tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35477414.post2495065242600175562..comments2023-06-17T02:25:08.805-07:00Comments on the net self.: talking about the future.laura.ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638164730513113228noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35477414.post-77034278711162983732010-05-22T19:55:13.293-07:002010-05-22T19:55:13.293-07:00Am I the only person that would've answered &#...Am I the only person that would've answered 'yes' to that proposition? It just seems obvious to me that we should answer 'yes' to that question. A little further afield, though - isn't hanging on to some robust sense of one's 'personhood' or 'identity' what breeds pretension and narrow-mindedness? <br /><br />I guess I've started thinking about personal identity in a very pragmatic, consequentialist sort of way. It just seems like the people I encounter (in life, in the news, in movies, etc.) who are really tied to some conception or other of themselves are sort of less good people, morally, for that. In that Susan Wolf-moral saint kind of way, i.e., they're not the sort of friend I would like to have. I know this sounds sort of like a cheap shot, but it's just an observation. In fact, for me, thinking about the absurdity of the very question that animates the personal identity debate is often quite humbling. So, from my ethical perch, I think I'd prefer the person who, at one sophomoric Caulfieldian moment in her life (or not), contemplated the personal identity question and side-stepped positing an answer precisely because she thought that was the better cognitive route.Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09903920439715257745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35477414.post-77045557388802349232010-05-04T09:27:47.512-07:002010-05-04T09:27:47.512-07:00i haven't read it, no. it's now officiall...i haven't read it, no. it's now officially on my summer reading list though. your recommendations get a special place on my queue, MAS.laura.ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13638164730513113228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35477414.post-78736237707385158012010-05-03T08:35:54.365-07:002010-05-03T08:35:54.365-07:00hi laura! I really like how you put this. I have c...hi laura! I really like how you put this. I have certainly undergone something similar in my pre-grad-school / post-grad-school experience. I didn't think I'd come back to New York after I went to Indiana, and I had to contend, when I knew I did want to come back, with the fact that the life I left was no longer there, and that I would have to create something entirely new for myself. A kind of death—yes—this feels like the perfect word for such an inevitably final departure. I can't wait to hear about your new life, and hope you record the transition. California is such a bundle of ideas, especially LA. I presume you've read Mike Davis's City of Quartz. . . if not, I highly recommend. . .Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01527937833220763016noreply@blogger.com