Sartre posed a problem for himself in his discussion of bad faith: how is it possible to deceive oneself, given the unity and translucency of consciousness? Many critics of Sartre interpret translucency as transparency; some, such as M.R. Haight, conclude that Sartre's account of consciousness makes self-deception impossible.A reply to those critics takes the form of showing that translucent consciousness has a number of dimensions: (a) non-positional versus positional aspects; (b) prereflective versus reflective levels; (c) temporally synthetic flux; and (...) (d) the first-person perspective versus the third-person perspective. These dimensions enable Sartre to succeed in describing subtle and varied patterns of self-deception, based on such strategies as obscuring, evasion, distraction, misdescription and disavowal. The translucency of consciousness is not a barrier to self-deception.However, there is another problem in Sartre's claim that all purposive activity is conscious, including our practice of self-deception. The bodily subject of consciousness performs important purposive activities beyond the range of the most obscure non-positional consciousness. This calls into question Sartre's existentialist claim that we are wholly responsible for all we do. (shrink)

The ‘self’ is increasingly used as a variable in cognitive experiments and correlated with activity in particular areas in the brain. At first glance, this seems to transform the self from an ephemeral theoretical entity to something concrete and measurable. However, the transformation is by no means unproblematic. We trace the development of two important experimental paradigms in the study of the self, self-face recognition and the adjective self ascription task. We show how the experimental (...) instrumentalization has gone hand in hand with a simplification of the self-concept, and how more conceptual and theoretical reflections on the structure, function and nature of self have either disappeared altogether or receded into the background. We argue that this development impedes and complicates the interdisciplinary study of self. (shrink)

İnsanın özgür iradesinin ispatı problemine yönelik çözüm denemelerinden biri Tanrı’nın kendisini gönüllü olarak sınırlaması anlamına gelen ilahi kendini sınırlama (divine self-limitation) yaklaşımıdır. Yahudi ve Hıristiyan teolojilerinde görülen bu perspektifle modern dönemde Süreç ve Kuantum felsefelerinde karşılaşılır. Bu çalışmada ilgili düşünce biçimi, Mu‘tezilî bilincin düşünce biçimiyle kıyaslanmıştır. Öncelikle Tanrı’nın kendini sınırlamasının imkânı, sınır teorisi varsayımıyla sorgulanmıştır. Buna göre ‘sınır’ evrene ve insana ‘yasa’ olarak içkindir. Evren de insan da fiziksel, kimyasal, biyolojik vd. yasalara/sınırlara tâbidir. Bu yasaların yaratıcısı olarak Tanrı da (...) sorumluluğun kaynağı akıl da insanı sınırlar ve sınır demek kavram, anlam, amaç, sistem ve düzen/kozmos demektir. Bu düzenin toplumsal hali ise zaman ve mekân ile sınırlı insanın teklif sahibi kılınarak eylemlerinin de sınırlandırılmasıdır. Peki, akla sınırlama fonksiyonu veren Tanrı’nın da kendi iradesini, ilmindeki tasarımının bir sonucu olarak sınırladığı varsayılabilir mi? Yahudi teolojisinde bu sınırlama, onların inançlarıyla ilişkili yaşadıkları ıstıraplara karşı Tanrı’nın müdahale etmemesinin bir nedeni olarak görülmekle beraber sınırlı âlemlerin var olabilmesi için Tanrı’nın sonsuz ışığını daraltması ve geri çekilmesi olarak da anlaşılmıştır. Hıristiyan teolojisinde ise sonsuzluğun evreni yaratmasının keyfiyeti, Tanrı’nın Mesih ile enkarnasyonu, kötülük ve özgür irade problemlerini çözmek için bu teoriye başvurulmuştur. Tanrı’nın, vahiy aracılığıyla bildirdiği teklif, aynı zamanda insana akıllı, sorumlu, dolayısıyla özgür olduğunu da hatırlatmaktadır. Muhammed İkbal (öl. 1928) bu özgürlüğün insana ilahi kendini sınırlama teorisiyle verilebileceği kanaatindedir. Bu görüşle Mu‘tezilî bilincin Tanrı tasavvurunda sezilen sınırın birlikte düşünülmesi mümkün müdür? Zira tekliften doğan özgürlüğün gereği, Mu‘tezile’ye Tanrı’nın iradesinin ezeli olmadığını, tercihlerinin yaratıcısının insanın kendisi olduğunu düşündürmüştür. Yine tanrısal adaletin bir gereği olarak, insana kudretin fiilden önce verilmesi, nübüvvet ile va‘d ve vaidin gerçekleşmesi gibi teklife dair meseleler Tanrı hakkında zorunlu kabul edilmiştir. Bu bilinçte aklın sınırlama fonksiyonu Tanrı’ya taşınmış görünür. Tanrı insanın eylemlerinde etkin değildir, kötülüğü de yaratmaz. Hatta bazı isimlere göre kötülüğe güç dahi yetiremez. Tanrı’nın malumatının ve makduratının da bir sınırı vardır. Mu‘tezile’deki bu sınırlı Tanrı tasavvuru, söz konusu ‘özgür irade’ olduğunda ilgili teoriyle yeniden ifade edilirse, adil ve hakim olan Tanrı’nın, ilmindeki bilinçli/akıl sahibi/sorumlu/özgür insan tasarımının gerektirmesiyle gönüllü olarak kendi özgürlüğünü sınırladığı söylenebilecektir. Bu söylem, varoluşsal amaçlılık anlamında insanın neden özgür olduğunun değil, Tanrı’nın vahyettiğine inanılan bir evrende nasıl özgür olabildiğinin muhtemel cevaplarından biridir. (shrink)

