Xxxxxxxxx and The Self Sample Clauses

Xxxxxxxxx and The Self. Introduction The nature of the self is of central importance in Xxxxxxxxx’x philosophy: it is a theme to which he returns throughout his writings, and it serves as the bedrock for aspects of his thought such as his critique of morality. As such, Xxxxxxxxx’x views on the self and subjectivity have been the focus of much debate in recent scholarship. This chapter offers a review of how analytic commentators have approached this debate. Much of the discussion has revolved around whether, and how, a self is able to engage in self- formation. At times, this question is addressed directly, at others it is implicit in the treatment of Xxxxxxxxx’x remarks. It is not clear however, that there is any general consensus regarding what self-formation in fact amounts to, and this is reflected in the variety of ways in which Xxxxxxxxx’x remarks have been interpreted. As a result, the debate can appear unclear, and often conflates different conceptions of selfhood. This chapter will suggest that these confusions in current scholarship arise partly due to a tendency to frame the investigation with this question of self-formation. This is problematic for two reasons: a) it is not clear exactly what Xxxxxxxxx had in mind with the notion of self-formation, and b) self-formation is not an option for all individuals: Xxxxxxxxx only singles out ‘higher’ men as capable of such an activity, cf. Xxxxxx in TI ‘Skirmishes’ 49. Due to the exclusivity of self-formation, viewing the debate through this particular lens may not yield an exhaustive account of Xxxxxxxxx’x model of a self. In addition, the majority of the accounts examined in this chapter restrict their discussion to the drives and affects (though some allow for other cognitive capacities). As such, we may not be able to fully account for processes such as reinterpretation, which Xxxxxxxxx takes to be part of what it means to be a self. It therefore seems that we need to open up the discussion to involve other components of the philosophical psychology Xxxxxxxxx provides, and that we need to find a different way of approaching this investigation, namely via the notion of self-regulation. Preliminaries Before assessing the debate, it is worth considering whether this enterprise of modelling a Xxxxxxxxx self is feasible, and if so, the kind of considerations which should be kept in mind. Various models of the self have been put forward, which purport to be representative of Xxxxxxxxx’x views on the self across his entire oeuvr...