CHAPTER 11: Digital Self

In today's world, we are now living in 21st century in which technology is very highly focused, an with that the use of digital technology has now become part of the self- the digital self. It is the aspect of the self that is expressed or shared with others in social interaction on the internet, specifically in social networking sites. We sometimes give or put our personal information on social media in which it will give or caused a trouble in your life.

According to John DeLamater and Daniel Myers, the self is heavily influenced by feedback from others. People tend to post something on social media to present themselves in such a way to impress and gain attention in the eyes of other people which is not Good for the self. Because some pretend to be someone just to be acknowledge and it may lead to consequences that can be risky to one's security and mental health such as, identity theft, cyberbullying, gossiping as well as anxiety and depression. Hence, individuals should be very careful with what they post, we should be mindful of our privacy when using social networking sites and posting on social media.

There's a lot of impact that internet or social network gives to us. It helps us communicate with our family from abroad, we gain new friends and sometimes some people find their partners in life through internet, and also it helps us to keep updated on what's happening in our day today. However, the use of technology limit face-to-face interaction in which some make fake account uses other pictures and try to pretend that it is them which may give a bad impact or effect to the real owner of th picture. However our country provides a law regarding identity theft in which whoever try or pretend to be saomeone will have a punishment, they made this law to protect the people from invasion of privacy.

CHAPTER 10: Political Self

Political Self is an understanding the concept of politics. Aristotle observed that "Man is by nature a political animal" he describes that politics and the political community must play in bringing the decent life in the citizenry. Politics is an important part of human development since it promotes the idea of democracy, citizenship, human rights, freedom, family, health and other social issues. It serves as the mechanism by which an individual devekoped and understand power and proper functioning of a democratic society as a cutizen.

Where does the Polotical self originate? It begun in our family in which everyone of us in the family has own role that we must perform. We are differ in status, obligation, influence and power. Authority also begun inside our family for example our father he has the right to command his acts as a leader and establishes rules to maintain the peace and order in the family. Authority is necessary in the development of political self and identity. Also in school we develop our political self, especially when we engaged in any sort that shows politics.So as in our country there is one person who is voted by the people to govern and lead our country, he has the power to command what is good and right for our countryside.Also the church plays an important role in shaping the ideals of citizenship and democracy throught their religious teaching's, values and traditions.

In every institution there's one person who is assigned to lead and govern, but the truth is they can't lead and govern the institution properly without their and our outmost leader which is God. He is the one who is greatest among all. He give life, he guides, he loves, he forgives the unforgivable and that what makes him worth to be a leader, to be followed and to be loved.

CHAPTER 9: The Spiritual Self

When we say Spiritual self it is the inner essence, a part of the self that connects the person to the sacred and the universe. It enables the person ro experience of oneness with a higher being and gives a deeper purpose or meaning of one's life. For me understanding and nurturing the spiritual self is very important since ut develops your faith and Love to our almighty God. When we say differentiate Religion and Spirituality some people will say that there's no difference between the two since they both takks and focus about God, but the true thing is The Spirituality is our inner self it is our devotion, trust, faith, fear and love to God.Well they are somewhat connected with the religion but they are different, they are connected in the way that Religion is the tool for the development of the spirituality of a person it is the one who teaches about what are written in the bible. They are similar in a wat that they fulfill numerous social and psychological needs such us the need to understand about human sufferings and death.

The Practice of Animism, some believe that the creatures, objects, and places possess certain spirits, it is also a belief that the places are alive and grounded by a supernatural order. Many countries practice animism, One of the example is the indigenous people in the Philippines, they believe that the sun, sky, and moon possess soirits and that's their God. We have different beliefs and different practices but the important thing is we respect each other without bragging any religion or practices.

The topic that I choose is "Man's Search for Meaning", Viktor Frankl's book, it is about how a prisoner passes through three major phases in life and how each phase transformed the prisoners from their previous lives to a new one and everyone of us has the desire to find what our purpose is, and that a man's deepest desire is to find meaning in his life, and if he can find that meaning, he can survive anything. And through experiencing sufferings it is an opportunity to make the self a better person. Frankl also explains that human kife has bright and darks sides in which a perosn should embraced it because it contribute to human achievement and the search of meaning in life. Logotherapy is the pursuit of human existence as well as on man's searcb for such meaning and it has three different ways : doing by deed, by experiencing a value and by suffering. Loving someone is for me an important thing in searching for meaning in life, because it is the way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his or her personality. For me the best to Love is God because he is the life the truth and the way. The way to a happy life and contentment. We love him Because he first love us.

