Philosophy meetup - Personal identity

This week, we'll talk about personal identity. Here are a couple of questions and links to get you started.

What is personal identity? How, if at all, does it change over the course of one's life?
To what extent are our identities constructed vs discovered?
How can we have (or create) an authentic personal identity?
Do we always have the same personal identity at any one time, or do we have different identities in different contexts? I.e., does our identity differ depending on the situation that we find ourselves in?

Mark Manson’s Law of Avoidance: “The more something threatens your identity, the more you will avoid it.” He says that you will avoid negative things that threaten your identity like failure, loss, and rejection. But you will also avoid positive things that threaten your identity—even things like success, love, and happiness.

He claims that the best answer to the question, “Who am I?” is always “I don’t know; let’s find out.”

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Article from The Collector

Please join us every other Saturday for a casual
philosophical discussion. Most weeks we will preselect a topic and add suggested readings, but some weeks will be open discussion. These meetings are lightly facilitated and open to anyone who likes to discuss life's fundamental questions.

** Group guidelines**

• All perspectives are welcome
• Everyone has an opportunity to speak and listen
• Dialogue is respectful and open
• No prior philosophical knowledge required!