Neisser on Self-Knowledge

2023-2 Metaphysics of the Self Segment 2 ( U. Neisser, "Five kinds of self knowledge")

 

Q) Neisser argues that five distinct kind of self-knowledge give rise to five different selves. Which ones are these? List them and briefly describe them.

According to Neisser, there are five different aspects of the self as follows:

(1)   The ecological self: the self as perceived with respect to the physical environment.

(2)   The interpersonal self: the self perceived in its interaction with others.

(3)   The extended self: the self as an entity that persists through time, having episodic memories and planning for the future.

(4)   The private self: the self as given to us through our private thoughts, intentions, beliefs, etc.

(5)   The conceptual self: the self as conceptualized by our social roles and different theories held by ourselves and/or the society we live in.

Although Neisser claims that these aspects are so distinct that they are indeed different selves, it is a superfluous presupposition because such multiplicity leads to ontological controversy.

 

Q) Do you agree that we have all five aspects of the self that Neisser lists, or do you think that some of these are not essential? Briefly explain. 

I think that the conceptual self is less fundamental than other selves; in my view, the conceptual self appears to be a subset of the ecological self and the interpersonal self. This is because our social roles and theories are heavily affected by our physical environment and interaction with others. Moreover, the conceptual self is always occurred as a n-place predicate while the extended self and the private self are occurred as individual variables. Namely, knowledge about the conceptual self is just the self-knowledge about our contingent attributes.