The Politics and Ethics of Identity In Search of Ourselves [Paperback]

Challenges the notion of consistent unitary identities, arguing that we are multiple, changing selves, shaped by social contexts and processes.We are multiple, fragmented and changing selves who, nevertheless, believe we have unique and consistent identities. Richard Ned Lebow explores what accounts for this contradiction; why identity has become so central in scholarship, media and popular fiction; and the political and ethical consequences of sacrificing the illusion of identity.We are multiple, fragmented and changing selves who, nevertheless, believe we have unique and consistent identities. Richard Ned Lebow explores what accounts for this contradiction; why identity has become so central in scholarship, media and popular fiction; and the political and ethical consequences of sacrificing the illusion of identity.We are multiple, fragmented, and changing selves who, nevertheless, believe we have unique and consistent identities. What accounts for this illusion? Why has the problem of identity become so central in post-war scholarship, fiction, and the media? Following Hegel, Richard Ned Lebow contends that the defining psychological feature of modernity is the tension between our reflexive and social selves. To address this problem Westerners have developed four generic strategies of identity construction that are associated with four distinct political orientations. Lebow develops his arguments through comparative analysis of ancient and modern literary, philosophical, religious, and musical texts. He asks how we might come to terms with the fragmented and illusionary nature of our identities and explores some political and ethical implications of doing so.1. Introduction; 2. Narratives and identity; 3. Homer, Virgil, and identity; 4. Mozart and the Enlightenment; 5. Germans and Greeks; 6. Beam me up, Lord; 7. Science fiction and immortality; 8. Identity reconsidered. In this remarkable book, Lebow offers a sustained critique of contemporary conceptions of idenlÃÒ