Psychonaut
01-27-2009, 12:52 AM
"On Identity" by Alain de Benoist
It is always difficult to talk about identity because it is intrinsically a problematic concept. Rather than an answer or a statement, it is primarily a question. The problems of identity only become conceivable with the question: “Who am I?” which has not always been an obvious one. Therefore, it is not an overstatement to say along with Zygmunt Bauman that the problem of identity appears to be first of all a questioning, i.e., the wording of a problem. “Identity never ‘became’ a problem, it has always been a problem, it started as a problem.”
Any serious reflection on identity involves an investigation into the conditions of appearance of this questioning, into the process that allowed the question about identity to be asked...
It is always difficult to talk about identity because it is intrinsically a problematic concept. Rather than an answer or a statement, it is primarily a question. The problems of identity only become conceivable with the question: “Who am I?” which has not always been an obvious one. Therefore, it is not an overstatement to say along with Zygmunt Bauman that the problem of identity appears to be first of all a questioning, i.e., the wording of a problem. “Identity never ‘became’ a problem, it has always been a problem, it started as a problem.”
Any serious reflection on identity involves an investigation into the conditions of appearance of this questioning, into the process that allowed the question about identity to be asked...