Who One Is

The second of a two-volume set whose central concern is to sort out who one is from one what is, this book chiefly discusses one's normative personal-moral identity, noting that this sense of self has especial ties to one's Existenz as well as to love.

If I am asked in the framework of Book 1, Who are you? I, in answering, might say I don't know who in the world I am. Nevertheless there is a sense in which I always know what I refers to and can never not know, even if I have become, e.g., amnesiac. Yet in Book 2, Who are you? has other senses of oneself in mind than the non-sortal myself. For example, it might be the pragmatic context, as in a bureaucratic setting; but Who are you? or Who am I? might be more anguished and be rendered by What sort of person are you? or What sort am I? Such a question often surfaces in the face of a limit-situation, such as one's death or in the wake of a shameful deed where we are compelled to find our centers, what we also will call Existenz. Existenz here refers to the center of the person. In the face of the limit-situation one is called upon to act unconditionally in the determination of oneself and one's being in the world.

In this Book 2 we discuss chiefly one's normative personal-moral identity which stands in contrast to the transcendental I where one's non-sortal unique identity is given from the start. This moral identity requires a unique self-determination and normative self-constitution which may be thought of with the help of the metaphor of vocation. We will see that it has especial ties to one's Existenz as well as to love. This Book 2 claims that the moral-personal ideal sense of who one is is linked to the transcendental who through a notion of entelechy. The person strives to embody the I-ness that one both ineluctably is and which, however, points to who one is not yet and who one ought to be. The final two chapters tell a philosophical-theological likely story of a basic theme of Plotinus: We must learn to honor ourselves because of our honorable kinship and lineage Yonder.

A unique transcendental-phenomenological appropriation of the themes of Existentialism and the appropriation of the theme of Existenz A unique development of the themes of conscience and moral obligation within the framework of transcendental phenomenology A rare development of the themes of the constitution and identity of the moral person that uses the metaphor of vocation A unique transcendental-existential discussion of death A unique philosophical-theological elaboration of the Plotinian theme that there is an eternal form of the individual self (e.g., Socrates)

Auteur

James G. Hart (b. 1936) did a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago after research in Munich on Hedwig Conrad Martius. He taught at Indiana University, Bloomington (USA) from 1971-2001 in the Department of Religious Studies. His writings have been primarily in the area of phenomenology; his teaching was primarily in the philosophy of religion and peace studies. Since retirement he has spent his energy on philosophy and on reform of the criminal justice system.

Texte du rabat

If I am asked in the framework of Book 1, "Who are you?" I, in answering, might say "I don't know who in the world I am." Nevertheless there is a sense in which I always know what "I" refers to and can never not know, even if I have become, e.g., amnesiac. Yet in Book 2, "Who are you?"has other senses of oneself in mind than the non-sortal "myself." For example, it might be the pragmatic context, as in a bureaucratic setting; but "Who are you? Or "Who am I?" might be more anguished and be rendered by "What sort of person are you" or "What sort am I?" Such a question often surfaces in the face of a "limit-situation," such as one's death or in the wake of a shameful deed where we are compelled to find our "centers," what we also will call "Existenz." "Existenz" here refers to the center of the person. In the face of the limit-situation one is called upon to act unconditionally in the determination of oneself and one's being in the world.

In this Book 2 we discuss chiefly one's normative personal-moral identity which stands in contrast to the transcendental I where one's non-sortal unique identity is given from the start. This moral identity requires a unique self-determination and normative self-constitution which may be thought of with the help of the metaphor of "vocation." We will see that it has especial ties to one's Existenz as well as to love. This Book 2 claims that the moral-personal ideal sense of who one is linked to the transcendental who through a notion of entelechy. The person strives to embody the I-ness that one both ineluctably is and which, however, points to who one is not yet and who one ought to be. The final two chapters tell a philosophical-theological likely story of a basic theme of Plotinus: We must learn to honor ourselves because of our honorable kinship and lineage "Yonder."

Contenu
Assenting to My Death and That of the Other.- The Transcendental Attitude and the Mystery of Death.- Existenz, Conscience, and the Transcendental I.- Ipseity and Teleology.- The Calling of Existenz.- Aspects of a Philosophical Theology of Vocation.- Philosophical Theology of Vocation.