The politics and ethics of identity : in search of ourselves / Richard Ned Lebow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lebow, Richard Ned, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political psychology.

Identity (Philosophical concept).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 431 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

The Politics & Ethics of Identity

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Introduction

Narratives and identity

Homer, Virgil and identity

Mozart and the enlightenment

Germans and Greeks

Beam me up, Lord

Science fiction and immortality

Identity reconsidered.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

1-139-88946-X

1-139-56483-8

1-139-22657-6

1-139-55500-6

1-139-55255-4

1-139-55004-7

1-139-55625-8

1-283-63840-1

1-139-55129-9

OCLC:

815387860