The Self: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #747

by Marya Schechtman

Very Short Introductions : Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring

'Know thyself' is said to have been one of the maxims carved into the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. On the face of it, this does not seem like a very difficult task. My self is with me at every moment of every day, I have access to its inner thoughts and feelings, and I am hardly liable to mistake someone else for me. At the same time, however, the self is surprisingly elusive and opaque. What, after all, is a self? Is it some kind of object? If so, what kind? If not an object, what then? Is our sense of self ultimately illusory? Something that disappears when studied too closely? Our understanding of the self is replete with puzzles and I cannot be anyone but who I am, and yet everyone will acknowledge that there are circumstances in which being oneself is an extremely difficult task. If I change enough, I can be said to have become a different person. I cannot get away from myself, and yet I can find and lose myself.

In this Very Short Introduction , Marya Schechtman uses insights from philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, sociology, and popular thought to consider some of the most compelling and puzzling questions about the self, including questions about what kind of object a self is if it is an object at all, what it means to be oneself and why it is important, what kinds of changes the self can and cannot survive, whether a self can be separated from its body, whether more than one self can exist in a single body, and what role engagement with the environment and with other selves plays in constituting and maintaining the self. These investigations yield a complex, multi-dimensional picture of the self as a subject and agent embedded in and interacting with a natural and social world.

ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

Published June 28, 2024

About the author

Marya Schechtman is a Professor of Philosophy and a member of UIC's Laboratory of Integrated Neuroscience. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard in 1988. She specializes in the philosophy of personal identity, with special attention to the connection between ethical and metaphysical identity questions. She also works on practical reasoning and the philosophy of mind, and has an interest in Existentialism, bioethics, and philosophy and technology.

Reviews

[Roy Kenagy · Rating 4 out of 5]

RK Nook. Dan Zahavi ~ Distinction between Selves ("minimal selves"), experiencing subject; and Persons: rational, self-conscious, reflective (p80).

Chapter 6 is a concise summary of embodied approaches. Damasio. Phenomenology. Social aspects.

Attention to narrative as an element in the self.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

More questions than answers in this one which happens to be the best treatment for this particular subject.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The philosopher Marya Schechtman published The Self: A Very Short Introduction in 2024. Schechtman is a faculty member of the Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience. The laboratory is at the University of Illinois, Chicago. The Oxford Languages dictionary defines the concept of self as “a person's essential being that distinguishes them from others, especially considered as the object of introspection or reflexive action.” The book has an index. The book has a section entitled “References and further reading” (Schrechtman 105-110). The book is also interested in forming a narrative of a person’s life (Schrechtman 51-55). The philosopher John Locke is a recurring character in Schechtman’s book. Schechtman writes, “Locke makes a compelling argument that cases like the ones we have been considering are not best explained by thinking of the self as a soul” (Schechtman 4). The book is also interested in the neuroscience side of the self-concept. Chapter 5 is entitled “Divided and Distressed Self” (Schechtman 71-86). Schechtman writes, “This chapter looks at a handful of psychiatric and neurological cases in which selfhood appears to be compromised” (Schechtman 71). I found Chapter 5 fascinating. I learned a lot from this book. I read the book on my Kindle. The book also looks at different aspects of the self, including a cultural idea of self. Schechtman’s book is a well-done introduction to the concept of self.
Works Cited:
Marcus, Laura. 2018. Autobiography: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. Kindle.

[Abdul Alhazred · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interdisciplinary look at the self that mostly inhabits the philosophical realm. We do get some input from the usual places, Gazzaniga's split brain research, Damasio's neuroscientific view of the self, developmental changes and memory, rounding out with social definitions of self as in self-identification.
It's not really a topic filled with conclusions, just more questions and definitional fights. As such it's a good introduction.