“Who Are You?” and “Who Am I?”: Self-Identity and Narrative Presentation

Abstract

Self-identity is called forth by the question “Who are you?” at the intersection of the existent and the world, especially the intersubjective world that demands her answer. Unlike the familiar “I think” or “I am,”—the solitary retrospection and self-determination of the truth of the I—self-identity does not express the “essence” of the I, nor is it a representation of the I. It is an expression of the commitment, resolve, and promise of the existent to the self, to the other, and to the world. As a configured presentation to the question “Who am I,” self-identity is always both intentional and attentional. It is intentionally mediated and attentively moved by the call from the other and by the manifold contingencies one finds oneself in.