First Person Plural: Self-Unity and Self-Multiplicity in Theology's Dialogue with Psychology
Abstract. In contradistinction to the contemporary human sciences, recent theological accounts of the individual-in-relation continue to defend the concept of the singular continuous self. Consequently, theological anthropology and the human sciences seem to offer widely divergent accounts of the se...
| Published in: | Zygon |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
2007
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| In: |
Zygon
Year: 2007, Volume: 42, Issue: 1, Pages: 7-24 |
| Further subjects: | B
Singularity
B human sciences B Relationality B personal-continuity B Self B self-fragmentation B Particularity B self-multiplicity B self-unity B Dialogue B Individual B Theological Anthropology B narrative psychology B Identity B Personhood |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Abstract. In contradistinction to the contemporary human sciences, recent theological accounts of the individual-in-relation continue to defend the concept of the singular continuous self. Consequently, theological anthropology and the human sciences seem to offer widely divergent accounts of the sense of self-fragmentation that many believe pervades the modern world. There has been little constructive interdisciplinary conversation in this area. In this essay I address the damaging implications of this oversight and establish the necessary conditions for future dialogue. I have three primary objectives. First, I show how the notion of personal continuity acquires philosophical theological significance through its close association with the concept of personal particularity. Second, through a discussion of contemporary accounts of self-multiplicity, I clarify the extent of theological anthropology's disagreement with the human sciences. Third, I draw upon narrative accounts of identity to suggest an alternative means of understanding the experiential continuity of personhood that maintains the tension between self-plurality, unity, and particularity and thereby reconnects philosophical theological concerns with human-scientific analyses of the human condition. Narrative approaches to personhood are ideally suited to this purpose, and, I suggest, offer an intriguing solution to understanding and resolving the problem of self-fragmentation that has caused recent theological anthropology so much consternation. |
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| ISSN: | 1467-9744 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Zygon
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2006.00801.x |