In spite of enormous recent interest in the neurobiology of the self, we currently have no global models of the brain that explain how its anatomical structure, connectivity, and physiological functioning create a unified self. In this article I present a triadic neurohierarchical model of the self that proposes that the self can be understood as the product of three hierarchical anatomical systems: The interoself system, the integrative self system, and the exterosensorimotor system. An analysis (...) of these three systems and their functional features indicates that the neural hierarchy possesses features of both non-nested and nested hierarchies that are necessary for the creation of a unified consciousness and self. These functional properties also make the central nervous system a biologically unique entity unlike anything else in nature. (shrink)

This paper explores the heart and brain metaphors used in the meaning-making efforts of Chinese individuals diagnosed with depression. Past studies assert that the origin of Chinese language metaphors for thinking and feeling can be found in traditional Chinese medico-philosophical theory, where the heart is viewed as the seat of thought and emotion, and the brain, which constitutes the cognitive center in western theories of the self, is secondary. While most participants employed heart metaphors to express thinking and feeling, (...) many of the participants also employed brain metaphors. Instead of suggesting that this multiplicity implies westernization, this paper argues that cultural understandings of the self can be multiple. To appreciate this, it is necessary to look at spontaneously generated speech in a narrative context. This paper thus analyzes three participant narratives, a process that carries several implications for studies approaching the relationship between metaphor, culture, and the self. (shrink)

Available from UMI in association with The British Library. Requires signed TDF. ;We are mental beings whose identity is absolute, intrinsic and real. This conception of the self, which, it is argued, corresponds to our deeper beliefs about, and attitudes towards, ourselves and others, is a consequence of taking the experienced unity and continuity of consciousness as the key to self-identity. Some of the difficulties often taken as fatal to this "subjectivist" view of the self, considerations concerning (...) private languages and the individuation of conscious beings from within pure consciousness, are disposed of in Chapter 2. The next two chapters focus on the stream of consciousness. It is shown that the unity and copersonality of intra-streamal experiences both at and over time is constituted by and experience of unity. Building on this result, in Chapter 5 an account of the self as a mental entity whose identity consists in the persistence of potential streamal experience is developed. The notion of the Pure Ego is then examined; the reasons for positing such an entity are found wanting; but the neoHumean account of the self which has by this point emerged is compatible with the intuition that the self is a simple and basic entity, distinct from its actual mental states. In Chapter 7 the alleged possibility of selves undergoing fission and fusion is investigated. This is found to be a genuine possibility, but the claim that we should conclude from this that self-identity is not a relation which deeply matters is rejected, on the grounds that when a self divides, the products of fission are identical with one another. The apparent absurdity of this result is reduced by taking seriously the notion of topologically deviant subjective time dimensions; our identity matters, but our lives need not be linear. (shrink)

