Narrative identity, autonomy, and mortality : from Frankfurt and MacIntyre to Kierkegaard / John J. Davenport.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davenport, John J., 1966-

Series:

Routledge studies in contemporary philosophy ; 36.

Routledge studies in contemporary philosophy ; 36

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813-1855.

Kierkegaard, Søren.

Identity (Philosophical concept).

Narration (Rhetoric).

Autonomy (Philosophy).

Physical Description:

xv, 230 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2012.

Contents:

1 Introduction: Autonomy, Practical Identity, Self, and Character 1

1 Existential Approaches to Personal Autonomy as Deep Responsibility 1

2 An Overview of Main Themes and the Structure of the Analysis 7

3 Practical Identity as the Issue: Parfit, Williams, Korsgaard, and Schechtman 10

4 Galen Strawson's Episodic Self and Continuity of Consciousness 19

5 Finishing the Preliminaries: The Present Self and the Concept of Character 29

2 Narrative Realism about Practical Identity 38

1 Key Ontological and Practical Objections to Narrative Theories 38

2 Three Levels of Narrative Unity 41

2.1 Rudd and the Narrative Implications of Contemporary Action Theory 41

2.2 Levels 0 and 1: Consciousness and Planning Agency 45

3 Literature vs Life: the Hard Problem for Narrative Theories 49

3.1 William's Flawed Critique of MacIntyre 49

3.2 Lippitt, Sartre, and the Logos Fallacy: Four Basic Theses of Narrative Realism 52

3.3 Constructivist Theories, Fictionalism, and the Logos Fallacy 59

4 The Defense of Narrative Realism: Towards a Viable Alternative 64

4.1 Carra and Ricoeur 64

4.2 Narravive, 'Rosebud' Elements, and Six Conditions of Narratival Connection 70

4.3 The Self-Deception Objection 83

5 Reflexive Additions: How Secondary Self-Narratives Enter into our Narravive 85

3 Narrative Unity, Autonomy, and Kierkegaard's Aesthetic-Ethical Distinction 91

1 Kierkegaard's Contribution to Narrative Accounts of Practical Identity 91

1.1 The Debate since Kierkegaard After MacIntyre 91

1.2 A Summary of the Basic Narrative Realist Model of Practical Identity 94

1.3 Kierkegaardian Extensions of Narrative Realism 95

2 Narrative Unity-2 and Personal Autonomy: MacIntyre, Frankfurt, and Kierkegaard 100

2.1 Four Modifications to Initial Hierarchical Models of Formal Autonomy 100

2.2 How a and the Seducer fail the Integrity Requirement for Unity-2 106

3 From Unity-2 (Caring) to Unity-3 (Wholeheartedness) 110

3.1 Wholehearted Caring versus Essential and Instrumental Conflict 110

3.2 Whole heartedness as a Regulative Good: Replies to Christman and Lippitt 114

4 The Aesthetic and Ethical Stages Restated 121

4.1 Kierkegaard's Ethically Grounded Wholeheartedness 121

4.2 Strawson's Aestheticism? 127

4 Kierkegaardian Wholeheartedness: Purity of Heart versus Doublemindedness 131

1 The Remaining Problems for a Narrative Realist Account of Personal Autonomy 131

2 Forms of Disunity in "Purity of Heart:" from Ethical to Religious Self-Unification 133

2.1 The PH Thesis and Narrative Identity 133

2.2 A Typology of Aesthetic and Ethical "Doublemindedness" 136

3 Infinite Resignation, Faith, and Jest: Further Levels of Narrative Unity 145

5 Selves in Time before Death: Kierkegaardian Religious Narrative Unity 150

1 The Problem of Mortality and the Ontology of Narrative Selves in Time 150

1.1 The Dilemma for Narrativist Realists 150

1.2 Existential Narrative Realism: Narravives as Freely Growing Blocks 153

2 Narrative Unity-3, Death, and Kierkegaardian Eschatological Faith 157

2.1 Three Versions of the Problem 157

2.2 Kierkegaard's Answer 160

3 Conclusion I: from Unity-3 to Unity-4 (Existential Faith) 165

4 Conclusion II: The Next Steps 166.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [205]-215) and index.

ISBN:

9780415894135

0415894131

OCLC:

694393723