Answer by Ponkadoodle for What is the purpose of the word 'self', in Python?

As well as all the other reasons already stated, it allows for easier access to overridden methods; you can call Class.some_method(inst).

An example of where it’s useful:

class C1(object):
    def __init__(self):
         print "C1 init"

class C2(C1):
    def __init__(self): #overrides C1.__init__
        print "C2 init"
        C1.__init__(self) #but we still want C1 to init the class too

>>> C2()
"C2 init"
"C1 init"