LESSON 5 - SELF IN WESTERN & EASTERN THOUGHT

• Egoism/individualism


  Focus on oneself and personal needs
• Western Culture

  • With the thought of being successful.
  • Celebrates youth and being young
  • Subscribes to the idea of evolution
  • More inclined to acquire material things
• Eastern Culture

  • About focusing on others and the feelings of others (collectivism)
  • More inclined towards long life which is equated with wealth
  • Wealth & poverty is a result of fortune & luck.
  • Values the wisdom of years and seniority
  • Concept of Reincarnation
• Social construction


  Symbolically and signally created between and among social beings
• Phenomenological objects


  Can be productively studied through a series of evanescent actions
• Multidimensional Identity


  • Intimately connected to bodily experience both ontogenetically and here and now awareness
  • Acquires substance according to semantic, syntactic and pragmatic (language/communication)
  • Self is an interpersonal unit
• Individualism


  • People are autonomous and independent from their in-groups
  • People give priority to the personal goals of their in-groups
  • People behave on the basis of attitudes rather than norms
  • Refers to the extent that you value independence and personal uniqueness.
• Collectivism


  • Independent from their in-groups
  • Give priority to the goals of their in-groups
  • In-groups primarily shape their behavior
  • Behave in a communal way
  • Concerned in maintaining relationships with others
  • Extent that we value our duty to groups to which we belong, and to group harmony.
• Independent identity


  Personal, defined by individual trait & goals
• Interdependent identity


  Social, defined by connections with others
• Frank Johnson's Four Categories of Self

  • Analytical: Tendency to see reality as an aggregate of parts. The self is an observer separate & distinct from external objects
  • Monotheistic: Involved the tendency toward unitary explanations of phenomena and a closed-system view of "self" as modeled after a unitary, omnipotent power
  • Individualistic: Self-impressions and self-actualization are important ways of establishing who one is
  • Materialistic: Discredit explanations that do not use analytic-deductive modes of thinking.
• Dharma


  Rules that describe goodness and appropriate behavior
• Karma


  Movement from past incarnations that affect the present and the future
• Maya


  Distorted perceptions of reality and experience that can be identified as such only with direct attention to our own process of awareness that comes about through internal concentration or meditation
• Atman


  Concept of universality in which the self is seen not as individual but as part of the entire cosmos
• Buddhism

  • The self is not an entity, a substance or an essence
  • The self is a dynamic process and ever-changing
  • Annata - doctrine which is often defined as no-self or no-soul
• Confucianism

  • The Self is something that is formed through upbringing and the environment
  • Personality is achieved through moral excellence
  • Four beginnings of the self: Jen (heart of compassion), Yin (heart of righteousness), Li (heart of propriety), Chih (heart of wisdom)
  • Views self-centeredness as a problem that many people need to overcome
• Japanese students


  Happiness comes with positive social engagement - with feeling close, friendly, and respectful
• American students


  Happiness comes with disengaged emotions - with feeling effective, superior, and proud
• Private self


  Mental processes that perceive one's own traits or behaviors
• Public self


  Generalized view of the self; perceptions of how others view you
• Collective self


  View of self in a collective context
• Independent What Matters


  Me - personal achievement & fulfillment; my rights & liberties
• Interdependent : What Matters


  We - group goals & solidarity; our social responsibilities & relationships
• Independent Disapproves of Conformity
• Interdependent Disapproves of Egotism
• Naikan Therapy

  • Views self-centeredness as a problem that many people need to overcome. 
• WESTERN CONCEPT OF THE SELF

  
  

  Ancient Greek Philosophers

  see humans as bearers of irreplaceable values

  
  

  St. Thomas Aquinas

  believed that the body constitutes individuality

  
  

  Rene Descartes

  is famous for his quote “I think, therefore, I am”

  
  

  Western tradition

  is generally acknowledged to be “imbued with a style of thinking based on dichotomy and binary opposition”.
• More about Culture

  • Conflicts in collectivists cultures often take place between groups; individualist cultures breed more conflict between individuals.
• THE SELF: EASTERN PERSPECTIVES

  • Confucianism
  • Hinduism & Taoism
  • Buddhism
  • Filipino Psychology
• • Confucianism: THE SELF can be seen as a code of ethical conduct, of how one should properly act according to their relationship with other people; thus it is also focused on having a harmonious social life. 
• • Hinduism & Taoism: Attainment of liberation in the identification of the Atman (the spiritual essence of all individuals) and Brahman, the spiritual essence through the four Yogas. 
• • Buddhism: Detachment and desirelessness to reach nirvana (Theravada), compassion to other humans (Mahayana - reciprocal relationship) for the belief that we are part of the ever-changing universe. 
• • Filipino Psychology: CONCEPT OF KAPWA (shared identity), an inner self shared with others. 
  • The self and the other combines
  • Shared Inner Self
  • Kapwa core value of the Filipinos according to Virgilio Enriquez (Father of Sikolohiyang Pilipino).
  • Negative: walang kapwa tao
  • Pakikiramdam: shared inner perception.
  • Two levels or modes of social interaction:
  • Ibang-tao: “outsiders”
  • Hindi-ibang tao: “one of us”
• • 3 GUIDE QUESTIONS:
  • What did I receive from this person?
  • What did I return to this person? 
  • What troubles and worries did I cause this person?
• More About Culture

  Conflicts in collectivists cultures often take place between groups; individualist cultures breed more conflict between individuals.