The idea of the true self is an ideal that haunts us. We feel as though we are incomplete, compromised versions of what we truly are and should be. We harbor within us a vision of ourselves fully actualized and alive, and this vision contrasts with what we see in introspection, and when we do an honest examination of our conscience. The restoration of the true self is the objective of many religious and philosophical traditions. Aristotle sought to restore humanity to its true telos, or function. Hinduism and Buddhism, though extremely different, focus on false understandings of the nature of the self. Christianity focuses on a liberation from a state of the self that deviates from what God intended us to be. Just like a carpenter or a doctor has a particular job to do, a human being has a particular job. People walk around today in distorted half-representations of their true telos. People taking drugs, pursuing careers of greed, or committing acts of violence or mendacity, are not fully human. Being human is not just an empty slate, subject to any invention we might impose on it. Instead, being human has an objective truth to it, and this objective truth resonates in our conscience, calling us to become who we really are.
Restoring the true self is the ambitious task of Dr. Madhvi Prasad’s latest book, Growth Is Forever: But How to Become Yourself? We might suspect that the self is just a random synergy of genes and environment, and there is no “true” self. The idea of a true self likens the self to a coin or a dollar bill, of which we can ask whether it is true dollar bill, i.e. whether it really represents the class of dollar bills, or whether it is just a counterfeit appearance. Materialists who think the self is just a product of accidental biological forces will balk at the idea that there is an objective essence of the self which we have to liberate. There is nothing more to the self than what we see, and the defective versions of the self are just defects of a random evolutionary process.
Of the materialist, I would ask whether their anthropology squares with basic moral intuitions. Take someone burdened with many vices. They have addictions to food, sex, and drugs. They are profligate spenders, curse a lot, and spend hours viewing pornography and playing violent video games. Is the person just supposed to accept this state of affairs, as if there were no deeper potentiality within them, waiting to emerge? Are we to take this compromised, vicious individual as a definitively representative? Of course not! There are potentialities within this person that represent their real nature. Once we remove the vices, we can see all the talents and virtues that the vices hid. The person transforms before us, with a new light in their eyes and vigor in their step. The weary, bleary-eyed person was a false version of themselves.
Also, institutionalists, who love to preserve the status quo, might seek to restrain self-development, and so keep people in compromised states. Dr. Prasad warns us of such people, when, on pg. 12, she mentions processes and systems that have endured throughout the ages. Systems of oppression have, in many societies and historical periods, assigned people demeaning roles that gives them a false identity. But, the true self must break through. Is an African slave a true representation of the person? Of course not! The condition of slavery hides and distorts the deep talents and potentialities of this person. We will watch with wonder the transformation of this person, when they undergo a proper education and cultivation of their intellectual gifts.
In this transition from the false self to the true self, we as human beings engage in a unique struggle. Non-human animals for the most part live peaceful lives according to instinct. Dr. Prasad takes note of how animals automatically live authentic lives true to their nature. But, we humans seek to hide ourselves under layers of rationalization, vice, and excuse. We secretly are a marathon runner—that is our true self! But, we refuse to do it, out of fear or laziness. We are secretly a brilliant public speaker, but we refuse to embrace the challenge, because of fear, or there is someone in our life constantly belittling us. Animals do not have this sort of upward trajectory that human beings have.
Dr. Prasad is not content to let us remain stationary. Being stationary is an evasion of the call of the true self. People fall into a state of habitual routine. There is no awakening of new goals, and new heights. But, this state of habitual routine is a kind of spiritual death. As human beings, we seek the highest good, and we have a restlessness that drives us beyond what we come to perceive as merely partial goods. The young man, aflame with passion, will think that the highest good in life is interacting with and enjoying the company of beautiful women. But, over time, the young man will move past this, recognizing the limitations and defects of even this good, and he will start to see the dim outlines of an even higher good. Unless, that is, this person opts for a stationary lifestyle, slamming the brakes on the evolution of his person. The person living the stationary lifestyle is still pursuing the same vices year after year, and he becomes smaller and more pathetic the longer this stationary position lasts. This stationary, addicted person is not the true version of the person, since we can envision an individual who is open to the adventure of life in place of this hollow, repetitive individual.
Dr. Prasad notes that there is a what, a why, and a how, in relation to personal growth. The what has to do with the metaphysics underlying personal growth. What is the self? Does it have some sort of objective essence, or is it simply the product of personal self-invention or social construction? If the self is the latter, there is no need to seek the true self, since the true self is anything we want it to be. If the self is our invention, all selves are true. But, if the self has an objective essence, there is a state which best represents the self, one that is free of vices and illusion, and there is a false self, that deviates from this objective essence/telos.
The why of personal growth has to do with motivating factors. Why shouldn’t we be just stationary, just “Netflix and chill,” as young people say, or spend our free time scrolling through social media and eating potato chips? Sinking ourselves into pleasure is a great way to hide from the call of the true self. Why should we embrace the call of the true self, which seeks to actualize all that it can be, instead of just embracing the current mediocre version of ourselves? We need a why, to bear with the setbacks and risks we will have to take in our journey of self-development.
We can see a parallel struggle on the level of the body. Is the “true” body the body that never exercises, that is flabby and weak? No, this is a false body, since this false body has all sorts of unactualized potentialities. Act and potency are metaphysical terms we get from scholastic philosophy from the medieval period. An act is the living manifestation of what is potential and merely latent. The false body has the potential to be strong and athletic and do impressive feats of strength, but it has not yet actualized these potentials. We cannot see them, but the true body is the fully actualized body that astonishes us. We all remember the person in school whom kids made fun of for their appearance, who one day decided to take charge of the problem and came into class with a totally new appearance, stunning everyone.
There is also a how of self-development, which Professor Prasad walks us through throughout the book. The book is written in an intimate but also firm style. It is like drinking a cup of crisp cold water on a hot day, after a tiring workout. The writing energizes you, as Dr. Prasad address you from the heart, almost serving as the voice of one’s inner guide.
Dr. Prasad calls us to greater attention to our souls, in the tradition of Socrates. Our soul is like a garden. We have to attend to it, otherwise it will wither away and suffocate under all the weeds.
Read this book, and read it again, in order to find your true north to your true self!
