Combining Texts

Ideas for 'On the Question of Absolute Undecidability', 'Virtues of the Mind' and 'Ethics of the Concern for Self as Freedom'

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2 ideas

16. Persons / C. Self-Awareness / 2. Knowing the Self
The self is known as much by its knowledge as by its action [Zagzebski]
     Full Idea: It seems to me that the concept of the self is constituted as much by what we know as by what we do.
     From: Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski (Virtues of the Mind [1996], III 1)
     A reaction: People take pride in what they know, which indicates that it is of central importance to a person's nature. Hard to evaluate ideas such as this.
16. Persons / E. Rejecting the Self / 2. Self as Social Construct
A subject is a form which can change, in (say) political or sexual situations [Foucault]
     Full Idea: The subject is not a substance but a form, which is not always identical to itself. You do not have the same relation to yourself when you go to vote and when you seek to fulfil your desires in a sexual relationship.
     From: Michel Foucault (Ethics of the Concern for Self as Freedom [1984], p.290)
     A reaction: I don't think I believe this. If it were true, the concept of 'sexual politics' would mean nothing to me. A brutal or sympathetic nature is likely to express itself in both situations.