In reading the first chapter of Social Selves, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the breadth of ideas regarding self. The idea of Self, as well as asking the question who am I?, are enormously complex concepts which require the help of philosophers such as Nietzsche, Durkheim, and Kant, and many others, to even begin to fathom the possible answers. Burkitt dives in head first into the many different ideas to help us grasp some sort of interpretation of the relationship between self and society.
In the first chapter I received a crash course into the philosophy and psychology of understanding self. I learned about the connection of self to society, and how many philosophers such as Durkheim and Marx believe the self is a construction of a capitalistic society in which society is not something external to self. I was somewhat disappointed that the author chose only to focus on the western ideas of self, as I feel it would be very interesting to contrast some eastern philosophies of the illusionary self with our society today.
I thought the ideas in the first chapter of the Burkitt text were very interesting when related to the social media explosion we have experienced. It's interesting to ask why we feel the need to create Facebook and Twitter accounts , and how our interactions on these social media sites affect our interpretations of our selves.
Hello AG!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree and experienced an overwhelming feeling while how to answer "who am I?". There was a lot of material to grasp and so many interpretive ways to look at this question. The crash course on philosophy and psychology was enough to rattle my brain for one chapter. If we added eastern ideas, I would have probably closed the book and given up...however, I agree that we should take into account other more foreign ideas to analyze such question. The only reason why I think he stuck to western culture is because we, as American, are considered western. In terms of the social networking websites, it is pretty interesting to ask why we feel the need to have them. I can honestly say, mine is to stay connected with old friends. I never post anything, nor can people write on my wall. I like my privacy...or what little I have left of it.
-Rob