| Abstract: | The narrative identity: Alexander Nehamas, Richard Rorty This work analyzes the problem of narrative identity developed in the works of Nehamas and Rorty. These two American philosophers work in the same – postnietzschean – paradigm. Both of them claim that the identity is not simply given to a person; rather, it is something one has to achieve if he/she wants to have one. A means both philosophers offer to such an achievement is to narrate a story about one’s person, one’s style of life and thus to create ones identity. Nehamas and Rorty assert that while creating identity one has to obey to some rules. However, the rules the philosophers announce are somewhat different. As to Nehamas, he claims that the project of the self-creation ought to be coherent and distinctive. These two criteria are to be achieved, otherwise the self-creation will fail. In addition, this project has to be accomplished in writing. Nehamas demonstrates how these criteria distinctiveness and coherence – are achieved in the writings of certain philosophers. These philosophers are Socrates, Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Foucault and ultimately Nehamas himself. Nehamas suggests that all these philosophers belong to the tradition of the art of living and that all of them are primarily concerned with the projects of self-creation and self-perfection. As to Rorty, he asserts that the creator of oneself has to fulfil one major requirement. Like Nehamas, Rorty claims that the aim of self-creator, whom he refers to as strong poet or liberal ironic, should be to create a distinctive self. However, unlike Nehamas, Rorty is not interested in perspective distinctiveness; he only requires retrospective originality. Besides, the aim to achieve coherence, which was very important for Nehamas, is of no interest to Rorty. However, Rorty is very interested in some other problems, such as, how to avoid being described by other people, how to defend other people from private projects of self-creation as well as how to employ the narratives told by other people for one’s self-enlargement. The last-mentioned problem was also interesting to Nehamas, who, together with Rorty, believed that already existing models of self-creation could be of great use for creating a new narrative about one’s identity. However, both philosophers claim that one is supposed to study those existing stories in order not to copy them but to develop one’s own unique narrative about his/her identity and thus to become a distinctive self. Keywords: Nehamas, Rorty, distinctiveness, coherence, narrative, self-creation, to create, identity, strong poet, liberal ironic, self-enlargement, project. |
