection and failure
social pressures to conform (and thus live inauthentically)
individuals typically try to show their best faces and express what is
expected of them so that they will be perceived in a good light
the need for collaboration with others may demand some adaptation, that
is, some inauthentic compromise
being under constant observation and scrutiny at best inhibits
authenticity, and at worst makes it nearly impossible

politicians cannot be authentic: they always have to appear confident
and nearly flawless rather than show any honest doubt or
vulnerability
exacerbated by ever-advancing technologies that inundate an
individual’s perception of reality with illusions, such as television - virtual
reality
the pervasive use of virtual reality may eventually result in difficulties
distinguishing between virtual and real experiences, exacerbating the
endless human propensity for self-deception and self-delusion
merging of humans and machines may necessitate new definitions of
what a human being is, and generate new problems related to human
nature and identity, the nature of society, and the meanings of
existence and human authenticity.

"If life is an art, as in any art form, one can approach perfection, but one can
never arrive. As for personal authenticity, some never bother with it, some
discover it in certain actions, some strive to approach it in both life and art,

but very few ever arrive."

Is the being in the What am I?
past and future,
me? When did I begin?

Personal Personal Identity deals with a
Identity wide range of loosely
and Its
Problems connected philosophical
questions about ourselves by

virtue of our being people.
Locke and Hume suggest that

consciousness plays a
significant role in answering

these questions.

The Problems of
Personal Identity

The Persistence Question

What does it take for a human person existing at another time to
be numerically identical to you?

The persistence question ponders our survival into the future as
well as our existence in the past. To be numerically identical
means to be one and the same. However, it is significant to note
that we change throughout our life. We do not remain
qualitatively the same. Thus, a past or future person need not be
exactly like you are in the present to be numerically identical
with you.

Proposed answers:
The Psychological-continuity View

Some mental features (psychological continuity) are both
necessary and sufficient for one to persist through time. You
are the future and past being that will inherit or have
inherited mental features such as beliefs, memories, and
capacity for rational thought, respectively.

But how much of those mental features is considered enough to
be you?

The Brute-physical View or the Bodily Criterion
Our persistence through time consists of some brute physical
relation and has nothing to do with psychological facts. You
are the past or future being that has your body, or is the
same organism as you. However, hybrid views (both
physical and mental) are also possible.

The Problems of
Personal Identity

Simple View or Anticriterialism

Mental and physical continuity are indicators of our perseverance, but do not always guarantee it
and are not essential.
There is no type of continuity that is both absolutely required and entirely adequate for us to
survive. People do not have any informative or non-trivial persistence criteria.

The Population Question

What determines how many of us are there at a given time and place?

Does the existence of two or more separate consciousness in the same person
suggests that there are two or more beings? (e.g. Dissociative identity disorder).
Biological unity says there will be one, while psychological unity says there will be
two or more people. The psychological-unity account is more popular.

The Personal-ontology Question

What are the most general and fundamental characteristics of a human person?
Can we exist by ourselves (ontologically independent), or are we aspects or

mere states of something else? To answer the question, we need to know what
sort of thing it is that thinks and is conscious. The answer to this question would

tell us about our metaphysical nature.

Proposed answers:
We might be:

Biological organisms (rejected by philosophers)
Immaterial substances or souls
Material things but not organisms
Temporal parts of organisms

you are spatially the same size as your animal body but
temporally shorter, in that the animal extends further
into the past or future than you do.

Non-organisms that are made of the same
matter as our animal bodies.
Bundles of mental states and events
Non-existent

What Matters in identity Locke

The practical significance of knowledge Problem:
concerning human persistence across Goes against numerical identity [if x(past)
time. and y(present) are one, and y and
z(future) are one, x and z cannot be two]
“Why do we care more deeply about Solution :
ourselves than others?”
by switching from direct to indirect
Each of us has a unique cause to be memory connections
concerned about our own future well-being.
The only person whose future well-being we Problem:
cannot logically disregard is ourselves. Remembering details that you can only
However, it is quite possible to have an remember by your own
entirely selfish reason to care about Solution:
someone else’s welfare, for their own sake.
We may care for others because of their quasi-memory (memory without
psychological connections with ourselves. identity)

