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Material Self

The document discusses William James' concept of the material self, which refers to objects, people, and places that we view as belonging to us or being part of who we are psychologically. It identifies four main components of the material self: 1) the bodily self, referring to our physical body; 2) clothes; 3) our immediate family; and 4) our home. It explores how we develop emotional attachments and investments in these entities and possessions that cause us to view them as part of our extended self.

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Michelle Dela Cruz
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1K views16 pages

Material Self

The document discusses William James' concept of the material self, which refers to objects, people, and places that we view as belonging to us or being part of who we are psychologically. It identifies four main components of the material self: 1) the bodily self, referring to our physical body; 2) clothes; 3) our immediate family; and 4) our home. It explores how we develop emotional attachments and investments in these entities and possessions that cause us to view them as part of our extended self.

Uploaded by

Michelle Dela Cruz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MATERIAL

SELF
WHO AM I?
MATERIAL SELF

"Refers to tangible objects,


people, or places that carry
the designation my or mine."
- William James
Subclasses of the Material Self

Bodily self Extracorporeal


- the physical body
self
- the extended self which
includes all the people, places and
things that are psychologically
part of who we are.
• It is not the physical entities themselves, however, that
comprise the material self. Rather, it is our psychological
ownership of them(Scheibe, 1985).
• For example, a person may have a favorite chair she likes
to sit in. The chair itself is not part of the self. Instead,
it is the sense of appropriation represented by the
phrase “my favorite chair.” This is what we mean when we
talk about the extended self. It includes all the people,
places, and things that we regard as “ours.”
composition of the material self
home
Extracorporeal
Immediate family self
clothes

body Bodily self


BODY
• The innermost component of material self is the body.
• People are directly attached to this commodity that they
cannot live without.
• People strive hard to make sure that the body functions
well and good. Any ailment or disorder of the body directly
affects us.
• People have certain preferential attachment or intimate
closeness to certain body parts because of its value to
them.
CLOTHES
•Influenced by the “Philosophy of Dress” by Hermann Lotze,
William James believed that clothing is an essential part of the
material self. That’s why it is next after body.
•The fabric and style of the clothes that people wear bring
sensations to the body to which directly affects our attitudes and
behavior.
•Clothing is a form of self-expression and people choose and wear
clothes that reflect their selves.
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
•An immediate family may include the following members:
• Parents • Siblings • In-laws
• Spouse • Grandparents
• Children • Grandchildren
• Two main-ways to determine immediate and other family members:
• Relation by blood: share same lineage or parent
• Relation by marriage: share common bond through marriage of a member
of the family.
• The reason why we place huge investment on immediate because we see them
as a replica of our self. We are greatly affected by their failures and success.
Their loss makes a part on our self-lost too, while we also feel victory in their
achievements.
HOME
• “Home is where the heart is.”
• It is the earliest nest of our selfhood.
• Our experiences inside the home were recorded and marked on
particular parts and things in our home.
• There was an old cliché about rooms: “If only walls can speak.”
• The home thus is an extension of self, because in it, we can
directly connect our self.
• Anyone can find a home in anything.
HOW CAN WE TELL WHETHER AN
ENTITY IS PART OF THE SELF?
• William James believed we could make
this determination by examining our
emotional investment in the entity. If
we respond in an emotional way when
the entity is praised or attacked, the
entity is likely to be part of the self.
• Another way to determine whether
something is part of the extended self
is to see how we act towards it. If we
lavish attention on the entity and labor
to enhance or maintain it, we can infer
that the entity is part of the self.
• Studies show that there is a close connection between
possessions and the self.
• These possessions,William James argued, are not simply
valued for what they provide; they are also prized because
they become part of us.
• People spontaneously mention their possessions when asked
to describe themselves (Gordon, 1968).
• People also amass possessions.
• The tendency to treat possessions as part of the self
continues throughout life, perhaps explaining why so many
people have difficulty discarding old clothes or possessions
that have long outlived their usefulness.
WHY DO WE VALUE POSSESSIONS?
1. Possessions serve a symbolic function; they help people
define themselves.
- The clothes we wear, the cars we drive, and the way
we adorn our homes and offices signal to ourselves (and
others) who we think we are and how we wish to be
regarded.
WHY DO WE VALUE POSSESSIONS?
2. Possessions also extend the self in time.
- People seek immortality by passing their possessions
on to the next generation (Unruh, 1983, cited in Belk,
1988).
WHY DO WE VALUE POSSESSIONS?
3. People’s emotional responses to their possessions also
attest to their importance to the self.
Example: A person who loses a wallet often feels
greater anguish over a lost photograph than over any
money that is missing. Similarly, many car owners react
with extreme anger (and sometimes rage) when their cars
are damaged, even when the damage is only slight in
physical terms. Finally, many people who lose possessions in
a natural disaster go through a grieving process like the
process people go through when they lose a person they
love (McLeod, 1984, cited in Belk, 1988).
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. Are our bodies us, or are they
something we own?
2. If we lose our possessions, do we
also lose ourselves?
3. If we have a new possession, do
our material selves also change?

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