The Complex 'I'. The Formation of Identity in Complex Systems

dc.contributor.authorCilliers, Paulen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDe Villiers-Botha, Tanyaen_ZA
dc.contributor.otherPhilosophyen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2022-06-10T14:06:30Z
dc.date.available2022-06-10T14:06:30Z
dc.date.issued2010
dc.descriptionThe book is available from Amazon.
dc.descriptionCITATION: Cilliers, P & De Villiers, T. 2010. The complex I, Wheeler, W. (ed.), in the political subject: Essays on the self, art, politics and science. Lawrence and Wishart. 226-245.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractWhen we deal with complex things, like human subjects or organizations, we deal with identity – that which makes a person or an organization what it is and distinguishes him/her/it from other persons or organizations, a kind of “self”. Our identity determines how we think about and interact with others. It will be argued in this chapter that the self is constituted relationally. Moreover, when we are in the realm of the self, we are always already in the realm of engaging with and mediating differences – the realm of ethics. The position which will be developed argues that approaching identity as a complex system allows us to resist thinking of identity as an easily identifiable and static entity. Identity is always being constituted within a complex and contingent world, where we have to make choices based on contingent values rather than on universal knowledge or the outcome of rational calculations. As a result, we have to keep in mind that our daily practices always already have an ethical component, and our decisions need to be continually evaluated and re-evaluated in the light of our (and others’) varying identities.en
dc.description.versionA previous version of this chapter appeared in The Political Subject. Essays on the self, Art, Politics and Science. W. Wheeler (ed.). 2000, London: Lawrence and Wishart, pp. 226–245.en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCilliers, P & De Villiers, T. 2010. The complex I, Wheeler, W. (ed.), in the political subject: Essays on the self, art, politics and science. Lawrence and Wishart. 226-245.en_ZA
dc.identifier.isbn978-0853159148
dc.identifier.isbn0853159149
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/125368
dc.language.isoen_ZAen
dc.publisherLawrence and Wisharten_ZA
dc.rights.holderAuthors retain copyright
dc.subjectComplexity, ethics, self, identityen_ZA
dc.titleThe Complex 'I'. The Formation of Identity in Complex Systemsen_ZA
dc.typeChapters in Booksen_ZA
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