The Psychological-Continuity Solution:
View Causal dependence
Psychological connectedness
Any being who is psychologically continuous
with you must be you. if the being's psychological state at a
future time is largely because of the
Memory Criterion psychological state I am in now

A being in the past or future is you only if Psychological continuity
you can now recall an experience that being if my current mental states relate to past
experienced then, or that being can recall or future being by a chain of
an experience you are currently having. psychological connections

The Beginning and End of Life

Beginning
Based on the psychological-continuity view, none of us
was ever an embryo. You can never be psychologically
continuous with a being that has no psychological state.
The earliest you could have existed is when the fetus had
acquired its mental state.

End
One cannot exist in a vegetative state as mental states
were already destroyed. You would cease to exist, as no
one would be psychologically continuous with you.

The Persistence and Personal Ontology

The psychological-continuity view appears to rule out our
being organisms. Even in such a case where we no longer have
a brain, we would still remain since we are organisms (which
goes against the psychological-continuity view).

The Too-Many-Minds Problem

Our body is an organism even if you are not. As such, it follows
that there is a conscious, intelligent being other than you. (at
least twice as many thinking beings). Even if the psychological-
continuity view is true, it seems that you could never know
whether it applied to you: for all you can tell, you may instead
be an organism with brute physical persistence conditions.

Solutions:
1.Human animals are not psychologically indistinguishable
from us. They themselves do not think and are not
conscious.
2. Concede that human organisms think as we do.

Psychological The Self In Various Perspectives

Self
Concept,

Self
Identity,

Social
Identity

Self Concept

Self concept refers to the term used to describe how someone
thinks about, perceives or evaluates themselves.

Self Identity

Self identity is one's awareness of their own unique
characteristics and psyche.

Social Identity

Social identity are the categorical social groups an individual
belongs and identifies to.

To be self aware is to have a self concept.

Toward a
Psychology

of Human
Agency

BY BIANCA SILVA & REIGN REGALADO

Bandura’s Toward a Psychology of Human Agency
presents that individuals are capable of influencing

circumstances and their life outcomes. Human nature is
ordained by original divine design. Through

evolutionism, the concept transformed to which human
nature is shaped by environmental pressures acting on

random gene mutations and reproductive
recombinations such as the ability to form non
teleological process devoid of deliberate plan or
purposes and the symbolic ability to comprehend,
predict, and alter the course of events confers

considerable functional advantage.



Cognitive self-regulation is also a part of human
nature. It refers to the created visualized future of
humans that act on the present and modify alternative

courses of action to attain desirable outcomes.



Human’s evolutionary emergence made them capable of
shaping their life circumstances and the sources of their
life’s trajectory. It is explained through an agent theory

of human development, adaptation, and change.

Core Properties of
Human Agency

The Social Cognitive Theory adopts an agentic perspective established by
four core principles of the theory namely: intentionality, forethought, self-

reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness. These agents influence a human’s
functioning and life circumstances.

Intentionality

Intentionality is the formation of plans and strategies for realizations. It is highly
influenced by self-interests to achieve unity effort despite diversity. Bratman (1999)
suggests that collective endeavors are successful through commitment to a shared
goal and coordinated interdependent plans, therefore, effective group performance
is guided by collective intentionality.

Forethought

Forethought is the agent that fuels action; the expecting and anticipating of
outcomes. A future cannot be a cause of current behavior because it has no
material existence, but through the cognitive representation of humans, visual
futures or imaginary futures are brought into existence as guides and motivators to
influence a behavior. This perspective provides direction, coherence, and meaning
to one’s life.

Self-reactiveness

Self-reactiveness links the gap between thought and action (Bandura, 1991a;
Carlson, 2002). After planning, and visualization, the agent or the individual self-
regulates and executes.

Self-reflectiveness

This agentic property suggests that individuals do not only strategize and act, but
they also assess themselves and make improvements in aspects that they think they
lack in, which is the most distinctive property of humans enabling them to evolve or
develop.

People do not operate as autonomous agents. Nor is their behavior
wholly determined by situational influences.

Rather, human functioning is a product of a reciprocal interplay of
intrapersonal, behavioral, and environmental determinants
(Bandura, 1986).

