Leibniz on the Idea and the Concept of the Self

2021 ◽  
pp. 145-171
Author(s):  
Christian Barth
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Proper Order ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Self Knowledge

Leibniz positions himself between Malebranche’s pessimism and Descartes’s optimism concerning our capacity of self-knowledge. In this position, he finds himself confronted with forces that pull in opposite directions. The tension between Leibniz’s optimistic and pessimistic claims about our capacity of self-knowledge can be resolved by distinguishing two distinct kinds of reflection: inner sentiment and metaphysical reflection. While the former is confused and merely allows one to recognize one’s own existence and the occurrence of one’s thoughts, it nevertheless provides the necessary starting point of metaphysical reflections on one’s self in the course of which metaphysical ideas are awakened. If carried out with attention and in proper order, metaphysical reflections lead to the recognition of metaphysical truths about the makeup of one’s own self.

scholarly journals Rethinking the Perceived Self: Samples from Facebook

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-228
Author(s):  
Anita Kasabova
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
The Self ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Active Participant ◽  
The Real ◽  
Group I ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Anglo American

Abstract How the self perceives reality is a traditional topic of research across several disciplines. I examine the perceived self on Facebook, as a case-study of self-knowledge on „classical” social media. Following Blascovich & Bailenson (2011), I consider the distinction between the real and the virtual as relative. Perceptual self-knowledge, filtered through social media, requires rethinking the perceived self in terms of social reality (Neisser, 1993). This claim dovetails Jenkins’s (2013) notion of the self as an active participant in consumption. I argue that the perceived self in social media could be conceived in terms of how it would like to be perceived and appraised by its virtual audience. Using Neisser’s (1993) typology of self-knowledge and Castañeda’s (1983) theory of I-guises, I analyse seven samples from Anglo-American and Bulgarian Facebook sites and show that the perceived self produces itself online as a captivating presence with a credible story. My samples are taken from FB community pages with negligible cultural differences across an online teenage/twens (twixter) age group. I then discuss some problematic aspects of the perceived self online, as well as recent critiques of technoconsumerism.

Kierkegaard as Physician of the Soul: On Self-forgiveness and Despair

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon D. Podmore
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Pastoral Identity ◽  
Self Forgiveness ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Divine Forgiveness

Despair (sickness of the spirit) and divine forgiveness are decisive psychological and theological themes essential to both Søren Kierkegaard's relational vision of ‘the self before God’ and his own personal struggles with guilt and the consciousness of sin. Reading Kierkegaard as both a physician and a patient of this struggle, therefore, this article examines The Sickness unto Death (1849) as an attempt to resolve the sinful ‘self’ by integrating a psychological perspective on despair with a theology of the forgiveness of sins. It is suggested that by presenting this integrative notion of self-knowledge through the ‘higher’ Christian pseudonym of Anti-Climacus, Kierkegaard is indicting his own resistances to accepting divine forgiveness and thereby operating—via a ‘higher’ pastoral identity—as a physician to his own soul. By diagnosing the unconscious psychological and theological relationships between sin/forgiveness, offense, and human impossibility/divine possibility, Kierkegaard finally reveals faith—as a self-surrendering recognition of acceptance before the Holy Other—to be the key to unlocking the enigma of the self in despair.

scholarly journals SELF-KNOWLEDGE: AN IMPORTANT FACTOR FOR IMPROVING TEACHERS' EMOTIONAL RESPONSIVENESS IN LIFELONG EDUCATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 136-149
Author(s):  
Ilga Kusnere
Keyword(s):  
Personal Growth ◽  
Real Life ◽  
The Self ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Lifelong Education ◽  
Educational Work ◽  
Knowledge Process ◽  
Emotional Responsiveness ◽  
Methodological Tool ◽  
Self Knowledge

The quality of a teacher's professional activity is closely tied to personal growth. Personal growth, however, is influenced by self-knowledge (K. G. Jung 1994, 2001; Wilber 2010, 2013; Plotkin, 2020; Dispenza, 2015, 2016). Nowadays, there is a shift in the approaches of upbringing and educational work – from a child-focused approach to a child-centered one (OECD, 2019). Therefore, one of the currently relevant skills is getting to know oneself in order to cooperate more successfully with others and be able to accept real-life situations. The results obtained confirm that through the self-knowledge process, teachers get to experience their own personality growth. Categories such as empathy, attitude, and daringness are identified in personal growth.The research shows that by experiencing the procedural activities of self-knowledge with the help of “Get to know yourself!” method and methodological tool developed by the author, teachers improve their emotional responsiveness.The results of the study show that through the experiences gained in the self-knowledge process, teachers learn to integrate new models of action into their pedagogical activities. The aim of the study was to show the importance of self-knowledge in improving teachers' emotional responsiveness in lifelong education, by using the method "Get to know yourself!" developed by the author of the study.The objectives of the study were literature examination and evaluation and work with the target audience by using the author's method and methodological tool "Get to know yourself!".Methods: Literature studies, survey, observation. 

