Individual Paper Examined

Solution Preview

Define and describe the conceptual views of the self.
Discuss and analyze the operational views of the self, including:
The relationship between the self and emotion and the issue of self-esteem.
The relationship between the self and behavior and the issue of self-presentation.

Theories of the Self

Theories of self are substantial. Most are taken from philosophy. There is the egocentric approach, the postmodern approach (there is no real me, nor is there anything out there except my own culturally bound constructs), the rational self (often defined as self-interest), the narcissist self, tightly bound with masochism; the Augistianisn self, where the outside world appears differently when we are deeply sinful versus pure. Nature seems an object for my pleasure when I sin, yet seems to be symbolic of God's presence when I avoid sin.

Freud created the self as three-fold, the pleasure principles, the rational principle and the social principle. Whichever two join up with defeat the third. Plato similarly, broke down the self as rational, willful and hedonistic. The rational needs to keep the other two in their place: the hedonistic is similar to the pleasure principle in Freud. The willful self is not in Freud, but seeks glory and power. Finally, the rational self is social for Plato, and is based on the formal nature of things, not merely their desirability. Nietzsche went further, reducing the self to either higher or lower: the higher people make their own selves through force of will and impose these on the lower, or the herd.

There is Jung's immensely important concept of self, where the repressed archetypes come to the fore given the makeup of the person. The first division is that between the ideal and real.
Jung called the real self the persona, while the ideal self is the full integration of all aspects of your experience and understanding, that is, a full sense of personhood found in the archetype of the mother. The real self (that is, the self in reality) is that which the public sees. It is almost always a mask. The ideal self is that which would exist if everyone was 100% tolerant and never judged anyone on anything. Then, you can be your ideal self at least most of the time. Given our many jobs and roles, our real self is multiple, which can cause problems.

Jung then says that the real self can be more or less integrated. It refers to pieces of the public's opinion on what is acceptable that we take as essential and fit them in to our many roles and jobs. We can be selective about it, but the real self is actually a compromise ...