Assignment 1 – The concept of Self
Name – Deependra Kumar(17110044)
What is self? : Self is nothing, but it is awareness of own self like motivating us and organizing our behaviour. Every person has own unique own self0. It plays an important role to distinguish gender sexuality, human, reality etc. It has reflective properties like when we saw someone to doing something and heard about some knowledge sense. Their ideas or knowledge reflect into us. I am taken here as childhood example4, when we were child, we had no self. As we grow, our self also grows with time by listening someone or saw something etc. I am taken another example from a book “Water stories all around the world”- edited by Radhika Menon and Sandhya Rao and Illustrated by Nirupama Sekhar12. There was a bird in a dusty little village. She wondered to search a good place where can put her eggs. She wondered everywhere but she did not get good place. Finally, in desperation, she put her eggs in hot dust. Cause of dust her eggs was broken, and little babies comes out. She fed them until they did not get enough self. Means until they did not fly confidently. Gradually people are going towards own ages their self also become powerful. Some part of self can be private (only we know that). Another is public (which is known by other). Also, there is a part of self which comes from team leadership experience, these selves called collective self. It also comes from experience as thinking, to feel, to act and so on. Experience of self is common, but it is complex0. We can divide self into two parts in view of understanding– 1) Dependent Self – that self which is comes from social media, other people, our parents, neighbours and so on. That ideas of self are not mine, but we took this and adopted as mine. 2) Independent self- that self which is comes from automatically from our mind. We have no need to adopted or observed others self.
History of Self Concept: The history of Self starts from in 16th century by Rene Descartes3. He was first philosopher who think about self. He introduced that a person’s entity depended on how they feel so 3. Descartes was also a mathematician and a good scientist. We considered him father of modern philosophy. In 19th century, a famous psychologists Sigmund Freud introduced many theories that talk about our internal mental process of self3. His theory holds that there are three main side within us- id (pleasure- oriented), ego (balance between id and superego) and superego (conscience- determined) which may we impact the way to think of ourselves3.
Bundle theory of self: Bundle theory of self is derived in 18th century by Scottish philosopher David M. Hume who described the self is nothing but it is a bundle or collection of different perceptions like as a chain. For example, an apple, it is just redness, sweetness, roundness, crunchiness and all other properties of apple wrapped up into a bundle. Beyond these there is no Apple. There are two dimensions of these theory, either these properties are individual or universals and either substance simply bundle of properties. According to Hume, the idea of enduring self is an illusion6.
Hume said to himself that “No! For my part, when I enter most deep into what I talk to myself, I always found mistake on some perception or other, of heat or cold, light or shade, love or hate, pain or delightful. I never can catch myself at any without a perception, and never can feel anything but the perception”1
He also said that This is the only concept of self which we can get by the carefully look towards the contents of our experience1.
Aspect of Self: Here I am explaining some aspect of self.
1)Self-esteem: It is an evaluative component of self7. The self-esteem is the value-judgment of a human being about himself4. It is a concept of whatever you know about yourself and also it refers towards your attitude. We can distinguish in two ways depending upon situation 1) Positive or High self-esteem and 2) Negative or Low self-esteem9.
i) Positive or High self-esteem: When we feel positive self-esteem, or we can say that almost ideal self (like Helium gas, we consider ideal but, it is not). In that situation, Person or people feels confident on own abilities9 (e.g. I will defeat him surely). He never worries about other people what are they say or saying, and His optimism properties also increases and so on9.
ii) Negative or Low self-esteem: In other hand when we feel negative self-esteem. Person feel lack of confident9 (e.g. I cannot do this). And he always worries about those people who does not care him. He also looks like some else and at last he is gone into pessimism (we say into depression). Madam Curie said that, “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained2.”
2) Self efficacy: it is belief of achievement or goal (which he is capable for this or not). It is optimism self-belief in our competent or goal or achievement7. Whoever has high efficacy. They solve problem quickly or easily. According to Bandura self-efficacy belief have power of four major influences.7
i) Cogitative: it refers to the influences of thought process7 (e.g. I am a good athlete. This year I will won the medal in InterIIT).
ii) Motivation: it refers to keep going on trying7 (it gives motivation like runners, failure student and so on.)
iii) Affective: it deals with stress, anxiety and feeling of control7 (e.g. when student received his grade and see your less grade or CPI. He is going to feel anxiety or very bad feeling).
iv) Selection: it includes choosing challenging activities7 (e.g. among many students when any student fought to get better CPI for selecting on Dean list. When we will select in dean list we feel very happy).
