Lead Guitar Wankery
New member
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2017
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- 96
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- 1w9
- Instinctual Variant
- so/sp
Self-worth is a concept I've never understood. I know that it has something to do with feelings about oneself, but I decided to post about it in this sub-forum instead of the Psychology sub-forum because I would like to get at the ideas underpinning the emotion of positive/negative self-worth, the premises, assumptions, understanding that make the concept sensible.
Parsing the words individually gets me nowhere.
It seems that the word does not mean quite the same thing as self-esteem; one is about valuing and the other is about liking (esteeming). I can understand liking oneself, but valuing oneself I can't make sense of (as explained in the spoiler). So what does self-worth mean?
Parsing the words individually gets me nowhere.
Worth is a measure of how things (both living and non-living) are valued by the self, and applying that concept of worth to self-worth yields something nonsensical: self-worth would signify how much the self values the self.
But on what basis does one determine the value of herself with respect to herself? Value is assigned according to some type of utility, to that which can be used as some sort of tool (I hope we agree that usage as a tool can apply to anything and anyone); but how could the self be a tool for the self? It seems that the self would have to be conceived as somehow split because value is determined by considering needs or wants (of the valuer) separate from that which can satisfy them (the valued). So I'm assuming the words should not be interpreted at all literally.
But on what basis does one determine the value of herself with respect to herself? Value is assigned according to some type of utility, to that which can be used as some sort of tool (I hope we agree that usage as a tool can apply to anything and anyone); but how could the self be a tool for the self? It seems that the self would have to be conceived as somehow split because value is determined by considering needs or wants (of the valuer) separate from that which can satisfy them (the valued). So I'm assuming the words should not be interpreted at all literally.
It seems that the word does not mean quite the same thing as self-esteem; one is about valuing and the other is about liking (esteeming). I can understand liking oneself, but valuing oneself I can't make sense of (as explained in the spoiler). So what does self-worth mean?