The Self, Society and
Culture
Lesson Objectives:
• Relationship between and among the self, society, and culture
• Different ways by which society and culture shape the self
• How the self can be influenced by the different institutions in the society
Introduction
• Across time and history, the self has been debated by the different thinkers
in philosophy
• People put a halt on speculative debates on the relationship between the
body and soul
• The debate shifted into another locus of discussion
• What is the relationship between external reality and the self ?
The Self
CONSISTENT
UNITARY
SEPARATE
PRIVATE
SELFCONTAINED
INDEPENDENT
SELF’S
CHARACTERISTIC
S
STEVEN’S (1996)
Self is…
SEPARATE
Self is Distinct from
other selves.
Self is…
SELF- CONTAINED
AND INDEPENDENT
It can exist in itself.
Self is…
CONSISTENT
It has personality
that is enduring.
Self is…
UNITARY
Self is the center of all
experiences and thoughts
that run through a person.
Self is…
PRIVATE
Sort out information, feelings
and emotions,
and
thoughts
within self which is not accessible
to anyone but the self.
PROFESSOR
LECTOR OR
COMMENTATOR
JON
HUSBAND AND A
FATHER
THE SELF
Is always at the mercy
of
external
circumstances
It is ever-changing and
is dynamic
THE SELF
“ Social constructivists argue for a merged
view of ‘the person’ and ‘their social
context’ where the boundaries of one
cannot easily be separated from the
boundaries of the others” (Stevens 1996)
The Self and Culture
The Concept of Moi and Personne
• Marcel Mauss.
• Explains the phenomenon of how a person
adapts to one’s context.
Moi
• A person’s sense of who he/she is.
• His body, basic identity, and biological
givenness.
Personne
• Social concepts.
• Institution, family, religion, and nationality.
• Given expectations and influences from
others.
Example
• Overseas Filipino workers.
• Filipinos when in the Philippines vs. travelling
abroad.
• The self is simply morphed according to the
circumstances and contexts
In the Philippines:
• Filipinos consider their territory as part of their identity.
• “Mahal kita”- there is distinction between the lover and
the beloved.
• “Mahal” – love and expensive.
• “Siya” - No specification of gender.
• Self adjusts according to its exposure.
The Self and The
Development of The Social
World
We Think:
• Human persons are just passive actors.
• Men and women are born with particularities
they can no longer change.
Men and women engage actively in the
shaping of the self.
Language.
“Mead and Vygotsky”
• A young child internalize values, norms,
practices and social beliefs.
• Child assumes the “other”.
Family.
Self in Families
• A person first learns about things inside the family.
• Babies learn things by observation and imitation.
• A person's behavior depends in the family where
he/she lives in.
• Behaviors can either be consciously or
unconsciously learned.
• • People that have grown without basic manners
are clearly raised in a family that failed to provide
proper parenting.
Gender and the Self
• What is gender?
• What is gender expression?
• Social science considers the self's freedom to find,
express and live his identity.
Solnia Tolstoy
• "I am nothing but a miserable crushed worm,
whom no one wants, whom no one loves, a useless
creature with morning sickness and a big belly, two
rotten teeth and a bad temper, a battered sense of
dignity, and a love which nobody wants and which
nearly drives me insane."
Solnia Tolstoy
• "It makes me laugh to read over this diary. It's so
full of contradictions, and one would think that I
was such an unhappy woman. Yet is there any
happier woman than I?"
• Gender identity in the Philippines.
• According to Nancy Chodorow, “girls have a
tendecy to imitate the role of the mother while
boys are taught to behave like a man”.
• Gender must be personally discovered and not
dictated by culture and the society.