For many East Asians, and their children growing up in the West, listening, following the “right” way, fitting in, and keeping calm are not odd classroom behaviors; they are the very route to being a good person—a good interdependent self, Eastern style. ", For a discussion, see Gillihan, Seth J., and Martha J. Farah. A sense of self is intimately connected to memories of past experiences. The concept of a ‘soul’ is often the most popular representation of an ‘enduring self’, because according to western belief, a soul is “immaterial or spiritual” (Velasquez 100), thus a ‘soul’ is beyond the physical realm and not subject to change like material objects. These were social roles (external or objective aspects of oneself such as son, teacher, friend) and personality traits (internal or affective aspects of … The World Health Organization defines an adolescent as any person aged 10 to 19. [6][7] As is the case with emotion, the proposed neural essence for "the self" doesn’t exist (or has not been found), even if common sense says that it does. Hume “argues that all real knowledge is based on what we can actually perceive with our senses” (Velasquez 104). But here it’s way more negative traits than positive. For example, right now I’m typing this essay, but the thoughts in my mind at this very moment are different from the thoughts in my mind a few seconds ago. ‘The self’ is really only a product of our evolved consciousness – I personally don’t believe that it exists on any metaphysical, material or spiritual level. There’s a “public self” that reflects your actions, a “private self” relating to thoughts and feelings, not to mention self-awareness, self-consciousness, self-reference, self-enhancement, self-perception, and self-esteem. A critical review of evidence from experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS • Filipinos has one of the best traits in the world one of you must know. The self is continuous through time — it has some essence. Self Portraits History, Characteristics of Self-Portrait Paintings in Western Art. Western culture is also referred to Western civilization. The self-concept is a general term used to refer to how someone thinks about, evaluates or perceives themselves. Psychologists are uncovering the surprising influence of geography on our reasoning, behaviour, and sense of self. In. Learn more about the definition, features, and stages of adolescence. Self-dedication to the goal (big dream, life vision, happiness, personal success, etc.) The self is sometimes understood as a unified being essentially connected to consciousness, awareness, and agency. Collectivism – individuals are part of a group and the needs of the group come before the individual. In other words, it is our memory that allows us to identify ourselves, and it is the process of identifying ourselves that allows us to formulate the idea of a ‘self’. Anthropology at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. Egocentric Self - each person is seen to be a separate entity with inherent characteristics - which are seen to originate and reside within an individual - to act differently depending on who you are with is seen as dishonest - as suggested in the expression, "be true to yourself" What does Western psychology have to say about the self? The western view of the ‘enduring self’ refers to the notion that “you are the same person you were earlier in your life. The philosophy of self is the study of the many conditions of identity that make one subject of experience distinct from other experiences. They Enjoy Solitude and Privacy. Self Portrait Paintings in Western Art (1400 BCE-present): Characteristics of Classical, Renaissance, Baroque and Modern Types of Self-Portraiture. The Original Question is: What are Eastern and Western perspectives about self? Assistant Professor. But the Buddha taught that if we can see through the delusion of the small, individual self, we experience that which is not subject to birth and death. He made many distinctions, two of which we can easily recognize as important: the “me” vs. the “I.” James wrote about three types of "me”s" (or objective selves) — material (the body), social and spiritual. In this essay, I intend to examine the two different views and state my own thoughts on which viewpoint is more compelling. Previous research has established reliable differences in personality traits across countries. However, the Enlightenment philosopher David Hume and the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, both rejected the idea of an ‘enduring self’, even going so far as to claim any concept of a ‘self’ is an illusion. A sense of self is intimately connected to memories of past experiences. The following are broad characteristics that can be ascribed to postmodernism. Part of what is developing in children as they grow is the fundamental cognitive part of the self, known as the self-concept. Some of the most prominent characteristics of Western culture are individualism, Christianity, democracy, freedom of speech, human rights and sports. Clearly, human beings cannot be reduced to parts but must be understood within the context of the whole. The East Coast of the United States was originally a British colony, and as America developed into its own inde… Richard C. Page. The Western concept of self as a bounded, unique,more or less integrated mmotivational and cognitive universe, a dynamic center of awareness, emotion,judgement and action. Anthropology at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. People are said to have a representation of a physical self that is related to the body, and a mental self related to thoughts and feelings. In other words, it assumes that we humans are selves that endure through time” (Velasquez 96). ‘The self’ may exist as a product of the mind, in other words, on a psychological level, but in all honesty I