The crucial stake of the present paper lies in the dereification of the human being, in the abrogation of the psychological, ethical homogeneity, and the objectified sociocultural representations of the imaginary. The imaginary can be conceived not only as a term able to confirm the mental structures of the subject that constitute the identity and bounds of human thought, but also as the way in which ethical norms become manifest. Norms, which through their internalisation dictate the perception of both the (...) self and the social. Countering the neoliberal representation of the world presupposes an erogenous discourse. The originality of Bataille is to invert the meaning of desire as lack. Far from being conceived as a sign of our finitude, it is indicative of our excess of being. The ‘secret of desire’ thus appears in the intrinsic relationship that weaves the archaic sacred between eroticism and death. Excess and anguish in front of the emptiness, allow us to escape the subject, to liberate the self from the commercialisation of our imagination. Bataille shows us how erotic desire could be fundamentally creative of social relations, as it eliminates the self-other dualism. (shrink)

The article examines the challenge of achieving sustainable mediational equilibrium within the Self–Other relationship. It argues that the mere pursuit of mutual understanding among dialogue participants is insufficient to guarantee productive communication, particularly in contexts where interactions are driven by competition for scarce resources and opportunities. Under such conditions, subjects risk becoming dependent on instrumental reason – the logic of control and suppression – which transforms both the Self and the Other from fully-fledged personalities into functions of reified (...) rationality. The analysis introduces a distinction between two roles of the individual: the person as a bearer of unique values and meanings, and the individual as a subject of social relations, an actor immersed in practical interactions. It is demonstrated that the capacity of the former to exert control over the latter is limited, and that interactions are shaped not only by the personal qualities of the participants but also by the impersonal logic of instrumental reason. This logic is conceptualized as a kind of third subjectivity that mediates the dialogue between the Self and the Other. Achieving mediational equilibrium becomes possible through the development of autonomy among the parties, through their transformation, mutual recognition, and the search for a measure of compatibility. This approach is traced through examples from A.S. Akhiezer’s theory of sociocultural mediation, A.P. Davydov’s concept of inter-subjective dialogue, and R. Bush and J. Folger’s theory of transformative mediation. Key concepts in the latter include empowerment (strengthening participants’ ability to clearly recognize their goals and make responsible decisions) and recognition (willingness to hear and understand the Other’s perspective). The essence of transformative mediation lies in the transition from imposing one party’s position to a collaborative search for new possibilities, allowing the realization of both Self and Other’s interests through dialogue. In conclusion, the article asserts the importance of overcoming the logic of mutual accusations by shifting the focus from the opponent’s personality to the impersonal structures limiting the self-determination of all parties. (shrink)

The emergence of a new tissue economy raises issues for the governance of risk and concepts of the body and self. This article explores the development of autologous cell therapies as a form of tissue engineering and considers how and why autologous applications are seen as less risky and more socially and politically acceptable. In a careful analysis of contemporary debates around the need for new international policies to regulate these technologies, we critically assess the discursive strategies employed to (...) support ideas of the body as a natural entity. Central to these debates are assumptions that autologous applications do not threaten the moral or corporeal integrity of the individual and that they are ‘an ethics-free zone’. Analysis reveals that concepts such as intercorporeality need to be refined if they are to assist our understanding of these cell-based therapies. We consider the biopolitics of Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI) in order to show the linkages between the culturing of cells, regulation and the reproduction of the self. (shrink)

