To what extent are the ‘self’ and ‘identity’ separate from society?

Dramaturgical perspective shows social interactions as a theatre that reflects the idea of an individual’s life as a stage performance ,the audience expectations and maintenance of role created by the actor.

In his 1971 paper “Personal Identity”, Derek Parfit posits that it is possible and indeed desirable to free important questions from presuppositions about personal identity without losing all that matters. In working out how to do so, Parfit comes to the conclusion that “the question about identity has no importance” (Parfit, 1971, p. 4.2:3). In this essay, I will attempt to show that Parfit’s thesis is a valid one, with positive implications for human behaviour. The first section of the essay will examine the thesis in further detail and the second will assess how Parfit’s claims fare in the face of criticism.

The nature of “I” is entirely socially, its main characteristic is the ability to become an object for oneself, hence, the ability to self-consciousness, which distinguishes it from inanimate objects and living bodies (p. 378). The features of the behavior and the establishment of the group, a specific socio-cultural system, a certain society, according to Mead are the concepts of “generalized other." Elements of the generalized other can also be inanimate objects in the form of objects of material culture and physical environment.

Erving Goffman’s above statement, referencing actors and public image, is a clear allusion to his dramaturgical metaphor, which is one branch of his work on symbolic interactionism. His dramaturgical metaphor delves into the premise that we are all ‘actors’ who ‘perform’ to others as our ‘audience’ (Goffman, 1990). It is this metaphor which will be evaluated and analysed for its sociological significance, as well as the practical implications of the statement above, and what it means to be sociologically significant. Many other sociologists have also tackled the depths of Symbolic Interactionism, or the themes explored by the dramaturgical metaphor, of the likes of, Mead and Blumer. Their insights and contributions will be discussed concerning Goffman’s statement. However, it is Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor which will be of the most help in evaluating the statement given and its sociological significance. Although, as relayed above, other sociologists work, such as Meads idea of the self being split into the I and the Me, and their individual functions will be important in helping us further evaluate the statement, and its sociological significance (Pampel, 2007). As will Blumer’s three-pronged approach to symbolic interactionism, allowing us to grasp a basic understanding of the concepts and frameworks surrounding symbolic interactionism, and enhance our knowledge of the dramaturgical metaphors place in symbolic interactionism (Carter & Fuller, 2015). Overall, the

Introduction Dramaturgy, or impression management, is the conscious effort an individual puts forth when trying to present a certain impression of himself to others. This is used in things like job interviews in order to highlight certain aspects that one might want others to perceive more vividly. There are also two types of self-presentation as well. There is tactical, as just discussed, and then there is authentic. The authentic self is when someone is using his or her own genuine personality.

Dramaturgy is a concept developed by Erving Goffman who uses the metaphor of a theatrical production in order to understand social interactions in everyday life; also known as dramaturgical theory. This metaphor demonstrates dramaturgy as a real life play in which people are the actors/actresses. There are three logics to this concept: the indivudial shows us what they want us to know, impression management and particular features of face-to-face encounters bring order to interactions (Allan, 62). The dramaturgic analysis of Goffman presents the idea that social interaction can be viewed as a chain of staged performances in order to understand and predict the behavior of others and how we present ourselves while cooperating to maintain

In “Presentations of Self in Everyday Life,” Goffman is constantly explaining how everyday life is a dramaturgy. A dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and essentially the production of a theatrical play. A social situation is much like a play. Every play has a stage, actors, a script, a set, rehearsals, and practices. In a social situation, the stage is where the encounter takes place, the actors are the people involved in the encounter, the script is the social norms of the social encounter, and the set is the environment where the encounter takes place. It takes practices and

Mead also talks about the meaning of “I” and “me” and the “generalized other” and their realization through the “play” and “game” stages of the development of self-consciousness. The development of self-concept is a process by which we incorporate the attitudes of others toward our self (Appelrouth and Edles, 2012). Our idea of who we are versus the rest

Mead’s “theory of self” is based on the perspective that the self emerges from social interactions, such as observing and interacting with others, responding to others' opinions about oneself, and internalizing external opinions and internal feelings about oneself. The social aspect of self is an important distinction. That’s because other sociologists and psychologists of Mead's time felt that the self was based on biological factors and inherited traits. This was the normal and conventional type of mindset from psychologists at the time. According to Mead, the self is not there from birth, but instead it is developed over time from social experiences and activities.

These emphases on symbols, negotiated reality, and the social construction of society lead to an interest in the roles people play. Erving Goffman, a prominent social theorist in this tradition, discusses roles dramaturgically, using an analogy to the theater, with human social behavior seen as more or less well scripted and with humans as role-taking actors. Role-taking is a key mechanism of interaction, for it permits us to take the other 's perspective, to see what our actions might mean to the other actors with whom we interact. At other times, interactionists emphasize the improvisational quality of roles, with human social behavior seen as poorly scripted and with humans as role-making improvisers. Role-making, too, is a key mechanism of interaction,

George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher and is considered a major figure in the history of American philosophy. Through his writing and teaching, Mead has established significant influence in social theory among both philosophers and social scientists. He is considered a pioneer in the field of sociology and social psychology.

Ian Burkitt presents his perspective on what affects our self-identities in his book Social Selves. Burkitt delves into the history of sociology and the thoughts not just of early sociologist like Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, but he also brings in ancient Philosophers such as Descartes and Aurelius to emphasize the narratives of self that began long ago.

George Herbert Mead was an American sociologist, philosopher, and psychologist. He was most famous for his studies on how the self and the mind developed based on interactions with the generalized other. Mead was a big inspiration to social scientists and psychologists, despite having only published a few papers of his studies. He passed away before he published some of his original thoughts. Therefore, after his passing Mead’s students had put together the notes they took from his class and his unfinished manuscripts into a book. George Herbert Mead is a very influential figure in American pragmatism.

One of the material that my instructor went over in class was about an American philosopher George Mead who is well known for his theory of social self. My instructor lectured us about Mead’s concepts of the “I” and the “Me”. After hearing his lecture and having learned the distinction of the “I” and “Me”, I have a totally different perspective and my self-analysis paper will most likely have more meaning than if I would have not been presented the Mead’s concept. It was rather interesting to learn of this idea that a person’s identity consists of two parts. The way that Mead explained the self, helped me understand my own behaviors and actions in the most basic of activities. Some personal experiences

A proper human society forms when different selves come together and interact and the prominent concept of self in sociology derives from the idea of George Mead.He believed that the self consists two aspects: ‘I ’ and the ‘Me’ (Scott. et al.2015), while the former is the subject which ‘emphasise the immediate spontaneous and impulsive aspect of conduct’(Hewitt.,2007, p72), the latter ‘labels the object phase of the process, in which people respond to themselves as objects in their situation '(Hewitt.,2007, p72). In other words, people act towards the situation they are involved, they take others attitude into consideration and tailor their behaviour to a desirable status. Therefore, the way the others think has a great influence on ones’