It doesn't matter how many 'compartments' we divide the personality into -- 1,2,3,4,8,10,12...-- what remains essential is that we not lose contact with the 'I' that is central to each and anyone, everyone, of these theorized components of the personality.
Otherwise, we turn the personality into an 'objectified, mechanical robot' which is exactly what we don't want to do here.
Let me give you a few examples of what I am talking about.
In Gestalt Therapy Language,
I am my topdog and my topdog is me. Whatever my 'topdog' encompasses, if 'the shoe fits, then I wear it'. I am my rejecting topdog. I am my distancing topdog. I am my ignoring topdog. I am my abandoning topdog. I am my righteous-critical topdog. I am my angry-raging topdog.
Self-awareness and self-accountability are key factors in any 'humanistic-existential' model of the personality. Likewise, they need to remain a key factor in any compartmentalization or sub-compartmentalization of the personality.
We must not lose track of the 'I' in 'Ego'.
The minute we start to view the 'Ego' as an 'objectified thing out there, or an objectified thing inside me, but definitely not accountable to me -- not accountable to the I in me' -- that is the moment we are starting to go down the wrong track -- a 'mechanicalized, deterministic' track rather than a 'freewill-humanistic-existential' track. It is the moment we are losing the willingness and/or the ability to take responsibility for who we are.
I am my topdog.
I am my underdog.
I am my 'id'.
I am my 'Dionysian Ego'.
I am my 'Apollonian Ego'.
I am my 'Enlightenment Ego'.
I am my 'Romantic Ego'.
I am my 'Liberal Ego'.
I am my 'Conservative Ego'.
I am my 'Narcissistic Ego'.
I am my 'Altruistic Ego'.
I am all of these 'Ego Compartments or Components'.
And all of them are me.
.....................................
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall.
Humpty Dumty had a big fall.
All of the King's horses,
And all of the King's men,
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty,
Back together again.
...............................
We will put all of Humpty Dumpty's...
Pieces back together again...
Whether you are studying biology, physics, chemistry, psychology, philosophy, politics, law, equal rights, and/or whatever else you may be studying...
Always remember,
When you take the 'pieces' apart,
Be sure to put them back together again...
-- dgbn, January 9th, 2009.
-- David Gordon Bain,
-- Democracy Goes Beyond Narcissism
-- Dialectical Gap-Bridging Negotiations...
Are still in process....
