What is the self? There are many different answers. Three common broad approaches are:
- Cartesian rationalism: a philosophy based on the work of Descartes, who said "I think therefore I am," which meant that the essence of the self is rational, cognitive, and immaterial.
- Utilitarianism: a philosophy which says that all people act out of rational self interest in order to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. The self is thus simply our wants or desires coupled to our ability to reason.
- Romanticism (e.g., Mary Shelley, Thoreau): expresses doubts about the values of scientific rationalism, and suggests that there is uncertainty about what makes us human (e.g., Frankenstein), hence the "self" is something that is subject to change, and perhaps "socially constructed."
Microsociology and phenomenological sociology: the construction of selves in everyday life
- focuses on everyday life; social context & interaction; matters of meaning (e.g., formal vs. informal language style).
- often uses a dramaturgical metaphor, i.e., it takes literally the saying that "all the world's a stage" and looks at how in a way we all get through life by "playing" a variety of learned roles, hence the focus on what Goffman calls the "Presentation of Self in Everyday life."
- Nature vs. Nurture, theoretical debate over what portion of behavior or perception is learned and what portion an organism is born with.