Schechtman on the Diachronic Self

2023-2 Metaphysics of the Self Segment 1 (M. Schecthman, "Stories, Lives, and Basic Survival")

 

Q) On Schechtman’s view ('narrative self-constitution view.'), what amounts to having a narrative?

According to Schechtman’s narrative self-constitution view, having a narrative would require that a person be able, at least sometimes, to become conscious of her narrative and make it explicit. This is necessary for autonomy, moral agency, or other kinds of higher-order capacities.

 

Q) Present the main difficulty for the self of Schechtman's self-constitution view

One of the main difficulties for Schechtman's self-constitution view is the obscurity of defining the boundaries of the self. If the self is constituted through a narrative, it is obscure to determine which experiences are part of self-narrative. In other words, the investigation of the self might be delegated into subjective idealism. Furthermore, Schechtman's view has a difficulty to explain the case that a person experiences amnesia or gets memory loss.