ABSTRACT
This chapter delineates six perspectives on the self as presented by Jean-Paul Sartre in his work Being and Nothingness. Sartre views the self as a prereflective consciousness, an ego, a body, a social entity, a value, and an egoless being. The chapter compares Sartre's position with that of Samkhya-Yoga, which describes the self in terms of purusha (consciousness), buddhi (intelligence), ahamkara (ego-sense), manas (mind), indriyas (the sense-motor organ complex), and an egoless reality. Though the two views pose major differences, they are similar in spirit. The chapter also focuses on: Sartre's perspective on the self, the Samkhya-Yoga view described in terms of the transcendental and the empirical selves, and, finally, a comparative analysis of the two positions. Each person's understands of the word self is influenced by training in a particular discipline as well as by upbringing in a specific culture.
