The Concept Of Personal Identity

Personal identity is unique to each person. Depending on influences that occurred during one’s lifetime, no one is exactly the same. Identity can be based off but, is not limited to; culture and language. This the reason why there are so many classifications in the way people behave.

What is personal identity? This question has been asked and debated by philosophers for centuries. The problem of personal identity is determining what conditions and qualities are necessary and sufficient for a person to exist as the same being at one time as another. Some think personal identity is physical, taking a materialistic perspective believing that bodily continuity or physicality is what makes a person a person with the view that even mental things are caused by some kind of physical occurrence. Others take a more idealist approach with the belief that mental continuity is the sole factor in establishing personal identity holding that physical things are just reflections of the mind.

Identity is defined as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is” (Oxford University Press). Personal identity deals with questions that arise about ourselves by virtue of our being people. Some of these questions are familiar that happen to all of us every once in a while: What am I? When did I begin? What will happen to me when I die? There are many different categories that define us as people (Olson). Our Race, Class, and Culture define who we are so much that it affects how we should live our life.

No matter how much a person desires to live according to their personal autonomy, he or she will never escape the influence of societal forces. Explicitly or subtlety, these forces shape our individuality. One intriguing manner that these societal forces manifests itself in is our name. As Ruth Graham writes, “It’s becoming increasingly clear today that names carry a wealth of information about the world around us, the family we arrived in, the moment we were born—and that they mark us as part of cultural currents bigger than we realize.” Names alone provide evidence that individuals are made by interactions with social institutions and groups. Ultimately, the inescapable nature of society’s influence demands individuals to ponder how much personal autonomy is actually autonomous and to what extent does the pursuit of personal autonomy lead to a life of emptiness and vanity.

With any philosophical theory, there are many different sides to each topic. The first argument that will be discussed about personal identity is the psychological approach. People who stand by the psychological approach concerning personal identity believe that a person’s memories and their personality traits make up who they are. According to this approach, throughout your life you will continue to be the same person because your memories and personality will never

The both of us have many things that are similar and many things about us that are very different. Our appearance, attitude, and even our actions are very similar. Lots of people can look like others, that's just the way that the world is, but nobody will ever be the exact same person you are. In my life I have changed my look several times, and every time I have I just come back to my first look.

Everyone has heard that it is who you are on the inside that counts. This part of your identity is what makes a person truly unique. It is true that someone can have the same name, be the same age, or have the same job as you. So your identities would seem very similar. It is possible for two people from the same place that share such numerous interests to believe that they are one and the same. That is until you take a closer look and examine the person?s thought and feelings. No two people are exactly alike. Our identities spawn individuality. Therefore, your identity also shows what kind of person you are beneath the skin. It is a picture of how your view your self and your purpose in the world.

Personal identity is essential in the human experience. Identity is complex and can be broken down into two main groups: introspective identity, and bodily identity. Introspective identity is based off of the groups, mentalities, or beliefs that you align yourself with, and bodily identity is based off of the physical side of yourself. Whether physical or introspective, your identity impacts every action you take. Whether choices ranging from what colors you prefer to which college you want to attend are primarily based off of your introspective identity, which is a combination of both memory and consciousness, physical identity impacts how others perceive you. Consciousness is mainly the awareness of bodily identity as well as continuous introspective identify, while memory is awareness of introspective identity. These two different facets of identity are imperative in the distinction between bodily identity and introspective identity. In means of personal identity introspective identity (which is evident in memory), is essential, while bodily identity (based partially in consciousness) has less credit.

My family shaped my personal and social identity at a micro level by being the first set of influencers the moment I was born. My personal identity is significantly influenced by my family through the approach that my parents have taken to raise and nurture me. The results of my parents raising me is shown through the behaviour and beliefs that I embody. For example, because of my family I have always been aware that there is a God. In consequence, my compliant behaviour towards religion has already been constructed at a young age. Moreover, my social identity’s structure was shaped by my family through they way they have socially interacted with me. My micro level interactions with my family throughout time has created a deeply rooted influence within me. The influence that my family has had on my social identity is demonstrated in the way that I respond in certain social situations. For example, through behavioural observation as a child I have learned not to speak back to my parents when they are lecturing me.