Human activity builds social systems, which in turn aid in the
organization, direction, and regulation of human affairs. However,
there is a varying interpretation, adaptation, enforcement,
circumvention, and opposition to social rules and sanctions driven by
the personal variations of humans. Depending on the circumstance, an
action may be an agentic influence, a reaction, or an environmental
result. The terms "environment," "behavior," and "outcomes" cannot be
used interchangeably as if they were fundamentally independent
events with separate characteristics inherent in them.

Human agency raises an issue
between freedom and
determinism. In a social
cognitive perspective, freedom
is not just the absence of
constraints, but also the
exercise of self-influence to
realize desired outcomes. It is
not just the liberty to act, but
also the level of engagement
and self-influence they bring to
bear. Since humans are both
producers and products of
their life circumstances, they
are the partial authors of the
past conditions that developed
them, as well as the future
courses their lives take.

Modes of Agency

Social cognitive theory distinguishes three modes of agency: individual,
proxy, and collective. Everyday functioning requires an agentic blend of

these three forms of agency.

Individual

People bring their influence to bear on their own functioning and on environmental
events.

Proxy

Socially mediated agency, meaning that they do not have direct control over
influences that affect their lives. People exercise proxy agency by influencing
others who have resources, knowledge, and means to act on their behalf and
achieve the outcomes they desire.

Collective

Groups of individuals pool their knowledge, resources, and skills to act collectively in
service of shaping their future. A crucial component of collective agency is people's
shared conviction in their ability to accomplish goals as a group. In this setting,
members contribute to the transactional dynamics to forward group attainments
through their common beliefs and this involves interactive and synergistic dynamics
that create emergent group-level properties not reducible solely to indi-vidual
attributes.

Agentic Management
of Fortuity

There are a lot of fortuity or circumstances by chance that affect
the course of life of humans. A seemingly insignificant fortuitous
event can set in motion constellations of influences that change the
course of lives. Fortuitous events introduce an element of
indeterminacy in behavioral sciences. The different routes that
contribute to a fortuitous event each have their own determinants,
but they are disconnected until they actually cross paths. At this
point, the interaction produces a special confluence of influences
that have the power to change people's lives.

Agentic management event of fortuity illustrates that chance does
not necessarily have totally uncontrollable outcomes. On the
unpredictable nature of life, people can make some influence by
leading an active life that improves the quantity and variety of
chance interactions they will have (Austin, 1978). People also make
chance work for them by cultivating their interests, enabling beliefs,
and competencies (Bandura, 1998).

Non Agentic Theoretical
Approaches

Nonagentic theoretical approaches refers to the alternative theories
that affect the function and form of the trajectory of human
behavior. A noncausal connector is proposed by radical
behaviorism, a linear central processor by computerized cognitivism,
and interconnected, neuron-like modules by parallel distributed
connectionism. However, input -> throughput -> output is the
bottom-up causation shared by these theories. Each of these models
involves the environment influencing the biological machinery that
unconsciously and automatically produces the outcome. These
nonagentic concepts deprive people of their agency, self-identity,
and functional consciousness.

Physicalistic Agency
of Human Theory

The human mind is generative, creative, proactive, and
reflective, not just reactive. Physicalistic theory of human agency
answers the question how do people activate brain processes to
realize given intentions and purposes? Consciousness is the very
substance of mental life. It provides the means to make life not
only personally manageable, but also worth living. It includes a
nonreflective component, which refers to unconscious actions,
and a reflective awareness component, which involves
purposefully accessing and deliberatively processing information
for selecting, constructing, regulating, and evaluating courses of
action, as well as a conceptual functional component operating
mainly through the linguistic medium as most human thinking
operates through language.

Individuals obviously neither are aware of nor directly control
their neuronal processes and functional structures. Rather, they
exercise second-order control. They do so by intentionally
engaging in activities known to be func- tionally related to given
outcomes. The fact that individuals have no awareness of their
brain processes does not mean that they are just quiescent hosts
of automata that dictate their behavior.

Proactive Agents
Versus Onlookers

People are capable of contributing actions
for their environments, they do not only
undergo the experience. The human brain
is able to simulate sensory and motor
systems in order for the individual to
accomplish the task and achieve a
favourable outcome. As agents, individuals
react to their environment and gain
engaging experiences.

