Abstract

This dissertation develops a conception of ontological identity that is, on the one hand, dynamic without being anarchic and, on the other, principled without being foundational. The dichotomy between which such a conception of ontological identity situates itself represents the two tendencies it is designed to undermine: the tendency toward relativism and anarchy and the tendency toward absolutism and totalitarianism. By framing the question of ontological identity in this manner, I suggest the intimate relationship between ontology and ethics. The dynamic conception of ontological identity for which I argue here is explicitly developed with the ethical concern to avoid the dangers endemic to both tendencies. ;The methodological strategy I employ mirrors the structure of the conception of ontological identity for which I argue. By focusing on one strand of the history of the concept of $o\dot{\upsilon}\sigma\acute{\iota}\alpha$ as it is developed in the thinking of Aristotle, Martin Heidegger and G. W. F. Hegel, I thematize the limitations and draw upon the resources that determine the traditional understanding of ontological identity. In so doing, I develop a dynamic conception of identity that is both historical and futural. It is historical insofar as it engages the history of a concept that has determined the meaning of ontological identity for centuries, namely, $o\dot{\upsilon}\sigma\acute{\iota}\alpha$, but it is futural insofar as it criticizes and redetermines this tradition in order to develop a conception of ontological identity that vigilantly undermines the tendencies toward anarchy and absolutism. ;The result is a preliminary attempt to develop a dynamic conception of ontological identity in terms of the "principle of $\pi\rho\{\alpha}\xi\iota\zeta$" and the "logic of legacy." The "principle of $\pi\rho\{\alpha}\xi\iota\zeta$" formulates a critique of the static dimensions endemic to the traditional understanding of principles. A positive determination of the structure of identity grounded on a dynamic conception of ontological principles is developed in terms of the "logic of legacy." The two formulations taken together elaborate a dynamic conception of ontological identity grounded in responsibility