Module 1-4

• Philosophers who answer the basic question "who are you?": Socrates, Plato, St Augustine, Descartes, Hume, Freud, Ryle, Churchland, Merleau-Ponty
• Socrates:

  • "An unexamined life is not worth living"
  • Father of Western Philosophy
  • First philosopher to engage in systematic questioning about the self
  • Believed in two realms of reality: Physical Realm and Ideal Realm
  • Emphasized "Know Thyself"
• Plato:

  • Student of Socrates
  • Founded the Academy in Athens
  • Created the Theory of Forms
  • Believed the self is synonymous with the soul
  • Identified 3 components of the soul: Rational Soul, Appetitive Soul, Spiritual Soul
  • Authored "The Republic"
• St Augustine:

  • Roman African Christian theologian
  • Stated "The Self has an immortal soul"
  • Introduced the concept "I am doubting, therefore I am"
• Rene Descartes:

  • Coined "I think therefore I am"
  • Father of Modern Philosophy
  • Believed in the existence of the self
  • Identified 2 dimensions of the human self: Thinking self and Physical self
• David Hume:

  • Scottish philosopher
  • Proposed that the self is a bundle of impressions
  • Believed the self is a collection of different perceptions
  • Identified 2 distinct entities: Impression and Self
• Sigmund Freud:

  • Developed the psychosexual stage of development
  • Introduced the concept of 3 layers of the self: Conscious, Unconscious, Preconscious
  • Identified the 3-fold self: Id, Ego, Superego
• Gilbert Ryle:

  • British philosopher
  • Proposed the "Concept of the mind"
  • Believed the mind is not the seat of self but behavior
  • "I act, therefore I am"
• Paul and Patricia Churchland:

  • American philosophers
  • Introduced the idea of eliminative materialism
  • Believed the self is the brain
• Maurice Merleu-Ponty:

  • “The self is embodied subjectively”
  • French philosopher
  • Created "The Phenomenology of Perception"
  • Stated the self is embodied subjectively
  • Argued that the mind and body are inseparable
• Albert Bandura suggests that humans are proactive agents of experiences
• Erik Erikson proposes that individuals go through 8 psychosocial stages of development
• These stages have implications in the development of independence and identity
• Human agency refers to people having the power to influence their own actions and produce desired consequences
• Main features of human agency include:

  • Intentionality
  • Forethought
  • Self-reactiveness
  • Self-reflectiveness
• Proactive Self refers to the ability to face problems, prevent, or resolve problems
• Agentic Self is the capacity to exercise control over one's own life
• Four Agentic Perspectives:

  • Intentionality enables us to behave with purpose
  • Forethought allows us to anticipate outcomes
  • Self-reactiveness motivates us to regulate our actions
  • Self-reflectiveness allows us to reflect on our thoughts and behaviors and make needed modifications
• Self-Awareness refers to how much an adolescent is aware of his or her own psychological make-up
• Self-efficacy theory states that individuals are capable of performing a task
• Self Concept is the image of oneself
• Self-Regulation is the ability of an individual to control his or her behavior without relying on others for help
• 8 stages of human development:

  1. Trust vs Mistrust - occurs in the first year of life

  2. Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt - occurs in the first three years

  3. Initiative vs Guilt - 3-5 years old, where responsibility is developed

  4. Industry vs Inferiority - knowledge and skills are developed

  5. Identity vs Confusion - finding who they are, what they are, and what they want

  6. Intimacy vs Isolation - occurs early adulthood

  7. Generativity vs Stagnation - occurs during middle adulthood

  8. Integrity vs Despair - focuses on self-reflection on important events of their lives
• Identity includes all beliefs, ideals, and values that help shape and guide a person's behavior
• Trust is achieved when a child is well cared for, while mistrust is achieved when the needs of the child are unfulfilled or not well cared for
• Autonomy refers to independence of thought and confidence to think and act for oneself, while doubt is achieved if parents are overprotective
• Initiative is a sense of responsibility, while guilt is felt by a child who feels irresponsible
• Industry occurs when children are encouraged in their efforts, while inferiority is when children receive little or no encouragement
• Intimacy is a successful relationship with others, while isolation is the inability to develop intimate relationships
• Generativity involves teaching, leading, and guiding the next generation, while integrity is feeling satisfied and proud of one's accomplishments
• Despair is the feeling of being unsuccessful
• Aristotle

  • Father of Philosophy
  • "soul is the essence of the self"
  • anything with life has a soul
  • 3 kinds of soul: vegetative, sentient, rational
• St. Thomas Aquinas 


  • Italian Dominican friar, and Doctor of the church
  • philosopher that is regarded as saint in the catholic church
  • he believes that the body is united with the soul
  • Man is composed of two parts: Mater (hyle), Form (morphe)
• John Locke

  • "the self is consciousness"
  • he postulates the human mind at birth is a blank slate or tabula rasa
  • Father of Liberalism
  • He proposes that people could use the power of reason to gain knowledge to understand experiences
• Immanuel Kant

  • "we construct the self"
  • he suggest the act of thinking about the self or being self-conscious is proof that there is self
  • Consciousness: internal self and external self
  • Against the combination of impressions
• Soren Kierkegaard

  • Danish theologian, poet, religious author
  • First existentialist philosopher
• George William Friedrich Hegel

  • German Philosopher
  • He developed a dialectic scheme that emphasized the progress of history and ideas
• Karl Marx

  • German philosopher, economist, historian, political theorist, sociologists and revolutionary socialist
• Durkheim

  • "Society should be analyzed and described in terms of functions"
  • argues that societies move from mechanical to organic solidarity through the division of labor
• George Herbert Mead

  • self is part of an individual’s personality
  • he proposed the theory of social self
  • focuses on how the self is developed