The problem
of the permanence
of the “I” in time is a condition for identity and continuity of human
life. The quest for unity in life, manifested in a more or less conscious
search for long-term meaning, and seeking to grasp the relevance of
each action, is a contemporary topic. Humans seek the stability which
comes with having a defined personal
identity. Oftentimes, a zealous search for meaning underlies a person’s ambitions, his1 efforts to
attain self-fulfilment in varied ways, his attempts to achieve set targets, and
his search for recognition by others. The temporal dispersion of each action of
a person throughout his life, makes their unification and stability in purpose
challenging, as such temporal separation of human actions makes it difficult to
view the effects and significance of particular acts, and their long-term
impact.
Fortunately, narrative
self-understanding and autobiographical thinking in orienting the whole human
life, resolves the challenge posed by time. Narrativity is a solution for
temporal dispersion, a challenge often noticeable in contemporary society.
The
narrative conception of the self may not be as unfamiliar as it seems at first.
It played a key part in cultures which are predecessors of ours but now its
presence in our many ways of thinking and acting goes unacknowledged. “Hence it is not
inappropriate to begin by scrutinizing some of our most taken-for-granted, but
clearly correct conceptual insights about human actions and selfhood in order
to show how natural it is to think of the self in a narrative mode.”2 Such
scrutiny is a philosophical task that is also shared by other fields such as psychology,
which originated within philosophy, and contemporary neurosciences.
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L'indice - Contents Alcuni frasi dall'introduzione
L'indice - Contents Alcuni frasi dall'introduzione
