Personal Identity: Components, Determinism, Freedom, and Life’s Meaning
Components of Personal Identity
Personal identity is constructed from a series of circumstances that affect us, so both socialization and individuation occur together. There are three types of components of our identity:
- Social and cultural components: Sociability transmits to the individual aspects such as language, customs, and so on. We learn these as children.
- Social and political components: Through education, we develop feelings of liking certain beliefs or ideologies. This leads us to join political parties or associations, according to our ideas.
- Moral and religious components: These are those that we incorporate as virtues and attitudes because we believe that it is the best way to live.
Determinism and Freedom
Those who answer the questions above, such as “Is this true?”, are deterministic. That is, they argue that human beings are not free but are determined in their choices: they do all they can do at any moment. There are many types of determinism:
- Cosmological: This is defended by those who believe there is a law governing the universe that is imposed on nature and human beings, so the future is predictable and cannot be changed.
- Theological: Those who support this think that, as God knows and controls everything, He is also the cause of all human actions, which are predetermined.
- Scientific: This seeks to explain human behavior from one of its dimensions.
Conditional Freedom
Human behavior is not mechanical; that is, it is not a uniform set of responses to environmental stimuli. This happens with animals, which behave similarly to others of their kind in the same situations. Human beings have a variety of behaviors that we can adapt, according to each person.
That our freedom is conditional means that although we are free to choose, there are factors that influence our behavior: heredity, society, upbringing, the historical moment, culture, etc.
Nevertheless, even though our freedom has limits, we can choose between different options or projects of life, always keeping in mind that there are elements beyond our control.
The Meaning of Life
A) Everyone includes in their life projects, desires, needs, and preferences that make us happy. This must also adapt to the circumstances around us.
B) A mystery to reflect on: Our existence, besides being a problem, is a mystery. A problem in the sense that we want to find out what being is and circumvent the obstacles we face. Example: Deciding our profession.
C) Three possible answers:
With respect to the meaning of my existence, there are three possible answers:
- There is no sense; that is, our life and the world are absurd, meaning that there is no reason to act. Example: Twentieth-century existentialists.
- There is a sense, but only as regards this life. Beyond death, there is no meaning. Example: Atheists and agnostics.
- There is a sense that goes beyond death to another life, which is what different religions and transcendent philosophies stand for. They represent a promise of salvation, justice, and happiness in another life.
D) Religion and sense:
Different religions propose a transcendent meaning for people’s lives. This signifies a lifestyle that requires a person believing in them to have that sense and can only be carried out fully in an afterlife.
The happy future that is promised after death entails a belief in salvation and happiness, free from all earthly suffering and injustice.
E) Religion and Personal Identity:
Religions are a major source of personal identity: religious beliefs, freely and responsibly assumed, build us as people; they direct us to certain ways of acting and being.
Religious identity is not exclusive, as with morals, respect for the dignity of the person is unforgettable. Both agree on the rule: “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.”