Notes on the Organization of the Self

THE “SELF” is one of those ubiquitous terms, of which there are many in psychiatric usage, which Hardin¹ has designated as a “panchreston,” or an explain-all, analogous to a panacea or cure-all. It expresses concepts everyone seems to know the meaning of, yet which may have radically different meanings for each. For instance, one comes across such different references as individual and collective self, conscious and unconscious self, subjective and objective self, physical and spiritual self, holistic self, organismic self, real self, actual self. Many other terms are used more or less synonymously with self: person, individual, psyche, character, being, ego, body, and so forth. That there are so many descriptive terms and uses indicates either one or several of the following conditions:

1. That the definition or term is used in a particular subjective or arbitrary sense given by the user which has little relation to the individual human being. There is nothing wrong with this provided the user is clear within himself about the limitations and makes them clear to others.

2. That what occurs within the human organism is so complex that it is necessary to employ different terms to describe different functions, organizations, and aspects. Here it is necessary to recognize that one refers to parts, not the whole. Then we must assume that the subsidiary terms have reality and the over-all term a limited explanatory meaning, except as a generality.

3. That there is a specific, total psychological organization of the human organism to which the term “self” can correctly refer but which our present theories do not yet adequately describe, so that we are obliged to make do with basically incorrect designations.

This is not a question of mere terminology or semantic hairsplitting. Subjective definitions and the coining of new terms are necessary and good when they add to our understanding, clarity, and means of communicating; they are a necessary way of conceptually symbolizing an u