The main issue of this thesis is to analyse what kind of concept we have of 'personal identity.' The concept of personal identity is basically examined in relation to memory in this thesis. , Recalling memory is supposed to make an intelligible account between experiences. It gives meaning to what is remembered in accordance with the context of that person's life. This work is compared to a narrative understanding of memory. Ile unity of a person over time, which relates to the unity of personal identity, assumed to be formed through making this narrative account (Chapter one and the first half of Chapter two). However, there arises the question of whether all of our experiences can be managed by the narrative account. Two issues are examined at this point: The insufficiency of that narrative approach (die latter half of Chapter two) and the historical transformation of tile concept of personal identity (Chapter three). The transformation is specifically studied with influences of the media through time. The particularities of tile modem period of time are specifically considered as the age from which the study of personal identity has developed. Today, however, the credibility of the modem concept of personal identity seems to be in doubt. This doubt is summarised in the term 'postmodem'. The characteristics of and the discontinuity between the modem and the postmodern are described in Chapter four. Finally Chapter five investigates the particularities of the concept of identity in the postmodern age I conclude that the modem concept of personal identity has been effective in organising society, but it has arrived during a time at which its boundary needs to be reconsidered. Differences of a person, which are not identified within the narrative consistency of a life, are a key-term in this thought.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:421798 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Ishige, Yumi |
| Publisher | Durham University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1282/ |
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