Evolution of the concept of the self in the European-American tradition

Evolutionary-historical and philosophical turns indicate changes of the concepts of the self in the European-American tradition. The ideas about the self go back to the religious idea of soul. But this idea is unacceptable for scientific purposes. R. Descartes was the first major thinker who used the self as an alternative to the soul. For R. Descartes, the main question was how the «self», being immaterial, fits into the material world, governed by mechanical laws. Although R. Descartes replaced the concept of soul with the concept of «self», unitary ideas about the soul were transferred to «self». The idea of a single (unitary) «self» gradually gave way to the ideas of a differentiated «self» and its integration. The word «self» came into use in the English language regardless of R. Descartes. It is believed to have first appeared as a noun around the year 1300 and had negative connotations, following the religious tradition of viewing man as the source of sins. Fundamental changes of the self occurred in the second half of the 19th century. A multiple view of the self fundamentally contradicted the religious understanding of the soul, the essence of which was supposed to be indivisible. W. James showed that a person has as many selves as there are people who recognize him and carry his image in their minds. American psychology identifies and analyzes three important and influential areas: behavioral, cognitive, and humanistic-existential. Theories of the self arise in different and broad contexts, grounded on various paradigms. The paper considers psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, social, narrative, humanistic, and existential models of the self. Currently, a common feature of research on the self is fragmentation. It is assumed that integrative (through actual paradigms) theories of the self will be put forward.