CHAPTER 8: The Material Self

Everyone of us has own possessions, just like me I always wanted to have a new phone even though I already have one. And that's what our material self came from. This chapter explains the material self and what are the advantages and disadvantage if a person desire to acquire material possessions. William James explains that the self is everything that an individu is considersnot only his or herbody and material possession but also his or her reputation and beliefs. One of the componets of materaiyself is our body, one should appreciate and accept the physical body they have, bscause if they are not they will always makes some ways to change it and ofcourse spend a lot of money. Second components is the clothes, as clothes represent the self. Wether we admit it or not but we want to keep up with the trends we don't want to be left behind yet because of that we tend to buy a lot of clothes and sometimes looks for the famous brands even though we already had enough of it. There are a lot more components that makes up our material self but one thing is important whatever it is we should be contented on what we already have.

The one who is giving much important to materials possessed materialism which it wil lead to psychological dysfunction or impairment in functioning such us compulsive buying disorder. When we say consumer culture it is a system in which consumption is dominated by commercial products it is a relations between lived culture and social resources. Everyone of us should be responsible in buying goods if it is not important and you don't need it, it's better not to buy it, because some might needed it than your desire and it may lead to Consumerism in which buying much materials that exceeds in one's basic needs. It is very close to materialism since buying much thing even though it is not needed tend to give people happiness and they are more motivated because their wants are met.

Regardless of how much material we have, the important thing is we remain valuable, when we do not have much material possession it means that we are contented on what we have what God has given to us , although it is not bad to buy materials you always wanted to have, material possession can also be a reflection of all the hardworks and success you have in life, the thing is you should consider your status if you can't afford such thing then don't push yourself because if you will, at the end of the day you will just pay it all back too.

CHAPTER 7: The Sexual Self

As we grow old, in school or everywhere we go, we are taught about Sexual Self from its system and characteristics and difference between the man and woman. Understanding and experiencing the self includes the factors of sexual self. Through this discussion we talk about the importance of sex and the negative and positive result of it. As we have observed in our body when we step on the adolescent stage we are experiencing rapid physical changes includes maturation of the reproductive system and development of primary and secondary sex characteristics. As we all know reproductive system is a system of sex organs in our body designed for the reproduction and sexual function. This chapter tackles also the sexual arousal of one who will engaged on sex, this talks on what people turns on and talks about the areas of the body which are higly sensitive and produce sexual responses when stimulated and not controlled. One should be very careful because through sex, you can acquire diseases that is very difficult and to treatment. In engaging in sex to be able to make sure tht you are safe it's be better to use some contraceptives that will protect you from being barm of aby diseases.

As for me sex is not bad , its is even one of the basic need of every individuals but the thing is as what the Bible taught us one must engaged in sex when they are married with his or her partner. And also having sex at the right time and right person will make your relationship stronger, Engaging in sex at the very young age especially when you are not sure that the one you are having sex is not the right one for you will just make your life horrible and you'll just give and add problems to your parents who work hard for your future. As a young woman i always put to my head and heart that If I engaged in sex I'll make sure that we are already blessed by God and Family and I'll make sure that he is the right one and I am the right for him.

CHAPTER 6: The Physical Self

This chapter delve the process and development of the physical growth. To be able to understand the physical self we must able to understand first the life span and the development that happens in us. When we say Physical Self it refers to our body utseld from the function of different organs to the external part of our body which is our appearance. The Life span in other sude refers to the development from conception to dearh. There are factors affecting our Physical growth and Development it is the product of Herdity the bilogicak procees of inheritance of traits from the parents to the next generation and Environment is the factors in which the self is exposed to which may inlcudes learning and experiences. as for Body Image it refers on how the person perceive, think and feel about their body and physical appearance which means a persons height, weight, skin color, clothes and hairstyles and others which are visible to human eye, Through it an individual will be able to show others what kind of person he or she is.Self esteem have an important role in perceiving Body Image because it is the person's overall evaluation of his or her own worth or value and on how he handle herself.

The topic the I choose which is close to my experience is the Importance of beauty, as we all know in todays era or generation many people perceive someone as beautiful if they have a light color of the skin perfect shaped body and well proportionsd nose and perfect angle jaw line, without minding what one's characteristics is, before in my own experiences I used to be bully because of my physical appearance and it hurts me a lot, but as I grow old I realize that you don't need to be look good just to be loved and complemented and then realize that the true beauty is not the looks you have it is the heart thats is kind, down to earth and ready to forgive. I still manage to be good at the people who bullied me, and I believe that no matter what other people throw at you, just be who you are because hold yoyrself tightly because as the sayings goes by the "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" it is how you handle yourself especially in the time where in somone will throw hate and hurtful words with you, as long as you are not hurting someone stand still with God remain strong because he is always with you.