Neuroscientific findings have often been argued to undermine notions of free will and to require far-reaching changes of our political and legal systems. Making a difference between the metaphysical notion of free will and the political notion of autonomy,Dubljevi´c (2013) argues this switchover to be mistaken. While we appreciate attention to the social limits of neuroscientific findings, we also have a twofold concern with his proposal. The first covers the nontransparent way in which he either rejects or embraces certain scientific (...) findings, which renders the background andmotivation of his argument unclear. The second revolves around his idea of a “rational life-plan,” which, while it covers a person’s capacity to conform to social and external factors, misses out what it means to act for a reason or be the source of one’s actions. Revisiting the example of former addict Tommy McHugh and invoking the example of a resigned addict, we present the idea of an “autonomous life-plan,” which is metaphysically sound and practically relevant. (shrink)

It is widely held that reflexivity is the defining feature of selfhood: the ability of the self to stand in a certain relation to itself. The question of how exactly to theorize this self-relation, however, has been the source of ongoing debate. In recent years, Kantian and post-Kantian approaches such as Christine Korsgaard’s constitutivism and Richard Moran’s commitment view, have attempted to establish the priority of the agential over the epistemic self-relation, thereby re-orientating the debate away from (...) metaphysics and epistemology towards ethics and moral psychology. Despite the important progress they make towards a de-alienated and reified understanding of the self-relation, however, I argue that the Kantian paradigm is ultimately inadequate because its methodological individualism makes it incapable of accounting for the irreducibly social dimension of the self-relation and, therefore, of successfully making the transition from ethics to social and political philosophy. In other words, an adequate ontology of the self-relation is possible only as a social ontology. In order to motivate this thesis, I appeal to two examples that expose the “social deficit” of the Kantian approach: Frantz Fanon’s phenomenology of race/racism in “The Lived Experience of the Black” and the phenomenon of cultural collapse in Jonathan Lear’sRadical Hope. I then go on to provide a sketch of an alternative approach based on the notion of “self-appropriation”, distinguishing it from Rahel Jaeggi’s use of the term in her recent critique of alienation, in the process. (shrink)

In this article, we critique two theoretical positions that analyze the place of emotions in education: the psychological strand and the cultural feminist strand. First of all, it is shown how a social control of emotions in education is reflected in the combination of psychological and cultural feminist discourses that function to govern one’s self effectively and efficiently. These discourses perpetuate an assumed divide between the rational and the emotional, and reinforce the existing power hierarchies and the status quo (...) of stereotypes about the role of emotion in education. Then we use the Foucauldian notions of parrhesia and care of the self to suggest alternative ways of thinking about emotions in education. Instead of campaigning for one side or the other of the rational/emotional divide, we suggest that it may be more interesting and fruitful to examine the particular ways discourses of emotion in education construct their own brand of parrhesia. (shrink)

Examines the Present‐aim Theory of rationality, or P; The Instrumental and Deliberative Theories, how desires can be intrinsically irrational, or rationally required; the Critical Present‐aim Theory, or CP; the relations between P, S, CP and morality; and Psychological egoism; offers the best objection to S; and how temporal neutrality is not what distinguishes S from P, or CP.

Develops the idea that it is in part a social and political task to achieve a measure of fit between the demands of morality and the individual's interests. The psychological bases of moral motivation are, in Scheffler's view, influenced by social institutions and practices. Social institutions and practices can help individuals to develop the psychological structures that will lead them to shape their interests so as to minimize conflicts with morality. Social institutions can also work more directly to reduce the (...) degree of conflict between the demands of morality and individuals’ interests, insofar as a just and well‐ordered society minimizes the occasions on which it would be rational for people to violate moral requirements. These considerations support the conclusion that there are close and complex relations between social integration and personal, psychological integration; the smooth operation of each process conduces to and enhances the smooth operation of the other. (shrink)

Postmodern theories as exemplified by the work of J. F. Lyotard and K. Gergen are contrasted with modern theories with regard to their impact on theories of knowledge and of the self. It is argued that while some postmodern theories and the modernists philosophy of individualism are based on assumptions concerning the origins of knowledge and the nature of the self, both result in a relativism of self and knowledge. The rationale for an alternative viewpoint of the (...) relationship between the individual and society is explored. 2012 APA, all rights reserved). (shrink)