Zelf

Wie of wat is degene die deze woorden leest? Achter al uw ervaringen schuilt iemand die die ervaring heeft. We noemen dit ‘ik’, ‘de eerste persoon’, ‘ego’, maar wat houdt dit eigenlijk in? Is er wel een ‘zelf’ en zo ja wat is het precies? Onderzoek hiernaar begeeft zich op de grens van kunst en wetenschap en kent daarom vele verschillende invalshoeken en vele meningen. In dit artikel richt ik me op het wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar het zelf, vooral de filosofische, neuropsychologische en biologische kant van het zelf. In het volledige besef volledig noch totaal overtuigend te kunnen zijn, beperk ik me tot de meer recente, maar verschillende, visies op het zelf.

Abstract

We have selves. There is always someone having the experience, someone doing the doing. We can also call this protagonist ‘I’, or ‘ego’. But what is the nature of this self? This question has gained more momentum recently resulting in a multitude of attempts from different disciplines to shine at least some light on this issue.

The aim of the present article is not to extensively review the broad and varied literature, but to introduce the interested but uninitiated reader to this heterogeneous topic. To this end and after a short introduction including different perspectives on the self and the general distinction between ego and bundle theories, three distinct views are presented:

• Thomas Metzinger’s Ego Tunnel. According to Metzinger, there is no one home and the ego is merely a complex physical event in our brain;

• Antonio Damasio’s subdivision of the self in three (connected) stages: the protoself, core self and autobiographical self. Damasio believes conscious minds arise when a self-process is added onto a basic mind process;

• Pim van Lommel’s prospective study on Near Death Experiences, which generates more questions than answers. Pathologies of the self are also briefly discussed.