Human Identity

Examining philosophical views of human identity and calling for a shift in how we discuss this essential concept

The problem of identity is one of the most debated contemporary issues in philosophy and the social sciences. Human Identity does not approach this question from a sociological or political position but rather seeks to take a step away from the dominant approach in metaphysics and analytical philosophy, putting forward a dialogical concept of identity inspired mainly by the phenomenological-hermeneutic tradition. Claude Romano argues that the question of identity can only be satisfactorily formulated from the point of view of an intrinsically social understanding of the human being: The identity that matters in our lives is the one we can assume before others in truthful conduct and thus the one for which we can bear responsibility in the first person.

Romano carefully examines the full historical sweep of the philosophy of identity, referencing not only classic thinkers, including Descartes, Locke, Kant, and Husserl, but also contemporary interlocutors, such as Richard Moran and Charles Larmore. He engages in a sustained dialogue with these fellow philosophers, historical and current, while arguing for a complete paradigm shift in our approach to identity. Romano contends that we need to move on from the question Who?, as used by a prosecutor or judge to identify a guilty party, and instead look to the question used by Montaigne to define himself: Who am I?