Ontological &
Epistemological

Reductionsim

Reductionism pertains to the deconstruction of complex
phenomena into simpler concepts. That is said to aid in

understanding events by breaking them down into rudimentary
concepts and comprehending them.


Ontological Reductionism

This perspective says that mental events or processes are not
merely immaterial, but rather physical brain activities.


Epistemological Reductionism

Through this lens, it is believed that psychosocial phenomena are
explainable by atomic and molecular level laws.

ORIGIN
OF PERSONAL AGENCY

The self must be socially constructed through
transactional experiences with the environment.

Infants are not born with a sense of personal
agency. They acquire it as they get to be

influenced by their environment and interact with
their environment. Infants develop personal agency

by themselves as they realize that they can make
things happen and they consider themselves as
agents of their actions. That explains how the
development progression of a sense of personal
agency moves from casual relations between
environmental events, through understanding

causation via action, and finally recognizing oneself
as the agent of their action. Additionally to note,

the process is not solely reliable on the self but also
socially influenced.

FOUNDATION

OF HUMAN AGENCY

Self-efficacy is the person’s belief in their
capability to exercise some measure of control over

their own functioning and over environmental
events. That is the main foundation of the human
agency. People’s incentive to act, be motivated,
and to persevere in difficult times is fueled by their
belief that they have the capability to produce their
desired effects through their actions. Though social
factors, that also aid to their success, may exist,
they are rooted in the core belief that an individual
is powerful enough to cause change using their own

hands.

Moral Agency

This is the humans’ sense of right and wrong. It acts on dual aspects: inhibitive
and proactive. Inhibitive is one’s power to refrain from producing inhumane
behaviours. On the other hand, proactive form is expressed by humane
actions.

Moral agents are said to commit to righteous causes
and social obligations.

They are also known to consider the moralistic implications of their every
choice and they accept and understand their responsibility for their actions
and the consequences they cause others.

Agency in a Cultural Context

Along the evolution of humans, diverse cultures have been formed. People
tend to behave communally in some aspects of their lives. But they also
tend to behave individualistically in others.

Growing Primacy of Human Agency
in Diverse Spheres of Life

With constant developments, come constant changes and new challenges.
Humans have improved and innovated a lot of technological
advancements that are widely used today, especially in the health and
education sector. The continuous discoveries and improvements are
opening new doors for new opportunities for people to exercise some
control over their lives.

Geneticization of
Human Behavior

Over the past decades and eras, the human species has
experienced little genetical changes. But they do have
undergone great changes evident within social aspects such
as beliefs, behavior, mores, cohabitational arrangements,

and family practices.

Growing Primacy of
Human Agency in the
Coevolution Process

Humans have undergone drastic development for cognitive
thinking abilities and resilience towards their environment.
That has helped the species achieve dominance over the

circle of life.

Oriental The Self In Various Perspectives

SELF IN
WESTERN
PSYCHOLOGY

by Marcus Macalalag

Self in Western Psychology is mainly derived from three works:
Freud, Jung, and Rogers. Here, formulations possess homunculus-
qualities that are lacking in Eastern notions (especially those from
the Vijnanavada and Zen Buddhist traditions).

In Western Psychology, the concept of self takes many forms,
involving a dimension of "thingness" to some extent-- the reification
of a homunculus assumed to reside within an individual who is a
thinker of thoughts, doer of deeds, and a feeler of feelings.
This notion of an "inner person," although regarded as an
explanatory fiction, is widely endorsed in the West.

The origins of this inner self were found
in the Judeo-Christian tradition's idea
of the soul, wherein it was then elaboration
by Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas.
It was then passed to Rene Descartes,
where it is now referred to as mind.

Sigmund Freud (1940) provided a homoncular quality, even it not as finely
complex, tripartite-analysis model of this sketched as his predecessors.
inner self: id, ego, and super-ego. This
became a distinguishing feature of his Although Self in Western Psychology was
psychoanalytic theory. Served as the mainly derived from these three works,
model of self was his "ego," being there are a number of other pioneers who
developed in a number of theories by have put forth their ideas regarding the
those who wrote in his wake. self.

