The Developmental Psychology of Personal Identity
A Philosophical Perspective
Published on 21. March 2024
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-1-350-36899-6 (ISBN)
Description
Massimo Marraffa and Cristina Meini re-connect the psychology of identity with its philosophical roots in this study. They trace the contemporary problem of the self to John Locke and William James' foundational theories on personal identity. By integrating the philosophy of identity with empirical and neuropsychological research, Marraffa and Meini provide an original synthesis of multidisciplinary conceptions of the self.
The Developmental Psychology of Personal Identity builds on Chomsky-inspired developmental psychology, Jean Piaget's constructivism, Lev Vygotskij's sociocultural perspective on development and John Bowlby's attachment theory. In this theoretical framework, the book draws on the data of the psychological sciences to reconstruct the trajectory of the self as a 'Lockean person' (i.e., as morally responsible agent). The authors link the birth of self-consciousness through the body and emotions to the construction of a narrative self. Their combination of philosophy and cognitive sciences makes an important contribution to multiple disciplines concerned with personal identity. It provokes new routes to understanding identity and self, autobiographical memory, and personality.
The Developmental Psychology of Personal Identity builds on Chomsky-inspired developmental psychology, Jean Piaget's constructivism, Lev Vygotskij's sociocultural perspective on development and John Bowlby's attachment theory. In this theoretical framework, the book draws on the data of the psychological sciences to reconstruct the trajectory of the self as a 'Lockean person' (i.e., as morally responsible agent). The authors link the birth of self-consciousness through the body and emotions to the construction of a narrative self. Their combination of philosophy and cognitive sciences makes an important contribution to multiple disciplines concerned with personal identity. It provokes new routes to understanding identity and self, autobiographical memory, and personality.
Reviews / Votes
Marraffa and Meini virtuously integrate the psychology of identity with its philosophical roots and substantiate both with empirical (neuro-)psychological research. This beautiful journey through the developmental history underscores that personal identity is a necessity of personhood, making it a must-read for those intrigued by self, personality, and autobiographical memory. * Christin Camia, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates * A systematic critical exposition of a form of individual constructivism on the nature and development of personal identity as narration , with an original approach of the ways to the formation of the human 'sense of the self 'through bodily self-awareness , emotional introspection, attachment phenomena and defensive constructions . A useful introduction to the philosophical history of the question and to the status of contemporary research in cognitive sciences. * Eugenio Lecaldano, Department of Philosophy, University of Rome Sapienza, Italy *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
520 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-36899-6 (9781350368996)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Massimo Marraffa | Cristina Meini
The Developmental Psychology of Personal Identity
A Philosophical Perspective
E-Book
03/2024
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€31.99
Available for download
Persons
Massimo Marraffa is Professor, Department of Philosophy, Communication and Performing Arts, is Professor, Department of Philosophy, Communication and Performing Arts, Roma Tre University, Italy.
Cristina Meini is Professor, University of Eastern Piedmont, Vercelli, Italy.
Cristina Meini is Professor, University of Eastern Piedmont, Vercelli, Italy.
Content
Introduction: Locke, James and Subjective Identity
1. The toolbox
1.1. The Jamesian Self in the Framework of Darwinian Naturalism
1.2. From the Hobbesian Individual to the Mother-Child Dyad
1.3. In search of a synthesis between individual constructivism and sociocultural constructivism
2. Self-consciousness in its simplest form: the perception of a physical identity
2.1. The initial state: sensitivity to contingency
2.2. Ecological self and pre-reflective self-consciousness
2.3. The link between self-consciousness and identity
2.4. Bodily self-consciousness
3. The recipe for emotional introspection
3.1. Emotions in the body
3.2. A socio-constructivist model of emotional introspection
3.3. Basic emotions and affect programs
3.4. Forms of vitality
3.5. Core affect and the process of emotion construction
3.6. Forms of vitality and background feelings
3.7. Beyond emotions: simple desires
3.8. What about beliefs?
4. Naive psychology
4.1. Attachment and mindreading
4.2. Naive psychology: the early stage
4.3. Naive psychology: mindreading
4.4. Concluding remarks
5. Expanding introspective space
5.1. The self/other parity
5.2. Inner sense theories
5.3. Sensory access and self-interpretation
5.4. Turning our mindreading skills upon ourselves I: inner speech
5.5. Turning our mindreading skills upon ourselves II: naive ethics
6. Subjective identity as a unifying and meaningful story
6.1. Identity and memory
6.2. From a bodily self in time to a psychological one
6.3. Narrative identity
6.4. Dissociation of the Jamesian selves
7. The defensive nature of self-consciousness
7.1. A clarification regarding the psychodynamics of defenses
7.2. The construction and defense of identity is the cornerstone of the development of the entire existence of the individual
7.3. Building and defending a strong sense of identity as the foundation of psychological well-being and mental health
7.4. Self-memory system, inner working models and autobiographical arguments
7.5. Individuation and eudaimonia
Conclusions
References
Index
1. The toolbox
1.1. The Jamesian Self in the Framework of Darwinian Naturalism
1.2. From the Hobbesian Individual to the Mother-Child Dyad
1.3. In search of a synthesis between individual constructivism and sociocultural constructivism
2. Self-consciousness in its simplest form: the perception of a physical identity
2.1. The initial state: sensitivity to contingency
2.2. Ecological self and pre-reflective self-consciousness
2.3. The link between self-consciousness and identity
2.4. Bodily self-consciousness
3. The recipe for emotional introspection
3.1. Emotions in the body
3.2. A socio-constructivist model of emotional introspection
3.3. Basic emotions and affect programs
3.4. Forms of vitality
3.5. Core affect and the process of emotion construction
3.6. Forms of vitality and background feelings
3.7. Beyond emotions: simple desires
3.8. What about beliefs?
4. Naive psychology
4.1. Attachment and mindreading
4.2. Naive psychology: the early stage
4.3. Naive psychology: mindreading
4.4. Concluding remarks
5. Expanding introspective space
5.1. The self/other parity
5.2. Inner sense theories
5.3. Sensory access and self-interpretation
5.4. Turning our mindreading skills upon ourselves I: inner speech
5.5. Turning our mindreading skills upon ourselves II: naive ethics
6. Subjective identity as a unifying and meaningful story
6.1. Identity and memory
6.2. From a bodily self in time to a psychological one
6.3. Narrative identity
6.4. Dissociation of the Jamesian selves
7. The defensive nature of self-consciousness
7.1. A clarification regarding the psychodynamics of defenses
7.2. The construction and defense of identity is the cornerstone of the development of the entire existence of the individual
7.3. Building and defending a strong sense of identity as the foundation of psychological well-being and mental health
7.4. Self-memory system, inner working models and autobiographical arguments
7.5. Individuation and eudaimonia
Conclusions
References
Index