Table of Contents

The Self From Various Perspectives 1

Chapter 1: Philosophical Perspective on Self 2

Chapter 2: Sociological Perspective of the Self 1 12

Chapter 3: Anthropological Perspective of the Self 16

Chapter 4: Psychological Perspective of the Self 20

Chapter 5: The Self in Western and Oriental/Eastern Thought 24

Unpacking the Self 29

Chapter 6: Physical Self 30

Chapter 7: Sexual Self 34

Chapter 8: Material/Economic Self 44

Chapter 9: Spiritual Self 48

Chapter 10: Political Self 56

Chapter 11: Digital Self 61

Managing and Caring for the Self 66

Chapter 12: Learning to be a Better Student 67

Chapter 13: Setting Goals for Success 71

Chapter 14: Taking Charge of One’s Health 75

The Self From Various Perspectives

Learning Outcomes
∙ Discuss the different representations and conceptualizations of the self from

various disciplinal perspectives

∙ Compare and contrast how the self has been represented across disciplines and

perspectives

∙ Examine the different influences, factors and forces that shape the self

∙ Demonstrate critical and reflective thought in analyzing the development of one’s self and identify by
developing a theory of the self

5
Chapter 1
Philosophical Perspective on Self

Philosophy

Philosophy is derived from the Greek words “Philos” and “Sophia” which literally

means “Love for Wisdom”. It is the study of acquiring knowledge through rational

thinking and inquiries that involves in answering questions regarding the nature and

existence of man and the world we live in. As such, it is imperative to look into the

various explanations from different philosophers their notion of what the “Self” its nature

and how it is formed in order to have a better picture on how people develop their

behaviors, attitude and actions and to be able to identify and understand who we are

and how we came to be.

Socrates

Socrates’ work was never published, we were only able to know who Socrates is

and his works because of his illustrious students spoke generously and in detail about

his knowledge, wit, wisdom and intellect. His student Plato for example included

Socrates in some of his work as a pivotal character.

He could be considered as the first martyr of education, knowledge and

philosophy. For lighting up the minds of his students, he was literally charged with

corruption of minors. He was made to choose between exile and death via the intake of

hemlock. Socrates chose the latter, thus dying as a martyr that fights against ignorance

and narrow-mindedness.

The philosophy of Socrates underlies in the importance of the notion “knowing

oneself” for him, men’s goal in life is to obtain happiness and such goal motivates us to

act towards or avoid things that could have negative repercussions in our lives. As

such, by fully knowing oneself a person will be able to achieve happiness.

Socrates also posited that possession of knowledge is a virtue and that

ignorance is a depravity, that a person’s acceptance of ignorance is the beginning of

acquisition of knowledge. So, one must first have the humility to acknowledge one’s
ignorance so as to be able to know what he is lacking and what he needs to know.

Socrates believe that the answer to our pursuit in knowing ourselves lies in our

own abilities and wisdom, and that the only way for us to understand ourselves is

through internal questioning or introspection. This method of questioning oneself,

where the person assumes the

role of both the teacher and the student is known to the world as the Socratic Method or

Socratic Conversation.

By continuously asking and evaluating who we are we as a person will also be

able to understand our strengths and weaknesses, the things that we like and dislike,

how we want people to treat us and how we want ourselves to be treated, so by

knowing these things we can act in accordance to what we know we are and live our

lives following our knowledge of ourselves.