CHAPTER 5: The western and Eastern Concept of the self.

This topic tackles the different Concept of Self in Westen and Eastern part of our world. It also talks about the differences among them. Western Concept of self is Interpersonal inwhich they are capable of socializing with other and also western self is Individualistic aware of their self it is unique have sense of purpose and volition. While the Eastern concept us Interpersonal which is the Mastery of the self. Thus eastern self gas depeonded on religions such as Hinduism which the self or you are responsible in your every action, Buddhism its main thought is that it Has No self but still aware and embraces the changes that come and happen.

Confucianism, it focuses on the basic virtue " Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you" it explains on how to act in relation with others, it is Healthy since you have a relationship with otherd and you know how to act properly without making an argument with you . While Taoisim, to them the self is an extension of the cosmos or the universe not the relationship with other. Every person must seek to be able to understand and act in accordance wuth the law there is Oneness in Tao.

CHAPTER 4: Psychocological Perspective of the self

As we have in our discussion this chapter talks about the theories about the self. It focuses on the outline by which people understand the self. William James concept of the self: The me-self and the I-self, it talks about the two different categories of the self which exist within us, I self is a self that already knows who he or she is it reflect the person's soul, while the me self refers to the person's personal experiences in life with is divided into categories the material social and spiritual self. Each categories plays a big role because Influences the person or human in the step by step development of the self.

The other psychologist is Winnicott which found that the self is composed of true and false self, True self in terms of showing the real side of you without pretending to be someone, while the false self is where someone is trying to be other someone just to impress other people which is kinda bad because it may cause a damage within your self and your relationship with other people. In the topic The self as proactive agentic it talks about Albert Bandura's concept Human agency which is it is a proactive agents of experiences of the self it includes the edownments, belief systems, self regulatory capabilities. Human agency has main features the intentionality, forethought,self-reactiveness and self reflectiveness.Carl Jung's theory is the consept of archetype which it represents the hidden total personality of a person.As for Sigmund Freud's Construction of self and personality, according to him that self has a lot of dynamic forces and certain confict.The self has three concept the id, ego and superego,these three often conflict with each other each of them is develop in a series of stages in which the individual must resolve it before going to the next stage. Whole for Erik Erksons theory in understanding the self, self-understanding involves the identity development of the self, his concept of self has dfifferent stages in which the self developed through the process of each stages.

The theory the I choose is the theory of Carl Roger's Self Theory: Real and ideal self it is a self concept that focuses on how the self uses and view her or himself as a being.For him the self's development depends upon the interaction with significant people. The two components of self-concept is first the real self in which it has all the ideas and it is being aware of what the self is and what one can do, the second one probably the last is the ideal self which is the concept of what one's, what the self should be or he or she aspires to.For me this theory of him is applied to me because in my real self I really kove to help other people in any way I can and I think the best thing to help them is to give care and show love to them, and its is close to my dream and what I aspire to be which is to be a professional nurse It provides care and give love to individuals who are in need, and that is my ideal self. And to be honest I am happy and contented now and what I am taking because I know my heart and passion belongs here.

CHAPTER 3: An Anthropological Conceptualization of Self: The Self as Embedded in Culture

In this chapter focuses on the how anthropology affects the self and how the self is embedded in culture. As what I have learned and understand anthropology influences the behavior of the self on how they interact with others with different beliefs and races and how these shape the self in day by day situations. For Edward Tylor a British anthropologist define culture as complicated whole it includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals and any other more. They emphasize that a culture is not a behavior rather it is participated by understanding of each other in which it will also expressed ones behavior.There are two ways in which the self is viewed different societies: Egocentric and sociocentric. In the two ways I think I belong to the sociocentric, because sometimes my actions depends on what are the things that I always see I can adopt it right away, some people will tell me that I am imatating or following what they did but to be honest myself is very fast and easy to adopt things that I am used to which sometimes I don't like it because I want to stay what I always do not changing my action and not depending on type of environment I am in.