Carl Gustav Jung (Jacobi, 1942) offered Alfred Adler (1927) suggested the notion
psychology's most significant expansion of a "creative self," something that
of the homuncular thesis. He discerned explained the innate abilities and
the ego as the center of consciousness, experiential components of an individual.
while the self as the emergent integration Karen Horney (1950) distinguished the
of the polarities of personality. "real self" (unique central inner force)
from the "idealized self" (fantasy resulting
Rogers (1951) then presented "self" with from social pressures and expectations).
the definition of "an organized, fluid, but From Erich Fromm, to achieve self-
consistent conceptual pattern of fulfillment, there are special human needs
perception of characteristics and that must be met. Lastly, Gordon Allport
relationships of the 'I' or 'me,' together distinguished self-as-object between self-
with values attached to these concepts." as-knower, emphasizing that while the
However, although he emphasizes a latter has to remain a subject for
pattern-like idea of the self, his philosophical discussion, the formed might
references to the idea of "self-structure," be handled using descriptive methods of
as well as his suggestion that one can psychology.
alter the structure of self, still maintain a
.

SELF IN
BUDDHIST
PSYCHOLOGY

The Western Psychology notion of an "inner self" is rejected by the
Buddhist Psychology, wherein they also propose a much more radical

view, where thoughts exist without a thinker, deeds without a
doer, and feelings without a feeler.



The notions of self in Buddhist views are taken from Siddharta
Gautama's teachers, better known as Shakayumi Buddha, or simply
Buddha (the one who is awake), after his experience of enlightenment
beneath the bodhi tree over 2,500 years ago. These psychological
commentaries of the Buddga were then further elaborated in India by

Vasubandhu nine centuries later, after being collected in the
Abhidarma Pitaka.



Reification is the process by which the makes a
thing (res) or a material object out of a concept

or an abstraction. In a extended sense,
it is creating something of a form, a shape,
a configuration, a Gestalt, a perception, or
an image. It is to "thing" phenomena, or to
transform a fluid process into a frozen, temporal
cross-section of the same. Reifications are not

merely delusions; they refer to momentary
states that a person remembers from past

experiences. People conduct their lives
as though reifications were genuine,
independent entities rather
as illusory mental constructs.

Walpola Rahula (1974) stated that The 5 Skandhas
Buddhism stands unique history of
human thought in denying the existence A person is the composite of the five
of a [separate] soul, self, or atman. He skandhas. No separate essence would be
explained that according to Buddha's left if they were to be removed. Were
teachings, false and imaginary is the form, feelings, perceptions, impulses, and
notion of a [personal] self. It has no consciousness to be eliminated, there
correlation with reality and it is subject would be no remaining individual-- no
to create dangerous ideas of "me" and independent person or soul.
"mine"-- selfish desire, craving, hatred,
and other ill-intentioned defilements. Dependent
Origination
What is meant by the "self" rejected
by the Buddha is illusory. Everything, The teaching of "dependent origination" is
not just human beings, are said to be at Dharma's [Teaching of Buddha] core. It
devoid of a soul. From rivers to paper, is a law of casualty stating this is,
everything lacks a separate self. They because that is; this is not, because that
cease to exist except in terms of the is not; when this arises, that arises; when
interconnected net of casual conditions this ceases, that ceases. It is a broad
that allow them to exists. All things are principle that touches all aspects;
composites-- consisting of only pieces connecting everything and all phenomena
and existing only as transitory in the inverse, whether external objective
(impermanent) collections of parts. or internal subjective experiences.
There is no separate essence in their
possession that could exist by itself.

