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Ever since the human race developed the gift of sentience, we have long since been on a quest to discover who we are. After all, this is one of the defining traits that make us human. When an animal looks in a mirror, it does not recognize itself as an individual, but rather sees another member of its species. We are different, we see ourselves in the mirror, with all our flaws, insecurities, and doubts. Despite all of this we still achieve and thrive, for being human means that we are blessed with the infinite capacity for creativity. We can mold ourselves into anyone we want. So now the question becomes: “Who am I now? And what kind of person do I want to be?”
In the book, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity, Charles Taylor would argue that we are not left to make this choice by ourselves, but are instead governed by a number of external factors such as society, culture, religion, and even the time period in which we are living. He refers to this concept as the “modern identity”, and that it is this theory that grants us the ability to define who we are. Concurrently, the modern view of the human subject grants us ample freedom to construct a persona that is specific to ourselves. The challenge we face is that we are afforded so many options that it becomes overwhelming. There are so many facets of our personalities that we must consider, and so many sources that affect them that we can so easily veer of the path that we truly desire.
In a discussion regarding today’s society, there are certain subjects that are bound to come up more than others: the internet, social media, technology. The subject that one wouldn’t normally suspect, but is still the center of heated debate is freedom. Freedom is what giv...
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...iety where science and education are held in high regard instead of one that emphasizes superficial and materialistic qualities.
Being human, we will always have an underlying sense of curiosity. One of the most important questions that we have always strived to find the answer to is: “why do I exist?” Unfortunately, we are no closer to finding the answer than we were thousands of years ago because this is a question whose definition changes according to the time in which it was asked. What was perceived as true back then isn’t what is accepted now, and in the future our sensibilities will most certainly change. Inevitably, finding the answer is not what is important, but instead it is the struggle, our quest of trying to find out who we are that is.
Taylor, Charles. Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1992. Print.
Taylor, S. (2009) ‘Who We Think We Are? Identities in Everyday life’, in Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J. and Bromley, S. (eds), Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
Hume, David. "Of Personal Identity." Twenty Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy. Ed. G. Lee Bowie, Meredith W. Michaels and Robert C. Solomon. 4th ed. Harcourt College Publishers, 2000. 348-352
Griffin, by the very act of writing an essay that deals with how we are created out of influences, supports Walkers idea. It would seem that Brooks would be the odd one out. However, in the analogy of Herald the most vital factor of Herald’s story is when he seeks out what is missing from his life, and what he needed to be introduced to. Combing the ideas of Walker and Brooks, one could say that education should introduce the materials to discover our identity. This conclusion is supported in other research as
The development and performance of identity has intrigued researchers from all disciplines. The Self and being have been conceptualized and investigated from varying points of view. Goffman and Butler have created frames through which performance of the self can be comprehended. (Goffman, 1959) brings forth the frame of “impression management” and Butler discusses “performative identity” (Butler, 1990). Impression management explains how people alter their presentation of the self to fit social contexts and mentions how social interactions can reshape an individuals sense of identity. Whereas performative identity claims that one’s identity is constructed discursively and that individuals perform according to
So, who am I? Should I describe the person I see when I look in the mirror or the person I am working to become? The person I am changes with each new experience, with every person who enters or exits my life, and with how I handle the challenges placed before me. So, the person I am, that is something I will spend the rest of my life discovering.
The question ‘who am I?’ raises speculations about who we are as human beings and why we behave the way we do. This is of great interest to social psychologists. One particular theory about this social identity is that it is not fixed or innate but that it is something that changes over time and is constructed through our social interactions with other people. This essay will explicate the idea of socially constructed identities and consider the evidence for and against this view with examples of research studies from both social constructionism (Phoenix, 2007) and Social Identity Theory (SIT) (Turner and Brown, 1978).
—. Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989.
I have shown throughout this essay that we can determine personal identity solely based on psychological continuity. During John Perry’s dialogue he says that there are only three ways in which we can tell a person is who they are. Those three ideas being a person is their body, a person has a continuation of memory, or a person is their immaterial soul. Through the whole of this essay we have discussed that even though bodily identity and immaterial souls are a good suggestions for determining personal identity that they really aren’t logical theories. I have argued that we can distinguish personal identity from psychological continuity.
