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Full Idea
As a being who grows and becomes I can only know myself through the history of my maturations and regressions, overcomings and defeats.
Gist of Idea
I can only be aware of myself as a person who changes by means of my personal history
Source
Charles Taylor (Sources of the Self [1989], §2.3)
Book Ref
Taylor,Charles: 'Sources of the Self' [CUP 1992], p.50
A Reaction
An important insight. My immediate sense of self makes my personal history central, not an extra. But a history must be a history OF something.