Interbeing on the personal ego or self. The individual
changes from being a powerless
The interconnectedness, or "interbeing," individual to becoming an interrelated,
of all things in the universe, finds a essential component of the universe. The
graceful expression in the metaphor of person's boundaries disappear and the
Indra's jewel net, in the Buddha's "Flower person becomes the universe-- this is
Ornament" sermon. The universe is called realization.
likened to an endless net, extending in all
directions, in which a precious jewel is Selfless Self
found at each junction of two strands. An
entire net is represented by each jewel, The "selfless self," upon perceiving the
so that the entire universe is contained in universal oneness of all, everyone and
each part. everything is oneself. This transcendent
wisdom creates a culture of compassion
Anatta and treating everyone kindly as oneself.
To hurt another is to help oneself.
The concept of Anatta implies that there
is no little man inside of the head, no Buddha's psychological insights were
thinker of thoughts, no doer of deeds, further interpreted by a number of
no feeler of feelings; no inner self. commentators that followed him.
However, this does not negate nor Vasubandhu, an exemplar Buddhist
diminish the person. On the contrary, it scholar living int during the 4th century,
empowers the individual by eliminating being one of the most prominent.
the restrictions imposed by separateness
..

Vasubandhu, founder of Vijnavada ("path of knowledge")
and Yogacara ("application of yoga") and author of
Abhidharmakosa (one of the most important books in
Buddhist psychology), stated that all that can be experience
is only a metal process of knowing, it's "mind only." There is
experience, but there is no subject (atman) having the
experience.

Vijnana (consciousness) is the of last the five skandhas. It is a
complex concept, involving both conscious and unconscious
aspects.

There are a total of eight consciousnesses, with the first five
corresponding to and sharing the basic level of depth with
the five basic sense fields-- sight, smell, hearing, taste, and
touch. Beneath is the manovijana, the integrating basis of the
five sense consciousnesses. It has a role in knowledge,
evaluation, imagination, conception, and judgement--
essentially a perceptual and cognitive processing center.
Next comes manas, or mind, wherein taking place here is
complex thinking and awareness (based on the processed
information from the previous level). Finally comes
alayavijnana ("storehouse consciousness"), or the vast
unconscious which is the potential ground where the other
seven consciousnesses emerge. It serves as the archive of all
potential schemes that may ensue from the other
consciousnesses.

Seeds are the form in which these potentials exists,
and these seeds produce all sorts of
intellectual events upon growth.

EasternIDEAS IN




PHILOSOPHY

Life is suffering.

According to the Buddha’s With this principle, the Buddha
central “noble truth”, life is has always been known to be
unavoidably about misery. We cheerful and was always spotted
should adjust our expectations with an inviting smile. He
so that when things get rough, understood that all the nice
nothing will disappoint us. things that came his way were
Examples of this would be how simply a bonus and a gratifying
money wouldn’t spare us pain, addition but not the true source
how people’s sexual desires of happiness. With his dark
won’t be fulfilled, and youth will backdrop of life in mind, his
end inevitably. The Buddha says appreciation was sharpened and
that wise people should stay at whatever was against it didn’t
home to care for themselves, bother him. In all, he teaches us
grow a normal lifestyle, and the art of cheerful despair.
appreciate their existence. We
should think like we are living in
a dunghill-when tragedies strike
as they will, it should be against
the backdrop of entirely
vanquished hope so that we
wouldn’t feel like we are unfairly
let down and our credulity
betrayed.

METTĀ

Benevolence.
Kindness.

Tenderness.

With this principle, the Buddha has
always been known to be cheerful and
was always spotted with an inviting
smile. He understood that all the nice
things that came his way were simply a
bonus and a gratifying addition but not
the true source of happiness. With his
dark backdrop of life in mind, his
appreciation was sharpened and
whatever was against it didn’t bother
him. In all, he teaches us the art of
cheerful despair.

GUANYIN

Guanyin is a saintly female figure in east-Asian
Buddhism who is strongly associated with mercy,
compassion, and kindness. She plays a similar role as
the Virgin Mary within Catholicism. In the noblest
sense, she is like a mother as she understands the
needs of our inner child. People in China allow
themselves to be vulnerable in her presence and her
gaze can make people cry. She understands that we
are betrayed, things aren’t easy, and the high
measure of difficulties in trying to lead a remotely
adequate life.

Wu Wei not making an effort.

