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The self is a central aspect of human identity, encompassing an individual’s beliefs, emotions, perceptions, and experiences. It is a cognitive and psychological construct that enables individuals to interpret their traits and behaviors, influencing how they perceive themselves and interact with the world. While personality consists of stable and enduring characteristics, the self is shaped by self-perception and social experiences. This distinction highlights the dynamic nature of the...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 6, 2026

A Modified Mirror Test as a Visual Guide for the Self-awareness Trait in Wild Antarctica Penguins, Pygoscelis adeliae
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Minimal selfhood.

R D V Glasgow1

  • 1Graduate School of the Humanities, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.

Journal of Neurogenetics
|October 11, 2019
PubMed
Summary

Minimal selfhood, the basic sense of being oneself, does not require a brain or nervous system. Instead, it emerges from intrinsically reflexive activities like self-maintenance and self-containment, impacting our understanding of consciousness.

Area of Science:

  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Cognitive Science
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • The concept of selfhood is often linked to complex biological structures like brains.
  • Minimal selfhood, the most basic awareness of oneself, requires a clear definition.
  • Understanding the necessary conditions for minimal selfhood is crucial for cognitive and biological sciences.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a novel conceptualization of minimal selfhood.
  • To argue that minimal selfhood is independent of specific biological substrates.
  • To explore the functional requirements for minimal selfhood.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of selfhood and related concepts.
  • Philosophical argumentation regarding the necessary conditions for minimal selfhood.
Keywords:
Minimal selfconsciousnessintrinsic reflexivityorganism

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  • Exploration of theoretical implications for non-neural systems.

    • Main Results:

    • Minimal selfhood is defined as intrinsically reflexive activity.
    • Key reflexive activities identified are self-maintenance, self-reproduction, and self-containment.
    • This perspective decouples minimal selfhood from the presence of a brain, nervous system, or neurons.

    Conclusions:

    • Minimal selfhood can exist independently of biological brains.
    • The proposed framework offers new avenues for investigating consciousness and behavior in diverse systems.
    • This challenges traditional neurocentric views of selfhood and consciousness.