The self as Embedded culture. As what I have read and understand about Cleeford Geertz concept of culture, it is expressed in a symbolic forms by which individuals interact, communicate, perpetuate and develop knowledge and attitude toward the experiences in life. ccordingyo Mark Weber " mna is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun. Therefore,man is shaped by the culture from just being a genetic potential.

For me I believe that the more we interact with different culture and come out from our comfort zone the more we grow as an individual we are free and we have the right to choose the path we always wanted because it will help us grow. And as what Geertz quoted " without men ,no culture , certainly;but equalky, and more significantly without culture, no men" In other words We human created the culture we are the one giving meaning to it, by contrast the culture is the one who molded us as person we always wanted and used to be, it is the one defines us.

CHAPTER 2 : Sociological Perspective: The Self as a product of Society

As we have discussed this chapter tackles the different sociologist and their sociological perspective of the self based on the presuppositions that human behavior is influence by our surroundings or what we are used to. Chatles Horton Cooley has a concet named "Looking-glass self" which explains that a person is influenced by a person who he/she always interacts it becames a mirror the way she or he views herself.

The Self as a product of Modern and Postmodern societies. Gerry Lanuza discusses the relationship of the society and indiviuals for him the self changes due to the multitude changes in social. While for Jean Baudrillard stands that the postmodernity to individuals in the society has a negative consequences. and Lastly which I stand for is George Herbert Mead in which he supported that the self of a person is being develop through a social interaction, as what I have observed to myself everytime I interact or socialize to other people I become more confident to talk and feel free and I think I become the person that I am not before, because before I don't really talk to other people, I am shy and scared to interact because for me the most scaring being in this world is the Human who always judge without checking or knowing what is true but Now as I grow old and start to talk and socialize with other people I am already far different for what I am before because I am now much more confident to stand on for me what is right and open up my opinion without being scared of being judged.

CHAPTER 1 : Philosophical Perspective of the Self

As this Subject begins, the first chapter tackle the different philosophers and their perception about the self. As I read the title of this book which is "Understanding the Self" the first thing that come up to my mind is, do I already understand myself and How would I understand myself? As we have discussed on this chapter it helps me widen my idea about self specifically myself. But the different perspective and concepts of the philosophers made me confused about how to understand really the self. However, Socrates believes that " An Unexamined life is not worth living" it focuses on reason of human self; who we are who we should be and who we will become. He explains that the essence of the self and the soul is the Imortal entity.Thus for him a person should live and examined life with a life of purpose and value which means that a person must become virtuous and knows the real value of himself.

As for Plato, "The self is an Immortal soul" it means that the self is synonymous with the soul, that man should give importance to the soul, which will give a genuine happiness. for Aristotle " The soul is the essence of the self" it explains that the body and soul does not consider as separate entities and anything with life has a soul.In St. Augustine's "The self has an immortal soul" he believes that human body is gauranteed with the soul which means man is whole and complete with its soul. In René Descartes " I think therefore I am" it focuses on the thinking of one being which means that the act of thinkyand being conscious is the proof that there is a self. While as for John Locke " The self is Consciousness" for him is that the self is primarily constructed from the one's experience and it helps mold the self throughout one's life. On the other hand in David Hume, while other pholospophers were talking about the selfs purpose but for him "there is no self" because for him the idea of self is just a product of imagination. When ut comes to Immanuel Kant's " We construct the self" it means that the self is the one that makes our experiences visible because the self is the one who contsruct all of our thoughts and perceptions. For Sigmund Freud "The self is Multilayered" for him the self is divided into three layers. The conscious self which is governed by the reality principles. The Unconscious which includes the basic instinctual drives and Preconscious self which includes the materials that is not threatening. However for Gilbert Ryle " The self is the way people behave" or " I act therefore I am which means that the self is a reflection of our body behavior. While Paul Churchland" The self is the Brain" his idea is that the self is inseparable from the brain and the body's function. Lastly, Maurice Merleau- Ponty "The self is embodied subjectivity"his stand is all knowledge is about the self is based on the different experiences. The philopher that I choose is Socrates iwth his philosophy " An unexamined life is not worth living" Socrates believed that living a life where you live under the rules of others, in a continuous routine without examining what you actually want out of it is not worth living. It is important to examine our self who we are, where we came from and what we are by doing that we are teaching and allowing ourselves to develop and to get to know more our purpose and reason for living. We all have past and present thus, we should carefully annalyze what we do and what we will going to do in the present and with that we can able to learn from our mistakes it will helo us grow as a being. Also examining our self is not easy but if you examine it with God he will help us heal from our past and we will be new and fresh for the present and our future.