Category Archives: Identity

I Am… Sasha Freud

Posted on April 20, 2015 by | 2 comments

When I originally though of the word ego before reading this section of Freud’s work, I imagined he would be explaining more along the lines of confidence or strictly the self-value of the human.  I also thought of a particular artist, Beyonce, and her song “Ego” from 2008 and how she takes about exuding said confidence.  I also thought about her persona in general and how when it comes to the ego, it’s one of those personal components of her being that seem to be very high.  With numerous accolades in the music industry, it would only make sense for Beyonce to have such a high level of self-esteem, and thus, have a big ego.

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Posted in Identity, Knowledge

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Freud’s Effect on Christian View of Homosexuality and Its Implications

Posted on April 20, 2015 by | 4 comments

Sigmund Freud is a controversial figure. Beside his theories of the unconscious and Oedipus’s complex, many people don’t know that he played a large role in how Christian perceived homosexuality in the 1980s and 1990s.

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Why Can’t the Apple Fall Far from the Tree?

Posted on April 19, 2015 by | 3 comments

For Freud, our parental figures are extremely important to the development and interactions of our consciousness. His model of consciousness is a little different from the others we have encountered so far in that it takes into deeper account the internalization of our external experiences and influences. Unlike the slave consciousness in the Hegelian Dialectic which eventually transcends external objects, Freud describes a process of token keeping in which external influences like our parents, culture, and “what is taken over from other people” are internalized and ever present in the “psychical province” which he calls our superego (An Outline of Psycho-Analysis 147). Continue reading →

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Posted in Contemporary Philosophy, Identity

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Michel Foucault, from Discourse to Power: A Struggle

Posted on April 6, 2015 by | 2 comments

Michel Foucault focuses on the concepts of discourse and power. His ideas can be seen in various political practices and conflicts, which I will discuss after I summarize his ideas below.

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Posted in Experience, Identity, Knowledge

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Thicker than Water

Posted on April 4, 2015 by | 2 comments

How much of our identity is actually related to our bloodline? For example, we always hear (or at least I do) “that part is just like your mother/father” from not only my family, but also relatives and acquaintances. Speaking from a biological standpoint, the answer can be varied; much of who we are is dependent on our genes, our so called “blood.” However, much of who we are is also dependent on the environment. Therefore, is it alright to identify someone by their family? And how much of what we decided is decided before we even recognize it?

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Posted in Experience, Identity, Pop Culture

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Psychology and Philosophy of Identity

Posted on March 30, 2015 by | 3 comments

Plato talks about eudaimonia. Aristotle discusses practicing virtues as a way to achieve a complete character. Emile formulates an optimal way (in his opinion) to educate children. All philosophers have their unique ideas about particular concepts. However, these ideas share a common theme: identity.  Continue reading →

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Cloning Blues

Posted on March 28, 2015 by | 1 comment

In fiction, clones often struggle with their identities. Will they always be pale imitations of the people they are based off of? Or will they find their own purpose and deviate from the future that was predestined for them?

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Posted in Experience, Identity, Perception

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Freire and the Truman Show

Posted on March 28, 2015 by | 1 comment

While reading Paulo Freire’s, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, I couldn’t help but relate his depiction of the narrative style of education to the life of Jim Carrey’s character, Truman Burbank, in the satirical film, The Truman Show.  Continue reading →

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Posted in Contemporary Philosophy, Education, Experience, Identity, Knowledge, Perception, Pop Culture

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How Many Cells Does It Take?

Posted on March 28, 2015 by | 3 comments

Listening to RadioLab is a regular pastime for me. For those who don’t know, it’s a podcast produced by WNYC and aired by NPR. The informative, somewhat quirky guys on the show mostly discuss topics of science, but laced in is often a comment on philosophy and human experience. It was one of these podcasts, called Famous Tumors, that struck upon our discussions about identity.

There were three segments, but I will be focusing on the last one about Henrietta Lacks. To sum up, scientists had been trying to clone human cells for years for experimentation purposes, but none were successful until they successfully cloned Henrietta’s cells. Continue reading →

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Posted in Enlightenment-Era Philosophy, Identity

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Rousseau and Dewey on Education

Posted on March 21, 2015 by | Leave a comment

While reading Experience and Education, I couldn’t help but notice how Dewey’s discussion of education directly connects to Rousseau’s discussion of raising a child. This comparison first became clear when Dewey began discussing the negative qualities and the consequences of habit formation when he stated, that some “experience[s]” may “generate” “habits,” which he suggests creates the “inability to control future experiences,” a similar stance to Rousseau (26). Continue reading →

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Posted in Contemporary Philosophy, Education, Experience, Identity, Knowledge

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