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Identity confusions

Department of Philosophy, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

This article responds to logical and social theses proposed by Professor José Medina in discussing the relativity of identity. In exploring the metaphor of family resemblance, the author argues that its causal mechanism is biological, not social; particular features of being a woman, or of belonging to a racial or ethnic group, cannot be reduced to social constructions. The article skeptically discusses the supposed importance of sex, race, and ethnicity to a person’s individual identity, and suggests that moral significance finds its origin and grounding elsewhere. It concludes that no liberation can be ‘complete, or even adequate’ until it liberates the mind from ‘"scripts" rooted in the delusion of "collective identities"’.

Key Words: construction • ethnicity • family resemblance • groups • identification • identity • José Medina • race

Philosophy & Social Criticism, Vol. 32, No. 7, 839-862 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0191453706064897


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