The I and the others: Identity and empathy

Abstract

We have now sufficiently introduced and discussed the main concepts of symbolic action theory to turn to one of its most difficult problems: The constitution of the subject of action — which includes, necessarily, the question of how the subject relates to others. To do so, I shall present, first, the problem of the I and of self-identity in general terms. Second, I will discuss the meaning of the body for identity, which, third, will be followed by a look at external supports of identity. These, on the one hand, consist in subject-object relationships, and I shall therefore have to pick up some threads of chapter 6. O n the other hand, there are “identityprops” of a cultural-ideational kind, which will link up my presentation to chapter 7. Some apparent repetition will become unavoidable in this process — simply due to the fact that the objectai and ideational environment, for any topic considered, remain the main referents in a cultural psychology. However, in returning to objects and ideas, I will, of course, limit myself to a consideration of aspects specifically related to identity-formation which have not yet been discussed earlier.