The Selves

Question 1

James - the four parts of the self

Answer 1

James

The self has four parts:

• The material self, which is the body, material possessions, and close family – those that share blood.
• The social self, which is the self as recognized by others in society. There are many versions of this self as each “other” may recognize a slightly different version of a given person depending on their interactions. (This is a very SI conception.)
• The spiritual self, which is the “inner or subjective being” – the self that draws inward and that would later, in SI, be said to make indications to itself.
• The pure ego, which is the soul or essence of the self but cannot truly be described. This self serves as a transitional feature between the phenomenal self and pure personal identity.

Question 2

Cooley - The Looking Glass Self

Answer 2

Cooley - The Looking Glass Self

We define “mine” as “to some extent not yours.” This includes the self. The self is “not all of the mind” but a central and integrated part of it that exists in reference and relation to others.

This self has three elements: our imagination of our appearance to the other person, our imagination of their judgement of that appearance, and our feelings about the self as we imagine it to appear to others (e.g. pride, embarrassment)

Question 3

Dewey - organisms act on environment

Answer 3

Dewey

organisms act on their environment, and “the changes produced in the environment react upon the organism and its activities. Knowledge is derived from this process.

Infants experiences of the world are mediated by others, and the explanations and interpretations of those others form the basis of the infant’s beliefs about the world.

Question 4

What do Thomas and Thomas say about situations?

Answer 4

The definition of the situation is “a stage of examination and deliberation” that precedes “any self-determined act of behavior.”

Situations defined as real are real in their consequences

Question 5

Mains - the pragmatic self

Answer 5

the “pragmatic self”

Main ideas:
• Humans do not passively respond to stimuli but are active, creative, and agentic.
• Human life is constantly emerging through “a dialectical process of continuity and discontinuity.”
• “Humans shape their worlds and thus actively produce the conditions of freedom and constraint.”
• Subjectivity flows from social conduct since minds (intelligence) and selves (consciousness) emerge from action.
• “Intelligence and consciousness are potential solutions to practical problems of human survival and quality of life.”
• Science is “useful in guiding society” because it is a self-adjusting method of making sense of the world.
• “Truth and value reside simultaneously in group perspectives and the human consequences of action.”
• “Human nature and society exist in and are sustained by symbolic communication and language.”