CHAPTER IV: NATURE OF THE SELF

A. Meaning of the Self

a. an individual's typical character or behavior, an individual's temporary behavior or
character
b. a person in prime condition
c. the union of elements (such as body, emotions, thoughts, and sensations) that
constitute the individuality and identity of a person
(Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self)

B. Factors that Shape the Self

a. Heredity – is the transmission of traits or characteristics from parents to offspring.
It provides the raw materials of which the individual is made up. Through genes,
hereditary potentials like physical, mental. Social, emotional and moral traits are
passed down to generations. (Source: Understanding the Self – Brawner &
Arcega)

b. Environment – is the sum total of the forces or experiences that a person

undergoes from conception to old age. It also includes family, friends, school,
nutrition, and other agencies one is in contact with. (Source: Understanding the
Self – Brawner & Arcega)

c. The Self (Unique Experiences) – each person reacts in his or her own way to
social pressures, biological differences as in physical strength, sensitivity, and
endurance. Other personal differences may result from the rewards and
punishments the parents impose and from the type of behavior they model. Even
though they may not resemble their parents, children show their parents’
influences at varying degrees.

C. Nature of the Self and Characteristics of the Self

a. Nature of the Self
 Philosophical View of Self

Socrates: Know Yourself

Socrates is principally concerned with man. He considers man
from the point of view of his inner life. The famous line of Socrates, “Know
Yourself,” tells each man to bring his inner self to light. A bad man is not
virtuous through ignorance; the man who does not follow the good fails to
do so because he does not recognize it.

Plato: The Ideal Self, the Perfect Self

According to Plato, man was omniscient or all-knowing before he
came to be born in this world. With his separation from the paradise of
truth and knowledge and his long exile on earth, he forgot most of the
knowledge he had. However, by constant remembering through
contemplation and doing good, he can regain his former perfections.

Immanuel Kant: Respect for Self

Man is the only creature who governs and directs himself and his
actions, who sets up ends for himself and his purpose, and who freely
orders means for the attainment of his aims. Every man is thus an end in
himself and should never be treated merely as a means – as per the
order of the Creator and the natural order of things. This rule is a plain
dictum of reason and justice: Respect others as you would respect
yourself. A person should not be used as a tool, instrument or device to
accomplish another’s private ends. Thus, all men are persons gifted with
the same basic rights and should treat each other as equals.

Rene Descartes: “I think, therefore I am”

Descartes states that the self is a thinking entity distinct from the
body. His first famous principle was “Cogito, ergum sum,” which means “I
think, therefore I am.” Although the mind and the body are independent
from each other and serve their own function, man must use his own
mind and thinking abilities to investigate, analyze, experiment and
develop himself.

John Locke: Personal Identity

 John Locke holds that personal identity (the self) is a matter of
psychological continuity. For him, personal identity is founded on
consciousness (memory), and not on the substance of either the soul or
the body.
Personal identity is the concept about oneself that evolves over
the course of an individual’s life. It may include aspects of life that man
has no control over, such as where he grew up or the color of his skin, as
well as the choices he makes, like how he spends his time and what he
believes.

David Hume: The Self is the Bundle Theory of Mind

Hume is skeptical about the existence of the self, specifically, on
whether there is a simple, unified self that exists over time. For him, man
has no “clear and intelligible” idea of the self. He posits that no single
impression of the self exists; rather the self is just the thing to which all
perceptions of a man is ascribed. Moreover, even if there were such
impression of the self, it would have to remain constant over time to
constitute identity. However, man’s impressions vary and always change.
Even attempts to have impressions of the self must fail for all these
attempts are really just occasions for one to notice perceptions. Put
simply, a person can never observe oneself without some other
perceptions. Thus, Hume asserts that what we call the “self” is really just
“a bundle or collection of different perceptions which succeed each other
with an inconceivable rapidity.”

 Biblical View of Self

The Holy Bible

“God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him; male
and female He created them. God blessed them, saying, “Be fertile and
multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of sea,
the birds in the air, and all the living things that move on earth.”
Genesis 1:24 28

According to the Holy writ, man, following his redemption by the

savior from eternal bondage, now shares in the infinite merits of his
redeemer and has become not only the inheritor of the new earth but also
the heir of heavenly kingdom. Thus, it is appropriate to think of the “self”
as the multi-bejeweled crown of creation – the many gems thereof
representing and radiating the glorious facets of man’s self that include
the physical, intellectual, moral, religious, social, political, economic,
emotional, sentient, aesthetic, sensual and sexual aspects.

St. Augustine: Love and Justice as the Foundation of Individual Self

St. Augustine believes that a virtuous life is a dynamism of love. It
is a constant following of and turning towards love while a wicked life is a
constant turning away from love. Loving God means loving one’s
fellowmen; and loving one’s fellowmen denotes never doing any harm to
another or, as the golden principle of justice states, doing unto others as
you would have them do unto you.

