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Full Idea
It is a bad mistake to think we are born with a self; the self develops, and acquiring it requires living in the world.
Gist of Idea
We are not born with a self; we develop a self through living
Source
Owen Flanagan (The Problem of the Soul [2002], p.260)
Book Ref
Flanagan,Owen: 'The Problem of the Soul' [Basic Books 2003], p.260
A Reaction
I think this is wrong. He is mistaking a complex cultural concept of the self as the subject for autobiography etc. for the basic biological self which even small animals must have if their brains are to serve any useful purpose in their lives.
| 4006 | I can only be aware of myself as a person who changes by means of my personal history [Taylor,C] |
| 21050 | I can only make decisions if I see myself as part of a story [MacIntyre] |
| 7381 | We tell stories about ourselves, to protect, control and define who we are [Dennett] |
| 7382 | We spin narratives about ourselves, and the audience posits a centre of gravity for them [Dennett] |
| 5353 | The self is an abstraction which magnifies important aspects of autobiography [Flanagan] |
| 5354 | We are not born with a self; we develop a self through living [Flanagan] |