FLGRS UNDERSTANDING THE SELF 1 SUMMARY Perspectives of Philosophy [L1] 1. SOCRATES - Athenians[Athens] - people in socrates place of origin - Sophist - expert in Settle arguments by discussions and debate (5th century BCE) and the first teachers of the west. - Socrates is idolize by athenians and angered sophist [he was sentenced to death by them] - Essential nature of knowledge , justice , beauty, and goodness. - Did not write anything about himself 1.2. Socratic Method - Search for the correct definition of a thing - Through asking question and engagement in discussion - Acting as if he did not know. - Bring people closer to final understanding - Question peoples beliefs and ideas - Touching of soul 1.3. View of Human Nature - The unexamined life is not worth living - Seek the highest knowledge - Touching of soul (get in touch with his true self) - Delphi oracle - named socrates as the wisest of all men - One must know that they do not know everything, that there are things that they are ignorant of - Continue learning and search of answers 2. PLATO (428-348 BCE) - Real name is Aristocles - Plato is a nickname means (WIDE/BROAD) - Established a school known as “the academy” 1 - Philosophy is a way of life FLGRS - Wrote more than 20 dialogues with Socrates as protagonist 2.1. Metaphysics (Theory of Form) - The study cause and nature of things Forms - What are real and only grasped intellectually and not objects - Ageless therefore eternal - Unchanging therefore permanent - Unmoving and indivisible Plato’s Dualism - The Realm of the Shadows - Changing and sensible things/lesser entities/imperfect and flawed - Realm of Forms - Eternal things/permanent and perfect/ source of reality and true knowledge 2.2. View of Human Nature - Use of dielectric method - Knowledge lies within the person's soul - Human is Microcosm of the universal macrocosm - Everything in the universe can be found in people - Soul of human is immortal and rational [image of the divine] - People are intrinsically good but judgement is ignorance, and ignorance is evil Components of Soul - Reason - Rational and goodness and truth - Spirited - Non rational. Will or the drive to action. Neutral and can be influence - Appetites - Irrational and the desire and pleasures of the body 2.3. Theory of Love and Becoming Love - is the way to perfection, self realization, and true knowledge - Feeling or experience that there is something lacking - The deepest the thought, the stronger is the love - Pursuit is what motivates man and transforms people and society The allegory of the Cave - The shadows in the cave is the knowledge 2 FLGRS - Shadows are not real - Only forms are real [real knowledge] - Forms can be seen out of the cave Theory of Being - In knowing truth, person must become the truth 3. ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO - Rejected Christianity - Why moral evil existed in people - Desire for sensual pleasures - Questions about the suffering of the world - Became priest after his journey and bishop of hippo Christianity - God and man’s relationship - Knowledge and happiness is NOT is goal of man - Gods commands to good and evil - Man were sinners who reject against gods command 3.1. View of Human Nature - God as the Source of All Reality and Truth - one who is closest to god is the one closest to understanding the true nature of world - The sinfulness of man - sin or evil is an act of man's freewill 3.2. Role of Love - Happiness can be only found in God (god is love) - Disordered love is when man loves the wrong things which he believes will give him happiness - Sin Greed - love of objects - Sin Jealousy - excessive love to others - Sin Pride - Love of self - Happiness can only be found through loving god 4. RENE DESCARTES (1596 - 1650) 3 FLGRS - Father of modern philosophy - Rationalist - Scientific method and mathematics - Cartesian method and analytic geometry - Nothing satisfies him for there were always differences in facts, ideas and opinions 4.1. DECARTE’S SYSTEM - Through his dream he came uup with this - Intuition - Apprehend direction of certain truths - Deduction - Progressing in orderly way from what is already known - Reasoning could produce absolute truths about nature, existence, and morality and god - Priori - discoverable truths 4.2. View on Human Nature - I think therefore i am [to doubt is to think] - The basis of existence of self is cognitive aspect of human nature 4.3. The Mind-Body Problem - Soul/mind[self] is separate to body - Body is a machine controlled by the mind 5. JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704) - Knowledge results from ideas produced a posteriori or by objects that were experienced - Sensation - experience through senses and reflection - Ideas are not innate but rather the mind at birth is a tabula rasa - Nothing exist in the mind that was not first at senses 5.1. View on Human Nature - There are no innate ideas as they all come from senses experiences - Knowing what is good does not mean being able to do it - Moral good