There are two concepts, One is spiritual and the other is learning about why you do the things you do. The notion of self in Confucian thought is very similar to what Ames expresses in above quote, and to the understanding of self in our examples of the Maori. - understanding ourselves is through internal questioning or introspection (understanding our strengths and weaknesses, like vs. dislike) - use socratic method or socratic conversation (role of both the teacher and the Whereas in the West the self is understood primarily as an autonomous ego whose existence is distinct from that of others, in the East, it is often argued there is no meaning of self that is independent of our relations to others. In Jainism, self-realization is the removal of all artificial layers of personality and understanding the true self and the nature of reality. In this way, the human person can have an idea of her noumenal self. In fact, more than anything else, it is the different understanding of self that defines and separates the two schools. THE SELF from Various Philosophical Perspectives Lecture 1 in UNDERSTANDING THE SELF Prepared by Prof. Ronuel L. del Rosario 2. - a particular theory that someone has about how to live or how to deal with a particular situation. Self-understanding definition: the ability to understand one's own actions | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples Psychologist Abraham Maslow's theory of self-actualization contends that individuals are motivated to fulfill their potential in life. The wise writer Jiddu Krishnamurti once wrote, “If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.” The root of all change starts with self-understanding. The self is irreducibly social. Psychology Definition of SELF-UNDERSTANDING: Attain the insight into your attitudes, motives, defences, reactions, weaknesses and strengths. This is because Plato’s concept of the self is practically constructed on the basis of his reflections on the nature of the rational soul as the highest form of cognition. PHILOSOPHY - study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially in an academic discipline. Hence, for Plato, the concepts of the self and knowledge are inextricably linked. The self is socially constructed in the sense that it is shaped through interaction with other people. In simple terms, the body, which is the seat of reason or intellect, allows the self to think, analyze, understand, and interpret reality. From a classical sociological perspective, the self is a relatively stable set of perceptions of who we are in relation to ourselves, others, and to social systems. Hinduism defines realization as the knowledge of one’s true self that is beyond delusion and the confines of the material phenomena. Pick your poison or use a little bit of both in order to find yourself but to also mold yourself. Buddhism views realization as an awakening to the true reality. Also called self-awareness. If you don’t understand yourself, your efforts will be lost, and spent on things that are actually not under you control. Evidence for this is legion. Plato conceives of the self as a knower. Very basically, Theravada considers anatman to mean that an individual's ego or personality is a fetter and delusion. Self-actualization is typically discussed in conjunction with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which posits that self-actualization … The phenomenal self, therefore, serves as the springboard for the actualization of the noumenal self.