think even that definition might be stretching it. Westerns take place in the untamed frontier, an open landscape of mountain ranges, rugged lands and vast plains. Thus, how could I be an ‘enduring self’ when every few seconds the thoughts in my head are changing? The European philosophers Plato, Descartes, and Locke all believed in an ‘enduring self’, however what exactly constituted this ‘self’ was varied. In the current climate of migration and globalization, personality characteristics of individuals from different countries have received a growing interest. So, of course, William James wrote about it. 2006. Associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services. This is a very controversial subject to go through, but I'll do my best to make it short. The same struggle exists between those scientists whose work is guided by the hypothesis that there is a specialized self system in the mind or brain vs. those whose work is guided by the hypothesis that the self is constructed from domain general systems. In particular, he is concerned with anthropological writing about the “Western” notion of a “transcendent self” against which the rest of the world’s cultures are judged. In other words, our consciousness is a result of our ‘soul’, or of our ‘enduring self’. ref James. Everything is in a constant flux of change and impermanence, thus, the ‘enduring self’ cannot exist, because an ‘enduring self’ would imply something that is ‘permanent’ or ‘unchanging’. April 2, 2017. Adolescence, transitional phase of growth and development between childhood and adulthood. Jackson H. The term ‘self’ refers to an individual human being, along with their body, mind, and in some cases, the concept of a ‘soul’. "Self-referential processing in our brain—a meta-analysis of imaging studies on the self. Western philosophy, on the other hand, is based on self-dedication to be of service to others. A tremendous amount, actually. ", How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, http://how-emotions-are-made.com/w/index.php?title=Western_views_of_the_self&oldid=7290. Some scientists believe that a self has an essence, whereas others who believe that the self is a momentary representation derived from a population of possible representations (i.e., population thinking); so too with emotion. Plato was one of the first philosophers to state that the soul is eternal, so it is the soul of a man that makes him an enduring self, because even after death the soul continues to exist. Everyone is either in “survival” mode or “hater” mode, to the point that no one seems to be genuine. Like Buddha and David Hume, I too believe that everything is impermanent, including ourselves. Search for more papers by this author. [1] William James discussed many different selves, including the self as knower vs. the self as someone to be known by others. The concept of the Self takes many forms in Western psychology, but invariably involves to some extent a dimension of “thingness,” the reification of a homunculus assumed to reside within the individual, who is the thinker of thoughts, the doer of deeds, and the feeler of feelings. By and large, cultures in the West tend to be more individualistic whereas people from the East are more collectivist. D. W. MURRAY. Although they have been colonized by several countries, core values from their ancestors remained intact and is still applied up to this time. 1989. ... Western postmodernists have a tendency to view large Western cultures such as American culture as oppressive or otherwise deeply flawed. The Smithsonian’s National African American History Museum has recently issued a list of characteristics that it attributes to “whiteness” in the U.S., including “self-reliance” and the “nuclear family.” The story: The National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC) published an article on its website that discusses “whiteness” and white culture. "The self." Humans are intersubjective beings interacting with other people and environmental factors in a constant state of flux. The term ‘self’ refers to an individual human being, along with their body, mind, and in some cases, the concept of a ‘soul’. The self is experienced subjectively and can be viewed objectively. On Forgetting David Hume. If you think the question “what is an emotion?” is complicated, you ain’t seen nothing until you’ve looked at the science of "the self." The self is experienced subjectively and can be viewed objectively. Chapter 9 endnote 32, from How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett.Some context is: A common core runs through all these views: the self is your sense of who you are, and it’s continuous through time, as if it were the essence of you. Life is service to God, money, community, and so on. Two themes have been particularly pervasive: the tension between egalitarian and aristocratic cultural strands; and the pursuit of the authentic self. Assistant Professor. The self-concept is a knowledge representation that contains knowledge about us, including our beliefs about our personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities, values, goals, and roles, as well as the knowledge that we exist as individuals. That's an interesting topic and amazingly no one answered. Even the cells and carbon atoms that make up our bodies change repeatedly. Mentally and physically we are constantly changing, so I think that the idea of an ‘enduring self’ is nothing more than a mystical, idealistic concept. Western Self as Analytic..as Monotheistic..as Individualistic..as Materialistic and Rationalistic. A few countries that are considered individualistic cultures include the United States, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, and Australia. Imaging research reveals the same networks are important both for the self and for emotion. Individualism once exhibited interesting