5 votes

You don’t need an identity

10 comments

  1. [10]
    Akir
    Link
    Damn it, I can’t believe that there are people who make clickbait titles for articles about philosophy. For anyone curious, this is not against the idea of having an identity, but rather about...

    Damn it, I can’t believe that there are people who make clickbait titles for articles about philosophy.

    For anyone curious, this is not against the idea of having an identity, but rather about having an identity that is based on a specific worldview i.e. religion or communism and so on.

    4 votes
    1. [6]
      mrbig
      Link Parent
      I'm not sure if this is clickbait. AFAIK clickbait must be intentionally misleading. Identity is a broad concept. What did you expect this to be?

      I'm not sure if this is clickbait. AFAIK clickbait must be intentionally misleading. Identity is a broad concept. What did you expect this to be?

      7 votes
      1. [5]
        Akir
        Link Parent
        The title says that you don't need identity, full stop, and that would be an extraordinary claim. Identity is well established in philosophy and psychology. Self-awareness is a facet of humanity,...

        The title says that you don't need identity, full stop, and that would be an extraordinary claim. Identity is well established in philosophy and psychology. Self-awareness is a facet of humanity, and that is the bare minimum needed to have an identity. I was expecting to have my mind blown or at least to learn about an interesting alternative theory.

        But the fact that it's actually about not needing to base your identity on an external worldview is neither novel nor unique. In fact, I think that most people here on tildes would agree with regardless of their knowledge of philosophy.

        3 votes
        1. [3]
          NaraVara
          Link Parent
          The author is pretty clearly not talking about identity as in self awareness. He’s talking about identity as in an identity group to select into. This meaning was quite plain to me on a first...

          The author is pretty clearly not talking about identity as in self awareness. He’s talking about identity as in an identity group to select into. This meaning was quite plain to me on a first reading of the headline.

          8 votes
          1. [2]
            Akir
            Link Parent
            Obviously he is not, but the issue I took was with the title. It doesn't say "identity group", it uses the massively larger-in-scope term "Identity". That's why I'm saying that the title is...

            Obviously he is not, but the issue I took was with the title. It doesn't say "identity group", it uses the massively larger-in-scope term "Identity". That's why I'm saying that the title is clickbait, not the article.

            1. NaraVara
              Link Parent
              I honestly think the misinterpretation is on you here. It’s perfectly normal to use the term “identity” to refer to groups. It’s not like we refer to it as “identity group politics” is it?

              I honestly think the misinterpretation is on you here. It’s perfectly normal to use the term “identity” to refer to groups. It’s not like we refer to it as “identity group politics” is it?

              5 votes
        2. mrbig
          Link Parent
          This may be a bad title, I honestly don't know for sure. The problem I have with your criticism is that clickbait is a specific case of bad title and I don't think that is the case here.

          This may be a bad title, I honestly don't know for sure. The problem I have with your criticism is that clickbait is a specific case of bad title and I don't think that is the case here.

          1 vote
    2. [3]
      wervenyt
      Link Parent
      Are there concrete identities that don't rely on specific worldviews?

      Are there concrete identities that don't rely on specific worldviews?

      2 votes
      1. [3]
        Comment removed by site admin
        Link Parent
        1. wervenyt
          Link Parent
          What forms the subjective sense of identity that those characteristics contribute to if not a worldview contextualising them?

          What forms the subjective sense of identity that those characteristics contribute to if not a worldview contextualising them?

          2 votes
        2. NaraVara
          Link Parent
          Whether any of those are salient is based on a worldview though. We don't construct identities around, for example, whether you have crumbly or moist earwax because nobody considers that a salient...

          Whether any of those are salient is based on a worldview though. We don't construct identities around, for example, whether you have crumbly or moist earwax because nobody considers that a salient point of identification even though it has real, practical differences in life. If, however, people arbitrarily decided to assign social cachet or social functions based on earwax then it would become an identity marker.

          For things like age or gender it's hard to imagine them not being salient, but I would say that's indicative of their salience arising out of very broadly applicable or near-universal worldviews. I wouldn't say they exist independent of any worldview.

          2 votes