scholarly journals Kegiatan Mengenal Diri Pada Remaja di Panti Asuhan

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 230
Author(s):  
Navi Agustina Mas'udi ◽  
Ajeng Aisyah
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Elementary School ◽  
Senior High School ◽  
The Self ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Sports Skills

Masalah yang terjadi pada remaja  panti asuhan adalah kurangnya rasa percaya diri . Tujuan Kegiatan mengenal diri ini adalah untuk meningkatkan rasa percaya diri remaja di panti asuhan. Kegiatan mengenal diri dilakukan dalam 3 sesi yaitu ceramah, games/permainan dan diskusi. Sasaran Kegiatan ini adalah 20 Remaja berusia sekolah dasar sampai Sekolah menengah atas yang tinggal di Panti Asuhan Aisyiyah dan 6 remaja di Panti Asuhan Muhammadiyah. Dari pengamatan ketika acara berlangsung, peserta sangat antusias mengikuti Kegiatan mengenal diri terutama ketika dilakukan dengan metode permainan /games. Dari Kegiatan  ini seluruh  peserta menyukai pemberian materi dengan permainan, karena terjalin komunikasi dan keakraban. Dari hasil Permainan Edukatif terungkap   100% peserta mengungkapan kelebihan  diri dalam aspek psikomotorik seperti kepandaian  menyanyi dan olahraga, 60% pada aspek kognitif  seperti suka membaca dan mudah menghafal pelajaran dan 40% pada aspek afeksi  yaitu ramah, suka menolong dan peduli pada teman. Evaluasi dilakukan setelah 3 pekan. Dari hasil Evaluasi menggunakan kuisioner, 85% peserta menjawab semakin memahami makna percaya diri dan 100%   peserta memahami bagaimana menumbuhkan rasa percaya diri dengan bersyukur dan terus menggali potensi yang mereka miliki. The problem that occurs in orphanages is a lack of self-confidence. The purpose of this self-knowledge activity is to increase the self-confidence of teenagers in the orphanage. Self-knowledge activities are carried out in 3 sessions, namely lectures, games, and discussions. The target of this activity is 20 teenagers from elementary school to senior high school who live in the Aisyiyah Orphanage and 6 teenagers at the Muhammadiyah Orphanage. From observations when the event took place, participants were very enthusiastic about participating in self-knowledge activities, especially when carried out with the game method. From this activity, all participants liked providing material with games, because communication and intimacy were established. From the results of the Educational Game, it was revealed that 100% of participants expressed their strengths in psychomotor aspects such as singing and sports skills, 60% on cognitive aspects such as reading and memorizing lessons easily and 40% on affective aspects, namely friendly, helpful, and caring for friends. Evaluation was carried out after 3 weeks. From the results of the evaluation using a questionnaire, 85% of participants answered that they understood the meaning of self-confidence more and 100% of participants understood how to grow self-confidence by being grateful and continuing to explore their potential.

scholarly journals On the self-induction of electric currents in a thin anchor-ring

1912 ◽  
Vol 86 (590) ◽  
pp. 562-571 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Circular Cross Section ◽  
The Self ◽  
Electric Currents ◽  
Fourth Term ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Axis Of Symmetry ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Circular Axis ◽  
Mutual Induction

In their useful compendium of "Formulæ and Tables for the Calculation of Mutual and Self-Inductance," Rosa And Cohen remark upon a small discrepancy in the formulæ given by myself and by M. Wien for the self-induction of a coil of circular cross-section over which the current is uniformly distributed . With omission of n , representative of the number of windings, my formula was L = 4 πa [ log 8 a / ρ - 7/4 + ρ 2 /8 a 2 (log 8 a / ρ + 1/3) ], (1) where ρ is the radius of the section and a that of the circular axis. The first two terms were given long before by Kirchhoff. In place of the fourth term within the bracket, viz., +1/24 ρ 2 / a 2 , Wien found -·0083 ρ 2 / a 2 . In either case a correction would be necessary in practice to take account of the space occupied by the insulation. Without, so far as I see, giving a reason, Rosa and Cohen express a preference for Wien's number. The difference is of no great importance, but I have thought it worth while to repeat the calculation and I obtain the same result as in 1881. A confirmation after 30 years, and without reference to notes, is perhaps almost as good as if it were independent. I propose to exhibit the main steps of the calculation and to make extension to some related problems. The starting point is the expression given by Maxwell for the mutual induction M between two neighbouring co-axial circuits. For the present purpose this requires transformation, so as to express the inductance in terms of the situation of the elementary circuits relatively to the circular axis. In the figure, O is the centre of the circular axis, A the centre of a section B through the axis of symmetry, and the position of any point P of the section is given by polar co-ordinates relatively to A, viz.

