The Unity of Theology: The Contribution of Wolfhart Pannenberg

by Theodore James Whapham

The idea here is that the “ego” refers to the individual subject at any given point. However, individuals undergo changes throughout the course of their lives and are able to effect changes within themselves through the exercise of freedom and self-reflection (which are rooted in exocentricity). The “self,” then, is a term developed by philosophers and psychologists to describe two aspects of the human person. First, the self is the perduring identity of the individual that undergirds all the various bodily and psychological changes that take place over the span of a lifetime. Second, because the ego is the part of the human person that is most in touch with its instinctual nature, the ego isn’t always aware of its self. “Self” also refers to the awareness individuals have of their own existence and their reflection on this. In other words, the “self” is what happens when the ego begins to think about its own existence.