Everyone has their own personal identity. That is solely controlled by themselves. One's identity is how they view themselves. Over time personal identity changes. It changes as one grows more mature and experienced with life.

Going into this project I was in a little bit of an Identity crisis myself. I was trying to find out where I fit with my parent's hardships back in Ethiopia and as a first-generation student in America. I was trying to figure out how this all ties together within the American society I live in. With the prompt “some students have a background or identity that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it.” I believed it was time for me to bring these questions out onto paper. At the time I was in 10th grade in a summer course I honestly didn’t want to be in. However, because of that I definitely was not the only Rhetor for this paper. In fact, for most of my paper, I spoke via the eyes of those other rhetors, My father was one of the first and most important rhetor in my piece. Just hearing his story of being down on his luck all his life and finally getting the chance to come to a place where he may have an opportunity, not for himself, but for his children was gut-wrenching. It was the central piece of my paper both personally and narratively. The next biggest rhetor in my paper was my mother. She always had her head peeking from the corner the entire process. She continuously urged me to tell more about her and my father in my essay to a point where my teacher began to worry that if I add any more about my parents I'll hit the word limit without talking at all about myself. The final significant Rhetor in my essay was a long time family

“People are like clubs” is a difficult standpoint for many people. In order to get a full comprehension, the analysis will proceed in two aspects. They are the analysis of the “club” and “Am I about to die?” (Parfit, 1984) Based on the analysis, we can know Parfit’s opinion about personal identity and the meaning of “people are like clubs”.

My purpose is to show my individuality and to express myself. This is for others including myself, to see and to remind us that our identity is very complex.

Everybody has an identity, it makes them individual and unique, and it defines who you are as a person. This project about my identity showed me what makes me unique. I would have never known how much my friends mean to me or how my identities connect with each other. I have three identities that make me who I am, cultural, personal, and social. A specific quality that covers my cultural identity is being Czechoslovakian. Both sides of my family have at least a part of Czech in them. My great-grandparents are from Czech Republic and my grandpa was the first generation in America, he was born in Ohio. This is very important because I have always identified as Czech and it is a big part of me, as I am so interested in ancestry. For my personal identity, the biggest part is my personality, being loud and outgoing, has always been important to me. The reason being, it is how people view me. A lot of people know me as the loud person or the person who talks a lot. That is meaningful to me considering I like people to view me in a certain way The last identity, social, is one of the most important to me because it involves my friends, and through this project, I learned how vital they really are to my social identity. I realized that I have a good amount of friends in this project. It is nice to have people as a support system and to relate with. These qualities show that I value being loud and outgoing. It also says that I value my family and they are a big part of life. The last one, social, ties in with the first one because it shows I am outgoing and friendly.

Identity is the idea of knowing who you are and what you stand for, but society has an affect on everyone’s identity. In some cases the identity that you believe is a person may not be the same as who they truly are. Each person’s identity is created and affected by society, this is because who you are as a person is affected by how you grow up, the people around you, and what you have been taught. Your identity is who you truly are, and sometimes many people do not know your true identity, they get the impression that you wish to make. Your impression is how others see you, what they see everyday. Your impression on others is based on many things, many people build their impressions purposely, making sure people see certain things, others let the people around them make an impression by judgement. Either way, the impression is based on many observable clues such as, age, status characteristics such as race and gender(cultural context), individual characteristics such as physical appearance (attractiveness, size), and verbal/nonverbal expressions. Many people also judge based on past experiences also. A person’s impression can be very important to them based on what their job field is or just who they are. If someone has created their own impression or they wish to make sure their impression come off a certain way it takes something called impression management. The idea of impression judgment is defined as the act of presenting a likeable image of himself to that the people