Self-Knowledge in Personality Disorder: Self-Referentiality as a Stepping Stone for Psychotherapeutic Understanding

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Strijbos ◽  
Gerrit Glas
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
The Self ◽  
Stepping Stone ◽  
The World ◽  
Philosophical Framework ◽  
Self Knowledge

This article provides a philosophical framework to help unpack varieties of self-knowledge in clinical practice. We start from a hermeneutical conception of “the self,” according to which the self is not interpreted as some fixed entity, but as embedded in and emerging from our relating to and interacting with our own conditions and activities, others, and the world. The notion of “self-referentiality” is introduced to further unpack how this self-relational activity can become manifest in one's emotions, speech acts, gestures, and actions. Self-referentiality exemplifies what emotions themselves implicitly signify about the person having them. In the remainder of the article, we distinguish among three different ways in which the self-relational activity can become manifest in therapy. Our model is intended to facilitate therapists’ understanding of their patients’ self-relational activity in therapy, when jointly attending to the self-referential meaning of what their patients feel, say, and do.

scholarly journals Foucault’s Empire of the Free

2017 ◽  
pp. 94-112
Author(s):  
Richard Alston
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Complex Societies ◽  
Greek Philosophy ◽  
Care Of The Self ◽  
Critical Position ◽  
Imperial Power ◽  
Historical Specificity ◽  
The Will ◽  
Self Knowledge

This essay argues that the engagement with Greece and Rome after The Will to Knowledge allowed Foucault to bring clarity to his conception of limited freedom in complex societies. The Classical fulfilled this function paradoxically by being jarringly different from and integral to the discourses of modern sexuality. Foucault’s engagement with the Classical in The Use of Pleasure and The Care of the Self continued his established method of uncovering the development of a discourse, or set of discourses, over time. He thereby demonstrated the historical specificity of understandings of sexuality and the self. It follows that if the ancient self was a historical construct, then the modern self must also be such. But Foucault’s Classical engagement leads him to an innovative position in which the disciplinary dynamics of ancient self-knowledge offer a practical philosophy. Foucault’s Greek philosophy could have effects through two related mechanisms: the care of the self through askesis (discipline) and the speaking of truth to power through parresia (free speech). Through the rigors of askesis, the self can be rendered an object of analysis and hence a critical position external to the self can be achieved. Externality allows the philosopher to exercise parresia since the constraints of society have been surpassed and consequently offers a prospect of agency and a measure of freedom. The second part of the essay questions the extent of that freedom by reading Foucault against Tacitus, particularly the Agricola and the mutinies episode in the Annales. These episodes show the limitations of parresia and how parresia is bound into the workings of imperial power (and not a position external to that power). In the Tacitean model, externality is a viable political stance (achieved by Agricola), but is problematic ethically. The essay concludes by contrasting Foucauldian and Tacitean models of historical change. 

Looking for the Self in Psychiatry: Perils and Promises of Phenomenology–Neuroscience Partnership in Schizophrenia Research

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Şerife Tekin
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
The Self ◽  
Psychiatric Research ◽  
Research Paradigm ◽  
Research Programs ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Alternative Research

Psychiatric research on schizophrenia is currently undergoing a period of extraordinary science, with many alternative research programs investigating the illness using different assumptions and methodologies. As the struggles the DSM-led research faces are now “more generally recognized as such by the profession,” trust in the dominant DSM-led research paradigm is shaken, and “numerous partial solutions to the problem” are made available (Kuhn 1962, 82-83). I use philosophical tools in this chapter to evaluate one of these alternative research approaches that I call “phenomenology-neuroscience partnership” (PNP). In part II, I lay out the phenomenological approach to schizophrenia that is critical of the DSM-led research. In part III, I focus on the phenomenology-neuroscience partnership (PNP) that takes this phenomenological approach as a starting point to investigate schizophrenia, and address its shortcomings. In part IV, I conclude by pointing out the strengths of the PNP and offer prescriptions for its improvement.

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