national variations, but its various meanings have since largely merged. MAIN A-Z INDEX - A-Z of PAINTING. D. W. MURRAY. While western traditional has, for the most part, accepted and championed the idea of an ‘enduring self’, the exact definition and characteristics of this ‘enduring self’ are diverse. This page was last edited on 4 March 2017, at 14:59. Concepts of the Self: Western and Eastern Perspectives. For example, see Baumeister, Roy F. 1998. Similarities between the concept of the self and the concept of emotion: There is a "self paradox" that looks a lot like the emotion paradox:  colloquially, a “self” refers to a coherent, unified whole — most people, barring illness, have no difficulty identifying their self — but scientists can’t agree on its definition, nor find a set of objective (perceiver-dependent criteria) to measure it. America, for example, is firmly Western in culture. Locke had a similar view, though his idea was the ‘enduring self’ is a person’s memory. The evidence instead points toward construction. So, despite the many mental and physical changes that may occur during our life, we are essentially the same ‘self’ throughout our many developments. The self is one of the oldest topics in psychology. On the surface, this appears to be nihilistic teaching . This contrasts with collectivist cultures where characteristics like being self-sacrificing, dependable, generous, and helpful to others are of greater importance. When people talk about Western culture, what exactly are they referring to? Due to its Christian influence, there has to be a beginning and end to find meaning. Reductionism, while useful in certain applications, is not helpful in understanding the person. 2005. ", Greenwald, Anthony G., and Mahzarin R. Banaji. While the western tradition may make some fairly significant justifications for an ‘enduring self’, the Buddhist philosophy completely rejects the notion of a ‘self’ in general, viewing it as an illusion. Also kicked with all the middle class types the country has to offer. The western view of the ‘enduring self’ refers to the notion that “you are the same person you were earlier in your life. Western culture tends to identify the the self with “ego”. The new research paints a much richer picture of diversity in cultural models of selfhood. The Enlightenment thinker David Hume had a somewhat similar idea, in the sense that he too believed there is ‘no self’, and that what we think of as a ‘self’ is just an illusion. It shows that Western cultures tend to emphasize certain ways of being independent (e.g., being different from others, self-directed, and self-expressive), but not others (e.g., being self-interested, self-reliant, and consistent across contexts). An important characteristic of the Western genre is the setting. People build taxonomies for both to try and get some clarity; the distinctions continue to proliferate in an unhelpful way. [3] And that’s just a self-selected sample! Self-actualized individuals value their privacy and enjoy solitude. Descartes basically believed that, if he could not think, then he could not exist, and thus ‘thinking’ in and of itself was what constituted an enduring self. Thousands of journal articles and books on the topic make the question ever more complex and confusing. The Buddha taught that the idea of a ‘self’ is an illusion, and that this illusion leads to pain and suffering. Buddhist philosophy believes that everything in life is ephemeral, or that nothing lasts forever. I agree with Hume in his reasoning that “we have no real knowledge of a self and so [we] have no justification for claiming that we have a self. The first one to be discussed is individualism, a characteristic that is the opposite of Eastern Culture which is a …show more content… What we perceive within ourselves is nothing more than a changing bundle of disconnected sensations” (Velasquez 104). I would say that the idea of a ‘self’ is just a notion that has been mentally created in order to give ourselves a feeling of identity and purpose. In order to be an ‘enduring self’, wouldn’t that imply that I am unchanging, permanent and stagnant? In many societies, however, adolescence is often equated with puberty. Richard C. Page: is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia, Athens. Hume believed that it was impossible to perceive the ‘self’ with our senses because it doesn’t actually exist – ‘the self’ is just an imaginary concept. "Is self special? In his book, Northoff, Georg, Alexander Heinzel, Moritz De Greck, Felix Bermpohl, Henrik Dobrowolny, and Jaak Panksepp. Every time you fail to feed the needs and desires of your fictional self (which comes from the standards created by you, your loved ones, or your reputation), you suffer. Murray argues that anthropologists have constructed a “monolithic” vision of “Hegemonic Western Tradition,” which they then contrast with their own work. Individualism – favours the individual as an independent entity and encourages self-promotion and self-worth. Many years later, the philosopher Descartes stated that “thinking is an attribute of the soul” and that “the continuity of his thinking mind [is what] makes him remain the same person” (Velasquez 100). [2] There is also Antonio Damasio's distinction between the protoself, the core self, and the autobiographical self. The self has been a topic of study since the beginning of psychology as a science; so too with emotion. Many psychologists consider the self to have a special status in the brain, first within a dedicated region, and then a dedicated network. By renouncing the ‘self’ and transcending the ego, one can obtain release from suffering (nirvana) and finally be at peace. Like Buddhism, Hume believed that “because everything is in flux, there is not even an enduring self” (Velasquez 105). 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