Self, Indian theories of 8 :
The self of Hindu thought came from Vedic source which is written in Sanskrit language. In Hindu thought the common word used for religion self are JIVA (life), ATMAN (breath), JIVATMAN (life-breath), PURUSA (it is a concept in Indian philosophy referring to the cosmic self, cosmic consciousness or the universal principle.)a and KSETRAJNA(one who knows the body or soul sprit)b. Each of these words was secret of discovering the nature of self. By the end of ancient time, personal self was considered as immortal which is attached to his body so that he finished his good and bad work in his life which he did? The self-identity finds in the six system of Hindu thought this is known as astikadarsanas (it is deriving from Sanskrit language which mean astika mean Asti and darsanas mean auspicious sight of a dev or a holy person’s sight) or ways of seeing the self without reject the evidence of Vedas. For the philosophy, the word darsana is also important if anyone any one realizes that the philosophy does not end with intellectual thought of knowing of one’s self-identity but also destroyed by realizing it and truly becoming it. Here I am describing about some aspect of Indian theories of self.
Vedic Literature: The time of Vedas (C,2000- 1000BC) of Hindu thought which is written in Sanskrit language. Vedas considered four parts (RIG Veda, Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda, Samaveda) along with Brahmanas (refer to the utterance of priest or brahman)a , Aranyakas (books composed in the forest) and Upanisads (spiritual thought of Vedantic Hinduism)a attached in Vedas. In Rig Vedas, people do not write about Vedic literature of Hindu thought, they remembered all things in term of sruti(in term of memory)*. This was told to generation by generation. Jiva, Atman, Jivatman, Purusa, Ksetrajna etc are many words who denote the individual self in Hindu thought. The first enquiry of Upanisads led to postulates Brahman (from root Brh -to expand, burst forth) as the source behind the universe. The other enquiry was directed towards searching the identity of self by analysis the inner nature of human. I thought here the self of the human being is ideal self almost.
The Upanisadic View: This was the symbol of ultimate truth of the universe called brahman along with inner self of all human called the Atman. The aspect that ended in this equation can be described in in two-fold ways. The objective aspect went throw the exercise of finding the ultimate principle that underlines the universe but the importance to the Atman- Brahman equation is capacity to find the consistency between the individual and universe in a ‘micro-macro’ sample that manifest itself very early in the period (for example, in the Rig Veda 10.90, 10.16, Atharva Veda 11.4, Aitareya Uapnisad 1, Chandogya Upanisad 3.16.1, 5.11-18). Subjective approach analysed the atman in two ways. One was approach to micro and second way was principle of knowledge and consciousness.it was observed that the self was always associated with any event of achievement. Another discovery was the persistence of the “sense-of -I” in three states of walking, sleeping and deep sleep by the time of the Upanisads. The Atman was established as the self in any living being. Atman was nature of pure consciousness which was known as like Brahma name which was ofen denoted by the word paramatman (who has high self or like ideal self). It was also denoted of nature of persistence and superiority (the state of being superior)*.
Dharma, karma, human goals and transmigration: The concept of Dharma and Karma had developed in spiritual principle which was depend on different-different parts of Earth (Darti)0. Dharma went throw before it settled down to mean quality, merit, good conduct of human. Here goal was four types Dharma, Artha (weath or properties)a , Kama (sexual desire)a and Moksha (Mukti or absolute freedom and oneness with the divine)a . According to karma the self should accepted as a permanent article which settled from one birth to another birth till it feels true nature. It could come from knowledge, no desired action or loyalty. After, yoga also come to identify as a final goal. Here concept of self was eternal which was connected to its own good or bad deeds, they were following spiritual way which was best for them and they finally get Moksha. Moksha was containing self attains which was depend on ontological status assigned to truth path in philosophical system.
References:
1) https://schoolworkhelper.net/hume%E2%80%99s-bundle-theory-of-the-self/
2) https://www.coloradoan.com/search/negative%20self%20by%20Lloyd%20J.%20Thomas/ (by Lloyd J. Thomas)
3) https://explorable.com/self-concept-theory
4) http://www.psychologydiscussion.net/hindi/essays-hindi/essay-on-the-self-and-identity-hindi-human-development-psychology/3812
5) https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-concept-2795865
6) https://bewarephilosophy.weebly.com/bundle-theory.html
7) download.nos.org/srsec328newE/328EL16.pdf
8) Routledge Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, Version 1.0, London and New York: Routledge (1998). (From reading material as you given.)
9) https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/media/Media,366009,en.pdf
10) https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/self-knowledge/index.html
11) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00029/full
12) https://www.scribd.com/doc/39093880/Water-Stories-from-around-the-world
0) I don’t remember where am I taken from?