depends on personal behavior toward law Three Laws - Law of Opinion - Actions that are praiseworthy - Civil law - right actions enforced by authority 4 FLGRS - Divine law - set by god. Deemed to be true law for human behavior 6. DAVID HUME (1711 - 1776) - Empiricism - Lost his faith 6.1 The Human Mind - Perceptions - materials received from the senses Two types of Perceptions - Impressions - sensations of External Reality - Ideas - recollection of impressions PRINCIPLES ON HOW IDEAS RELATE TO ANOTHER - The principles of resemblance - The principle of contiguity - The principle of cause and effect 6.2. View on Human Nature - Soul is the self - Self is the product of imagination - There is no permanent and unchanging self - People have no sense of impression of a self 7. IMMANUEL KANT (1724 - 1804) - Motivated by the philosophies of david hume - Wrote: Critique of pure reason, critique of practical reason, and critique of judgement 7.1. View of the Mind - Mind is not a passive receiver but participates in knowing the objects it experiences - The external world conforms the mind - Combined rationalism and empiricism 7.2. View of Human Nature and Self - Self must exist or there will be no memory or knowledge 5 FLGRS - Transcendental apperception - Experience of the self and its unity with the objects - Self is experience through unity of all impressions that are organized by the mind through perceptions - The nature of things is unknown or unknowable - Duty is the divine command - God is within man 8. SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939) - Neurologist - Psychodynamic Theory - Repressed thoughts and memories can control one's consciousness - Hysteria - repressed memories that are resurfaced and manifested - Used of free association and dream analysis to bring back emotional stability 8.1. Structures of the Mind - The person’s observable behavior , however, is further controlled by the unconscious or subconscious mind - Workings of mind impacts the body strongly - The iceberg concept - Eros - life. Also called libido. The urge for survival - Thanatos - death instinct. form of aggression and violence Levels of the Mind - Id - Pleasure principles that is not hindered by societal expectations - Ego - The reality principles. In between id and superego - Superego - Know the difference between right and wrong. The morality of actions based on the childhood 8.2. View of Human Nature - Man as the product of his past within his subconscious - Man lives balancing the forces of life and death 6 9. GILBERT RYLE (1900-1976) FLGRS - Contradicts the cartesian dualism - Mind as the ghost in the machine 9.1. View of Human Nature and Knowledge - Man is endowed by freewill - Freewill was to answer if the action deserves praise of blame - Knowing that and knowing how - Knowing that is empty intellectualism and one must know how to make use of facts - Knowing involves the ability and not just intellect 10. PATRICIA (July 16, 1943) AND PAUL CHURCHLAND (October 21, 1942) - Neurologist and neurophilosophist - Philosophy - love of wisdom - Neuroscience - the study of philosophy of mind - Brain-mind - There is no causal relationship between mind and brain - Brain is what responsible for the identity known as self - The biochemical property of the brain is responsible for thoughts, feeling and behaviour. 10.1. View of Human Nature - Neurophilosophy - Individuals thoughts’s , feelings and actions came from brains anatomy and physiology[neurons, hormones, and genetic make up] - Normal brain - accepted social behavior - Compromised brain - aberrant behavior - Self is real - Man is constantly evolving and being molded by experiences 7 FLGRS 11. MAURIE MERLEAU-PONTY (1908-1961) - Human body as the primary site of knowing the world 11.1. View of Human Nature and Self - Concept of Body-subject - Perceptions occur existentially - Consciousness, world, and human body are all interconnected - World is filled with perceptions, and human consciousness assigns the meaning - Perception is not result of sensation - Consciousness is what includes sensing and interpreting/reasoning Perspectives of Sociology [L2] - Way which the social surrounding/environment influences people’s thoughts, feelings , and behavior 1. GEORGE HERBERT MEAD (FEB 1863) 1.1. SOCIAL SELF - Social behaviorism - Power of environment in shaping behavior - Personality through self awareness and self image - Self cannot be separated from the society 1.2 Stages of Development Preparatory stage - Self develops over time - Social interaction and social experience - Imitation of behaviors around them Play stage - Communication and social relationships are formed - Roleplay and pretend to be others - Mentally assuming the perspective of others - Role taking The game stage - 8-9 years old - Considering other task and various type of relationship simultaneously 8 FLGRS - See own and others perspective - Ability to respond to more members of social environment - Generalized other- Culture, beliefs and values is incorporated to self - Self evaluation 1.3. Theory of Self - Self begins in a child's world and not at birth - Children see selves as enter of universe - As they grew they were able to mature and be concerned of other people's reactions. And this creates a formation of self 1.4. The I and Me I - SELF AS SUBJECT - Focused on own perspective ME - Takes the role of other - Function as object - Considering of affected by thinking of others perspectives 2. CHARLES HORTON COOLEY (1864-1929) - Self through interaction - The looking glass self - The view of self being affected by the impression or perception of others Three phases of developing self - How they present themselves to others - How others evaluate them - Develop a feeling of self based on the impression of others 3. ERVING GOFFMAN (1922-1982) - Presentation of self in daily lfe - Impression management - Changing the presentation of self based on preference of others 9 FLGRS - Real social interaction is similar to theatrical presentation - Face work as the other aspect of self - Maintenance of proper image of self in frustrating or embarrassing situations Perspectives of Anthropology[L3] - Study of man - Totality of what it means to be a human - psychological/biological characteristics 1. FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY 1.1. Areheology - Scientist who used digging tools - Use of pieces of pottery, weapons, tool, jewelries, and even bones of the past - Studies artifacts - How past may contribute to present - Homo sapiens - did not extinct because they can think - Most important aspect of human nature is survival 1.2. Biological - How human adapt to the environment - Probable causes of disease - How human beings evolved from their early forms - The effect of biological characteristics to human life - Human vary in their biological make up or behavior [more similarities than difference] 1.3. Linguistic - Ability to communicate - Language is the essential part of communication. It identifies the group of people and their culture - Language as focus to manner of social interaction and worldview - How language and modes of communication changeover time - Use of analogy of the story “ tower of babel” - Language adapt to the existing condition of the society 1.4. Cultural 10 FLGRS - People's way of life [behavior, beliefs, values, and symbols] - What makes one's manner of living - Culture is socially transmitted through communication and imitation - Theory of cultural determinism - how contention of culture has a strong impact on how an individual views himself. Human nature is determined by the ideas, meanings, beliefs, and values of the society - Suggest that there is not universal or right way of being human because it may vary depends on the culture ones have - It may positively show the freedom of humans to do what they set their hearts or mind to or negatively, blind accept the learning the culture exposes them to. Ways that Culture may Manifest - Symbols - way of giving a recognized or accepted meaning to something - Heroes - Model of behavior. Persons who portrays important characteristic for the culture - Ritual - [religious or social] done by group for fulfillment and objectives that considered socially essential - Values - Core of every culture/unconscious/neither discuss nor observe/ through actions and reactions/view of right and wrong Perspectives of Psychology[L4] - Description, explanation, prediction, and control of behavior - Existence of the state of consciousness in human being - Nature-nurture controversy - Both nature and nurture influence behavior 1. WILLIAM JAMES (1843-1910) - One of the great pragmatist - Theory of the self 1.1. The Me and the - Thoughts is associated with the existence of self - Me - separate objector individual that the person refers to.[empirical] 11 FLGRS - I - recognize who they are and what they have done.[pure ego](totality of persons identity) Thoughts Five Characteristics - owned by some personal self - Constantly changing - There is continuity - Deals with objects that are different from and independent of consciousness itself - Focus on particular objects and not others Three Components of Me Self ● The material self - Things or object that belong to the person - Can be persons or things - The body is the core of material self - Associate how to identify the person [ex.what kind of book they are reading] - The more someone attach to the physical thing the more they will be affected as it change ● The Social Self - Result from the different social situations the persons is in - People have many social selves based on the situation they are - How someone change how they present themselves to others ● The Spiritual Self - More concrete or permanent - Subjective and intimate part of the self - Always in process of introspection (self observation) - Reflecting to self action to understand further the self 2. GLOBAL AND DIFFERENTIATED SELF MODELS Global self - overall value that a person places upon himself - People grew with the presence of others - Influence of