 Psychological View of Self

Sigmund Freud: The Psychoanalytic Theory of Self

Parts of the Personality
1. Id (Internal Desires) – Also called internal drives or instinctive drives, it
consist of the body’s primitive biological drives and urges which are
concerned only with achieving pleasure and self-satisfaction. Id lives
completely in the unconscious.
2. Ego (Reality) – It is the “I” part of the individual that gives him/her, the
sense of his/her own identity. The ego is the rational part of the
personality.
3. Superego (Conscience) – It is the part of the personality concerned
with morals, precepts, standards, and ideas. The superego is also the
critical faculty of the personality.
 Freudian Stages of Psychosexual Development
1. Oral (Birth to 1 year old)
- The mouth becomes the part of the body through which
gratification is secured.
2. Anal (1-3 years old)
- The child derives the feelings of pleasure or pain from defecating.
It covers the toilet-training period.
3. Phallic (3-6 years old)
- The child gets curious about his/her genitals and becomes
attached to the parent of the opposite sex. The attraction of a boy
to his mother is called Oedipus complex, while that of a girl to a
father is called Electra complex.
4. Latency (6-12 years old)
- Sexual motivations presumably recede in importance as the child
becomes preoccupied with developing skills and other activities.
5. Genital (12 years old and beyond)
- After puberty, the deepest feelings of pleasure presumably come
from heterosexual relations.

Erik Erikson: The Psychosocial Stages of Self-Development

1. Trust VS Mistrust (Birth to 18 months)
2. Autonomy VS Shame and Doubt (18month to 3 years)
3. Initiative VS Guilt (3-5 years)
4. Industry VS Inferiority (6-11 years)
5. Identity VS Role Confusion (12-18 years)
6. Intimacy VS Isolation (19-40 years)
7. Generativity VS Stagnation (40-65 years)
8. Integrity VS Despair (65 to Death)

(Source: Understanding the Self – Brawner & Arcega)

b. Characteristics of the Self

The self, in contemporary literature and even common sense, is
commonly defined by the following characteristics: “separate, self-contained,
independent, consistent, unitary, and private” (Stevens 1996). By separate, it is
meant that the self is distinct from other selves. The self is always unique and
has its own identity. One cannot be another person. Even twins are distinct from
each other. Second, self is also self-contained and independent because in itself
it can exist. Its distinctness allows it to be self-contained with its own thoughts,
characteristics and volition. It does not require any other self for it to exist. It is
consistent because it has a personality that is enduring and therefore can be
expected to persist for quite some time. Its consistency allows it to be studied,
described and measured. Consistency also means that a particular self’s traits,
characteristics, tendencies, and potentialities are more or less the same. Self is
unitary in that is the center of all experiences and thoughts that run through a
certain person. It is like the chief command post in an individual where all
process, emotions, and thoughts converge. Finally, the self is private. Each
person sorts out information, feelings and emotions, and thought processes
within the self. This whole process is never accessible to anyone but the self.
(Source: Understanding the Self – Alata, Caslib, Serafica, Pawilen)

D. Development of the Self

a. Self-Identity
 sameness of a thing with itself
 individuality
(Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-identity)

b. Self-Evaluation
 the process or an instance of assessing oneself and weighing up
one's achievements
(Source:https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/self-
evaluation)

c. Self-Ideal
 A perception of how one should behave based on certain personal
standards. The standard may be either a carefully constructed image of
the kind of person one would like to be or merely a number of aspirations,
goals or values one would like to achieve.
(Source: https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/self-ideal)
 d. Self-Direction
 personal independence
(Source: https://www.freethesaurus.com/self-direction)

E. Adjustment of the Self

a. Repression
 This is a denial of an impulse or memory that might provoke feelings of
guilt by its disappearance from awareness. This denial is a defense
against internal threat.
Example: Feelings of Hostility toward a love one may be vanished from
memory because it causes anxiety.
(Source: Personality Development and Human Relations Revised Edition
2005 – Lourdes L. Evangelista)

b. Compensation
 This defense mechanism allows the individual to counterbalance his
feelings of inadequacy by doing well in another activity.
Example: A crippled individual could develop his physique through body
building exercise or excelling in sports. This is a positive compensatory
act. Example of negative compensation is found in people who pretend to
be superior to others to cover up their feelings of inadequacy.
(Source: Personality Development and Human Relations Revised Edition
2005 – Lourdes L. Evangelista)

c. Rationalization
 A defense mechanism in which self-esteem is maintained by assigning
plausible and acceptable reasons for conduct entered on impulsively or
for less acceptable reasons.
Example: Making other people as an excuse “my roommate did not wake
me up.”
(Source: Personality Development and Human Relations Revised Edition
2005 – Lourdes L. Evangelista)

d. Self-Defense
 the act of defending yourself, your property, etc.
 skills that make you capable of protecting yourself during an attack
(Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-defense)

e. Projection
 A defense mechanism in which people protect themselves from
awareness of their own undesirable traits by attributing those traits
excessively to others.
Example: Individuals who deny their sexual impulses tend to project these
to other people.
(Source: Personality Development and Human Relations Revised Edition
2005 – Lourdes L. Evangelista)

f. Fixation and Regression

 An abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely.
(Source: https://thesaurus.plus/related/fixation/regression)
 is a psychological defense mechanism in which a person abandons age-
appropriate coping strategies in favor of earlier, more childlike patterns of
behavior.
(Source: https://psychcentral.com/encyclopedia/regression/)

g. Identification and Sublimation

 According to Freud’s concept of the Oedipus Complex, a child may
experience feelings of resentment towards their father as they compete
for the affection of their mother and the resulting castration anxiety - an
irrational fear directed towards the father - may lead them to feel the need
to appease the father.
 Sublimation is considered to be a more adaptive defence mechanism in
that it can transform negative anxiety into a more positive energy.
Psychiatrist George Vaillant identified it as a mature defense mechanism,
which we can use to adapt to arising anxieties.
(Source: https://www.psychologistworld.com/freud/defence-mechanisms-
list)
h. Self-Enhancement
 refers to the motive to create the perception that one is a competent and
capable individual, regardless of reality
(Source: http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/social-psychology/self/self-
enhancement/)