Identity : essays based on Herbert Spencer lectures given in the University of Oxford

In this important new collection, six internationally famous contributors--Bernard Williams, Derek Parfit, Henry Harris, Michael Ruse, Terence Cave, and Anthony D. Smith--discuss identity from the viewpoints of their various disciplines. Identity is a matter of personal and practical as well as intellectual interest, and perhaps for this reason academic debate on this subject attracts attention and stimulates controversy outside the ranks of the specialists. This volume offers a comparison and cross-fertilization of insights and theories from outside and within philosophy, shedding light on this concept crucial to the humanities and the social and physical sciences. The Essays That Follow Offer Perspectives From Outside Philosophy: Michael Ruse Considers Homosexual Identity And To What Extent It Is Reasonable To Claim That Homosexuality Is A Social Construct. Terence Cave Looks At Personal Identity Through The Eye Of Literature And Fiction, And Portrays Identity As Generated Through The Narratives That One Weaves About Oneself Or About Other People. Finally, Anthony D. Smith Looks At National Identities And How They Are Formed, Analysing How This Process Is Shaped By The Interplay Of Cultural Inheritance, Political Expediency, And Myth. Identity Contains Essays By Six Internationally Famous Contributors, Focusing On Different Facets Of Identity From The Viewpoints Of Their Various Disciplines. Two Philosophers, Bernard Williams And Derek Parfit, Discuss, Respectively, Numerical Identity (when Can We Say That Two Phenomena Observed At Different Times Are One And The Same Thing?) And Personal Identity (how Far Can The Concept Of 'i' Be Stretched, And Does It Always Matter Whether We Can Say If That Would Still Be Me?). Henry Harris Looks At Philosophical Discussions Of Identity From The Perspective Of An Experimentalist, And Discusses Whether Philosophical Thought-experiments Have Any Basis In Scientific Reality. 1. Identity And Identities / Bernard Williams -- 2. The Unimportance Of Identity / Derek Parfit -- 3. An Experimentalist Looks At Identity / Henry Harris -- 4. Sexual Identity: Reality Or Construction? / Michael Ruse -- 5. Fictional Identities / Terence Cave -- 6. The Formation Of National Identity / Anthony D. Smith. Edited By Henry Harris. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Identity contains essays by six internationally famous contributors, focusing on different facets of identity from the viewpoints of their various disciplines. Two philosophers, Bernard Williams and Derek Parfit, discuss, respectively, numerical identity (when can we say that two phenomena observed at different times are one and the same thing?) and personal identity (how far can the concept of 'I' be stretched, and does it always matter whether we can say if that would still be me?). Henry Harris looks at philosophical discussions of identity from the perspective of an experimentalist, and discusses whether philosophical thought-experiments have any basis in scientific reality. The essays that follow offer perspectives from outside philosophy: Michael Ruse considers homosexual identity and to what extent it is reasonable to claim that homosexuality is a social construct. Terence Cave looks at personal identity through the eye of literature and fiction, and portrays identity as generated through the narratives that one weaves about oneself or about other people. Finally, Anthony D. Smith looks at national identities and how they are formed, analysing how this process is shaped by the interplay of cultural inheritance, political expediency, and myth. The question "who am I, and what am I?" has been asked through the ages, answered in various ways in different disciplines. This text contains essays by six international contributors, focusing on different facets of identity from the viewpoint of their various disciplines.