Self and Subjectivity

Self and Subjectivity is a collection of seminal essays with commentary that traces the development of conceptions of 'self' and 'subjectivity' in European and Anglo-American philosophical traditions, including feminist scholarship, from Descartes to the present.

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Part I Early Modern Philosophy 5

1 Commentary on Descartes 7

René Descartes: “Meditation II” 12

2 Commentary on Locke 19

John Locke: “Of Identity and Diversity” 24

3 Commentary on Hume 33

David Hume: “Of Personal Identity” 37

Part II Later Modern Philosophy 45

4 Commentary on Kant 47

Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason,“Paralogisms of Pure Reason (A)” (first, second, and third paralogisms) 52

5 Commentary on Hegel 60

G. W. F. Hegel: Phenomenology of Spirit, “Self-consciousness: Lordship and Bondage” 65

6 Commentary on Nietzsche 71

Friedrich Nietzsche: “The Genealogy of Morals” 76

Part III Phenomenology and Existentialism 85

7 Commentary on Sartre 87

Jean-Paul Sartre: “The Look” 92

8 Commentary on Merleau-Ponty 101

Maurice Merleau-Ponty: “The Spatiality of One’s Own Body and Motility” 106

9 Commentary on Heidegger 113

Martin Heidegger: “Exposition of the Task of a Preparatory Analysis of Dasein” 117

Part IV Analytic Philosophy 125

10 Commentary on Strawson 127

P. F. Strawson: “Persons” 132

11 Commentary on Frankfurt 139

Harry Frankfurt: “Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person” 144

12 Commentary on Shoemaker 153

Sydney Shoemaker: “Personal Identity: A Materialist’s Account” 157

13 Commentary on Williams 163

Bernard Williams: “Bodily Continuity and Personal Identity” 168

14 Commentary on Parfit 173

Derek Parfit: Reasons and Persons, “What We Believe Ourselves To Be” 178

Part V Post-structuralism 193

15 Commentary on Freud 195

Sigmund Freud: “The Ego and the Id” 200

16 Commentary on Foucault 206

Michel Foucault: “About the Beginnings of the Hermeneutics of the Self:Two Lectures at Dartmouth” 221

17 Commentary on Ricoeur 220

Paul Ricoeur: “Personal Identity and Narrative Identity” 225

Part VI Feminist Philosophy 235

18 Commentary on de Beauvoir 237

Simone de Beauvoir: “Introduction” to The Second Sex 242

19 Commentary on Butler 252

Judith Butler: “Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity” 257

20 Commentary on Irigaray 266

Luce Irigaray: “Any Theory of the ‘Subject’ Has Always Been Appropriated by the ‘Masculine’ ” 271

21 Commentary on Mackenzie 279

Catriona Mackenzie: “Imagining Oneself Otherwise” 284

Bibliography 300

Index 305

"...promises to establish [itself] as a key reference text, an invaluable aid for teachers as much as students in the fields of philosophy, social and political sciences, literary and cultural studies." The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory” Vol.14, 2006

“Self and Subjectivity is a superb reader. Kim Atkins’s gem-like introductions to each reading, together with the generosity and diversity of her selections, will make this an invaluable text for teachers across a range of disciplines.” J. M. Bernstein, New School for Social Research

“Atkins’s imaginative selection of texts from both analytic and continental thinkers –along with cogent samples of feminist, psychoanalytic, and postmodern theories of selfhood – places this work at the cutting edge of contemporary scholarship.” Richard Kearney, Boston College

“The extracts are wide-ranging and well-chosen; and Atkins’s commentaries on her selections are informative, clear, and concise. This will be an extremely useful collection for both students and teachers of philosophy.” Christopher Cordner, University of Melbourne

Kim Atkins is a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Tasmania, Australia. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Applied Philosophy, Philosophy Today, and The International Journal of Philosophical Studies. Self and Subjectivity is a collection of seminal essays with commentary that traces the development of conceptions of “self” and “subjectivity” in European and Anglo-American philosophical traditions, including feminist scholarship, from Descartes to the present. It covers the rise of the philosophy of the subject, its crisis in postmodernity, and the re-articulation of selfhood, agency, and personal identity in very recent times.

The book provides a comprehensive, accessible, and high-quality text that introduces the reader to various conceptions of self and subjectivity in relation to their historical, ethical, epistemological, and metaphysical contexts. The volume features essays by Descartes, Hume, Nietzsche, Freud, Sartre, Foucault, Judith Butler, Bernard Williams, Derek Parfit, and many others.