Self as Subject and Self as Object

The self is not a single, simple thing. It has a dual nature: it can be both the doer and the thing being done to. This is the core idea of the self as a subject and as an object.

Think back to how your friends described themselves in the activity. Some said things like "I am a dancer" or "I am a painter." Here, the self is the one performing the action — it is the subject, the actor. Other descriptions were like "I am one who easily gets hurt" or "I am someone people like." In these cases, the self is the one receiving the action or being affected — it is the object, the thing being observed or acted upon.

This distinction is not just about grammar. It reflects a deep truth about how we know ourselves. When you say, "I know who I am," the word "I" appears twice. The first "I" is the knower — the active subject that is doing the knowing. The second "I" is the known — the object that is being examined and understood.