Many philosophers and psychologist from Jean Piaget to William James have theorized what makes a person who they are, their identity. Jean Piaget believed that the identity is formed in the sensorimotor stage and the preoperational stage. This means that a child is forming his identity as late to the age of seven (Schellenberg, 29) However, identity is strongly impacted by society such as school, church, government,and other institutions. Through our interactions with different situations our personality develops (Schellenberg 34). "In most situations there is a more diversified opportunity for the development of social identities, reflecting what the individual wants to put forth to define the self as well as what others want to accept,"(Schellenberg 35). Therefore, humans, much like animals, adapt to different situations based on who they are with. Individuals are always changi...
As a question, ‘who am I?’ poses many complications. Each of us are aware of being someone “with a past, a present and a future…” however, it is the fact that we are not “only aware of inhabiting a distinct personal world, but also…social and cultural…” which leads to confusion. This essay will therefore explore the Psychological foundations behind the question, in regards to evidence provided by the ‘Twenty Statement Test’. Analysis of this study made it apparent that ‘the self’ could be classified into three main groups; social, relational and personal selves, with each of these being readily related to the various theoretical assumptions. This essay will examine how each of these categories seek to answer the question ‘who am I?’, as well as briefly discussing how cultural variation may influence both social and individualistic approaches to the self.
The universe, and what it means to be alive is almost impossible to define; yet that does not stop humanity from trying. “Lonergan’s philosophy of the human person reveals that being human means having an unlimited number and variety of questions about life and the universe.” (Morgan, 1996). There is no limit on the number and variety of questions the human person will ask, "the most subversive people are those who ask questions” (Gaarder), as a result there are many varied and opinionated answers. This essay will explore three different theories on how one might find answers to life's ultimate questions. At one point or another, every human being has asked the question why: Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the point? It is in our nature as human beings to reason, to think, to ask, it is what separates us from the rest of creation, and with this ability to reason, we are left with one question: Why? Throughout history many have tried to answer this question, some have come to the conclusion that meaning is found through God, and one’s faith. Others feel that life begins meaningless, and it is up to the individual to give life meaning; then there are those who believe that life has no meaning, and we are all essentially, just waiting to die, "The meaning of life is that it ends." (Kafka).
Recognizing who we are not is good in knowing who we are, but it is only the first step
Since human kind gained the ability of reflection we have questioned our purpose of existence. What makes a human, human? Four philosophers, representing four areas of Philosophy, attempt to answer this question. First is the Dutchman Soren Kierkegaard and his book Sickness unto Death, who is considered the “Father of Existentialism”. Prevalent through all of Kierkegaard’s work was his constant goal to move people closer to God and thus closer to discovering their authentic self. Therefore, our relationship with God is what makes us human. Next is Jeremy Rifkin and his book The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in A World in Crisis who believes that humanity is defined by our ability to empathize with other humans whether
The issue of identity is of primary importance in the cosmopolitan today’s world characterized by blending of cultures and globalization processes. Identity is a construct: the ways an individual understands what it is to belong to a certain gender, race or culture. As Jonathan Culler says “Literature has not only made identity a theme; It has played a significant role in the construction of the identity of the readers. Literary works encourage identification with characters by showing things from their point of view” (2005: 112). In this regard there is a lot of theoretical debate that concerns the nature of ‘subject’ or ‘self’. The question about the ‘subject’ is ‘what am I?’ and further the question whether the identity of the ‘subject’ ‘something given’ or ‘something constructed’ has
Truth of oneself makes it visible when faced with absurd events in life where all ethical issues fade away. One cannot always pinpoint to a specific trait or what the core essence they discover, but it is often described as “finding one’s self”. In religious context, the essential self would be regarded as soul. Whereas, for some there is no such concept as self that exists since they believe that humans are just animals caught in the mechanistic world. However, modern philosophy sheds a positive light and tries to prove the existence of a self. Modern philosophers, Descartes and Hume in particular, draw upon the notion of the transcendental self, thinking self, and the empirical self, self of public life. Hume’s bundle theory serves as a distinction between these two notions here and even when both of these conception in their distinction make valid points, neither of them is more accurate.