Wu Wei is a Chinese term at the According to Lao Tzu, “To be wise
heart of the philosophy of ......is to have learned how one
Daoism. It was written by .........must sometimes surrender to
the sage Lao Tzu in the ...........the whole universe. It tells us
6th century BC, ............to submit ourselves willingly
and it means, ..............rather than angrily rather
“not making an effort”, ....................than bitterly to
and going with the ......................necessities. Even
flow. However, this .......................though we are unable
doesn’t imply .........................to alter some
laziness or sloth. It .......................events, our attitude is
suggests that one .......................important in how we
should surrender ............................deal with difficult.
with the wind with ..............................circumstances.
recognition of the ..............................This is the
need, at points, to accede ...................serenity and freedom
to rather than protest, the demands characteristic of a Daoist.
of reality.
Bamboo as
East Asia has been called the Bamboo
civilization, not because it has been WISDOM
used in their daily lives, but because it
represents symbolic qualities that are
celebrated for hundreds of years in the
philosophy of Daoism. Bamboo is
categorized as grass rather than a tree,
yet it is tall and strong enough to create
forests and groves. Contrary to a tree,
the stems of bamboo are hollow, but its
inner emptiness is a source of its vigor
that bends in storms but always springs
back. Lao Tzu: “Become as Bamboo
already is.”

Zheng Xie painted eight hundred
pictures of bamboo as he saw its great
importance in demonstrating how a
person should think and behave.

KINTSUGI

GOLDEN JOINERY

In Japan, Zen Buddhist philosophy has The damage shouldn’t be disguised,
been alive to the beauty and wisdom of and the cracks have rich merit of
things that have been repaired. “Kin” their own. This is a poignant idea as
means golden, and “Tsugi” means in some way, we are all broken
joinery. With regards to Zen aesthetics, creatures, and we should not be
the broken pieces of a pot should never ashamed of needing repair. We can
be thrown away. Rather, they are be healed put together again, and
carefully picked up, reassembled, and still be loved despite our evident
glued together with lacquer inflected with flaws.
luxuriant gold powder.

Anthropological The Self In Various Perspectives

The Self in Antrophological
Perspective

Self as Embedded
in Culture

BY DOROTHY GAIL CAMU

The anthropological perspective conceptualizes the self as
embedded in culture. The self is shaped through the interaction

of cultural and biological processes. The self is viewed in two
ways: egocentric and sociocentric. The egocentric self can act
independently from others while the sociocentric self is viewed

as dependent on a situation. Furthermore, identity is built on
how individuals differ and resemble one another in certain ways,

and it is not static as it continuously develops as the person
grows.

Self,
Identity, and
Culture

BY DOROTHY GAIL CAMU

The thesis of Martin Sokefeld entitled Debating Self,
Identity, and Culture in Anthropology presents that
in an anthropological discourse, identity and self are
viewed differently and are almost entirely distinct.
The Western self is autonomous and egocentric
which implies that it has the authority to make its
own decisions and it only considers itself. On the
other hand, the non-Western self is the opposite of
the Western self’s qualities. The self involves a sense
of reflexivity and agency. Self is the reflexive sense
of a basic distinction between the self and
everything else. This reflexive sense requires agency
or the capacity to act on one’s own account.

In anthropology, identity is defined as the sameness
of the self with others and it shares characteristics
with a group. This paper also argues that an
individual should be able to manage their conflicting
identities by having a concept of self. In addition,
anthropology views culture as a defining
characteristic of the human being. It develops after
having interactions and encounters with actual
selves of individuals, and it has the power to
influence social reality. With this, the author makes
an argument for how anthropology might view the
self as universal since it is also a defining
characteristic like culture.

The Filipino Self

BY FRANCESCA LAURA MENDOZA It is said that the self concept is a collection We Filipinos are often called family people for
of ideas, images, beliefs or schema a we link ourselves to our family with strong
person has about the self. We use the term and long term bonds. In the Philippines family
“self” as to how we perceive ourselves in is the prototype of all relationships. As Filipino
our social environment. Even so, we also anthropologist Landa Jocano said, traditional
think that self defines what others may see kinship and family structures are shared by
us. Charles Cooley called it the ``looking- Filipinos across ethnic, religious, and linguistic
glass self. Apart from this, Our cultural differences which means that the family is
context was shaped through our sense of basic to the life of Filipinos. It is the center of
self. We can develop ourselves from the their universe. Most of what we do, what we
result of exposing the self to people, which think and what we idealize among others are
makes up our culture. By that being said, first learned and revolve around the family.
Culture determines us and it makes us as a We Filipinos treat everyone like a family.
person.
The Filipino identity continues to be defined
The Filipino self is a relational self in a by a collective identity where the family is in
collectivist culture since we relate ourselves the center, especially those families with a
to others and fit in harmony with them, member working overseas. All these topics
Additionally we are interdependent among presented reflect our culture of being a
people in the group to which we belong. Filipino citizen. We are shaped through our
Kapwa, the core concept explaining Filipino experiences within our family.
interpersonal relation, emphasizes the self
as fundamentally related to others and not
distinct as conceptualized in the west.

