Most of us take for granted that we are unique individuals, that we are “persons”. Antonio Damasio, amongst many thinkers, has stressed the importance of the ‘self’ in the construction of our conscious experience1. The emergence of a sense of selfhood did not appear suddenly in evolution, but when it first appeared prior to the emergence of modern humans is still highly debated. Nevertheless, we know that each of us has gradually developed into a self-aware thinking being from a single fertilised egg.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Damasio
In principle, the gradual appearance of consciousness and selfhood in evolution and in development renders the problem of understanding these concepts more approachable scientifically and philosophically. Amongst much other work, studies on patients with split brains by Roger Sperry, Michael Gazzaniga and others showed that each hemisphere of the brain can construct a unique sense of self: these selves are different from each other. For example, the left brain, where much of language generation resides, takes possession of the sense of intentionality by giving explanations for events that only the right brain experienced.
The steps involved in the emergence of selfhood include becoming:
- aware of the external world;
- aware of one’s own body and actions (embodiment), including behaviour, proprioception and enteroception;
- aware of an inner self;
- aware of others as sentient beings.
These processes develop both sequentially and in parallel.
- AR Damasio (2010): Self comes to mind: constructing the conscious brain. William Heinemann. ↩︎