Full Idea
It is a bad mistake to think we are born with a self; the self develops, and acquiring it requires living in the world.
Gist of Idea
We are not born with a self; we develop a self through living
Source
Owen Flanagan (The Problem of the Soul [2002], p.260)
Book Reference
Flanagan,Owen: 'The Problem of the Soul' [Basic Books 2003], p.260
A Reaction
I think this is wrong. He is mistaking a complex cultural concept of the self as the subject for autobiography etc. for the basic biological self which even small animals must have if their brains are to serve any useful purpose in their lives.