people being interacted with - Product of all experiences that had in the society 12 FLGRS Murray Bowen (1913-1990) Differentiated self - togetherness and individuality of self - Togetherness and individually should be balance - Affected by presence of others - Ability to separate feelings and thoughts - Being able to free oneself from the influence of others allow one to define oneself - Differentiate self from unwanted influence - Develop and sustain unique identity while maintaining to stay emotionally connected with family and friends 3. REAL AND IDEAL SELF-CONCEPTS Carl Rogers (1902-1987) Person Centered Theory - Real self - all information and perception the person has about himself - Ideal self - model version the person has of himself. Demands of society and the heroes and models choose to be imitate - What the person aims himself to be Self Discrepancy theory - Internalized standard they compared themselves - Self guides- directions for how person should present themselves - Self discrepancy - when self diverts from the guides/causes emotional discomfort[guilt or indifference] 4. MULTIPLE AND UNIFIED SELVES Multiple Selves Theory - Individuals have different aspect of the self - Self is whole made up parts - Unified Self - psychological healthy individual\ - Well adjusted person - one who accept and understand success and failures. Able to continue, adjust, adapt, evolve and survive. 13 FLGRS 5. TRUE AND FALSE SELVES D.W. Winnicott (1896-1971) - Significance of play in child development - True self - self is seen as creative, spontaneously experiencing each day of their lives and appreciating his existence [high level of awareness][recognize ones strengths and limitation] - False self - Form of defense/dead and empty/mask that hides the true person/ self is forced to comply with existing norms and standard 6. SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC Albert Bandura (1925 - present) Social Cognitive Theory - Person is proactive, self reflective and organizing and agentic [ability to exercise control overtime] - Human is affected by the interaction among environmental events - Learning through observation - Behavior of model is consciously acquired - Human nature is plastic and flexible Features Of Human Agency - Intentionally - intentional actions or with full awareness and behavior - Forethought - anticipation of an expected outcome for his behavior - Self- reactiveness - person is motivated and aware of his potential and capabilities to reach a goal - Self reflectiveness- Belief of oneself to himself that he is capable of producing the desire result [self efficacy] 7. SELF-REGULATION - Reactively attempts to minimize the discrepancies 14 FLGRS - Proactively set a new higher goal if the track he took is right to achieve a goal - Set goals that are higher and better than former - A wiser and self actualized individual Self in Western and Eastern Thought [L5] 1. INDIVIDUALISTIC AND COLLECTIVE SELF INDIVIDUALISTIC SELF - Introspection and reflection search for clues for purpose of existence and role he will play in the world - Acceptance of reality of life and live the most of it - Aware that he is not alone - Aware of rights and limitation - Making the world better not just for himself but for others too - Form from independence and self reliance or the parents of west - Ability to stand on own COLLECTIVE SELF - Cultures of the east - Individual exist as part of the group - Affected by the family and society - All decision are group decisions - Group members depend of each other - Bound by the customs, beliefs and traditions - Individual freedom is sacrifice for the benefit of the group 1.1. SELF IN EASTERN THOUGH - Though is the proof of existence of self - Self is capable of actions - Recognition of human rights as expression of individual freedom - Self is undergoing process of development - Human biological and environmental characteristic affects or influence self development - Self is dynamic 1.2. SELF IN CONFUCIAN THOUGHT 15 FLGRS - Confucious - Zhou dynasty - Humanistic and social philosophy - human being and society he find himself in - Society and communities as the main source of values Ren - Reflection of the person's own understanding of humanity - Found within the person - Guides human actions makes life worth living Ren is Realized through; Li (propriety) - Rule should be followed - Customs, ceremonies, and traditions - Strengthened by human practice through generation - Self development - Rejects selfish behavior and cultivates inner qualities of humanity - Duties and responsibilities in relationships within family or others Xiao (filiality) - Reverence and respect for the family - Bringing honor to the family - Should not disgrace the family - Relationships from family reflects how person relates to others Yi (rightness) - Right way of behaving - Unconditional and absolute - Right is right and wrong is wrong - Actions done for it is the right and not for selfish reasons - Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you 16