Identity and Personhood [recurso electrónico] : Confusions and Clarifications across Disciplines

This book approaches the concept of identity from both logical-linguistic and socio-cultural perspectives, and explores its implications for our understanding of who or what we persons really are. In the process, it bridges disciplines that often remain disconnected - most notably analytic philosophy and the social sciences - and offers a novel critique of citizenship and moral education, "identity politics", and other contemporary domains of inquiry. Although the book has a multi-disciplinary focus, it is philosophical in its overall orientation (but accessible to readers from outside philosophy) and educational in its mission (but of interest to readers who are not formally educators). Chapters 2-5 discuss the philosophical and (where appropriate) scientific dimensions of identity, chapters 6-7 explore its socio-cultural dimensions and chapter 8 examines its educational dimensions and implications. The book will be of particular interest to those researching or teaching civics, citizenship education and moral education, as well as those involved in cultural, political and religious studies in a broader sense. It will also appeal to anyone who finds him- or herself wondering about the state of the world in the Twenty-First Century, and who suspects that rethinking what it means to be a person in that world might not be a bad idea. Dedication 6 Preface 8 Contents 14 Chapter 1: Introduction 17 Outline of Chapters 18 References 27 Chapter 2: The Formal Home of Identity: Mathematics and Logic 28 Introduction 28 Extending Identity into the World (Just) Beyond Mathematics and Logic: Indiscernibility, Equivalence, Types and Tokens 30 The Logic of “Is” 38 References 40 Chapter 3: Identity in the World of Objects and Their Kinds 42 Introduction: Identity, Kinds and Criteria 42 Putative Counter-examples to “Identity A” and “Identity D” 48 You Can Step into the Same River Twice, but You Cannot Step into the Same Water Twice 48 Theseus’ Ship 50 Reflecting on the Connection Between Entity and Identity 54 Identification and Identification 54 Transition to Chap. 4: Natural Versus Artifactual Kinds 55 Two Examples and One Pseudo Example of Identity and Persistence in Nature 56 References 58 Chapter 4: Natural Kinds and Identity 59 Introduction: Kinds: Natural and Other 59 “Essentialism” in Our Time 61 Biological Natural Kinds 63 Phylogenetic Conceptions of Species 64 The Biological Species Concept 67 The Recurring Problems of Space and Time: Non-dimensional Versus Multi-dimensional Species Concepts 68 Populations Extended in Space 68 Chains of Populations Over Time 69 The Formation of New Species: Speciation 69 Organisms and Their (Natural) Kinds 72 References 75 Chapter 5: Who or What Am I? 77 Introduction 77 Persons, Human Beings, Living Organisms 78 Identity Conditions for Persons 84 Anomalous Monism 91 References 94 Chapter 6: The World of Persons and the Principle of Personal Worth I 95 Introduction 95 Persons and Perspectives 97 The Principle of Personal Worth 98 The Primacy of Language 101 Persons and (Other) Animals 104 Of God and Sauron: The Ontological, Moral and Linguistic Status of Entities Which Are Sui Generis 113 References 116 Chapter 7: Religions, Nations, Cultures, Traditions, Roles and Other Supra-Persons: The Principle of Personal Worth II 118 Introduction 118 Belonging To Versus Identifying With/As 121 Identification and Identity 125 On Desiring to Be Unique 132 Supra-Persons as Threats to the Principle of Personal Worth 133 Supra-Persons as Self-Serving 137 Moral Relativism and Supra-Persons 138 Citizenship and Morality 142 Identity as a “Moveable Feast”: The Deceptive Lure of Postmodernism 149 Toward a Cosmopolitan Conception of Citizenship – Both More Grounded and More Transcendent 157 Identity, Morality, and Culture 160 Persons: Individualist, Collectivist and Relational Perspectives 163 Persons, Roles, Traditions, and Frameworks: Further Challenges to the Principle of Personal Worth 167 A Brief Commentary on Change and Loss, Both Qualitative and Quantitative 178 Supra-Persons: Do We Need Them? 180 Dissolving Boundaries: Beyond Supra-Persons 184 Concluding Comment 187 References 187 Chapter 8: Identity, Personhood and Education 191 Introduction 191 The Story So Far 192 Becoming Persons: Classrooms as Relational and Reflective Communities 197 The Community of Inquiry 198 Knowledge and the Curriculum 209 The “Class Size” Debate 210 Autonomy, Freedom and Diversity in a Democratic Society 215 Becoming Persons: One More Time! 217 Concluding Comment 221 References 224 Index 226 Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction....Pages 1-11 The Formal Home of Identity: Mathematics and Logic....Pages 13-26 Identity in the World of Objects and Their Kinds....Pages 27-43 Natural Kinds and Identity....Pages 45-62 Who or What Am I?....Pages 63-80 The World of Persons and the Principle of Personal Worth I....Pages 81-103 Religions, Nations, Cultures, Traditions, Roles and Other Supra-Persons: The Principle of Personal Worth II....Pages 105-177 Identity, Personhood and Education....Pages 179-213 Back Matter....Pages 215-220