.

Sociological The Self In Various Perspectives

THE SOCIOLOGY

& THE SELF

WHO AM I?

A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

The self is a set of perspectives on who we are in relation to
others, ourselves, and relatively solid societal systems. No man is

an island for humans are social beings. The influence of other
individuals mold how the self is built.

Sociological The Self In Various Perspectives

The Emergence
of Sociology

BY SETH ZACKARI BALDE

Sociology began to emerge in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
During this historical period, common people's lives were much better
and easier. Because of all the changes that occurred during this time
period, people became more open-minded and began to live a good
life with many options. It resulted in an economic and technological
boom and assisting people in learning to live in societies. Particularly,

the past two decades saw the mainstream movement of self and
identity. Rapid globalization destabilized traditional practices and

cultural stereotypes, hence the self becomes more exposed in
different ways such as individualisation of social life, proliferation of

roles, and the emergence of “identity projects”.

On their own, objects do not have inherent Symbolic
meaning. They obtain their meanings from Interactionism
social actors. A rose to some denotes a
species of flower. In its connotative sense,
it can also define as love, beauty, or
admiration.

Described by Charles Lemert as the recognition of the socially continent Sociology’s
nature of identity through a shared appreciation and centrality to dominant
language, communication, symbols, and objectivity. Symbolic interaction theoretical
theory examines society by focusing on the subjective meanings that approach to
people ascribe to objects, events, and behaviors. Subjective meanings the self
are given precedence because it is assumed that people act based on
what they believe rather than what is objectively true. As a result,
society is thought to be socially constructed via human interpretation. The
social bond is formed by people's interpretations of one another's
behavior. Symbols enable humans to interact meaningfully with their
natural and social environments. There would be no human interaction or
society if symbols did not exist. Because humans lack instincts to guide
their behavior, symbolic interactionism is required. Humans are not
genetically programmed to respond to specific stimuli automatically. To
survive, they must create and live within a world of meaning. Meaning is
imposed on the world through symbols, and human interaction with that
world is made possible.

School of Symbolic
Interaction

George Herbert
Mead

Role-taking

The ability to use other people’s
perspectives and expectations in
formulating one’s own behaviour

Play Stage Game Stage Generalized other
play is not guided by a Meaningfully Child responds to
specific set of rules participating in the game society’s demand as a
Role taking is limited to and understanding a whole
one person at a time specific set of rules Role taking at this
Limited consciousness Increased role taking point involves the
but children could where the individual ability to generalized
understand certain slowly recognises that behaviour across a
stimuli such as their they are part of a whole variety of situations
parents looking upset or team and audiences
someone taking their toy The child takes on the Much more concrete
away. role and understands idea of self
what they need to do

Charles Horton
Cooley





The self is very much created as
people interact with each other

We imagine how we appear to others
We react to that feedback
Others judge our appearance and respond to us

Erving Goffman When two people come together,

we try to present ourselves and

we frame the props. The audience

either accepts or rejects the
performance.
The way people presented themselves The power of the audience is that
akin to a play production and they decide to accept or reject
performance whatever the performance offers.
When we analyse the self, it’s
Goffman’s Dramaturgy: the collaborative manufacture rather
Self as Performance than an individual construct.

The relationship between
performers and the
audience
Props - we have objects
around us that define how
we present ourselves to
others
Stage - we create our
setting

the self

GEUSELF N05B GROUP 4
AGANA, MARIELLE. ALDAVE, EUNICE. BALDE, SETH. CAMU,
DOROTHY. MACALALAG, MARCUS. MENDOZA, FRANCESCA.
MOSTAJO, FRIAH. REGALADO, REIGN. SILVA, BIANCA