Posted by Dinah on March 28, 2005, at 0:09:29
In reply to Re: Is there another part to that? » Dinah, posted by alexandra_k on March 27, 2005, at 23:09:01
> Mine is more a theory as to how we should conceive of alters. Are they selves? Are they fragments of selves? Are they merely role-plays? That is more what I am trying to answer.
>
The million dollar question. One that I have no clue as to how to answer. The DSM IV is pretty clear on the criteria "a relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self". But that doesn't answer the philosophical question.Is it a spiritual question? A psychological one?
I wonder if the self can be thought of alone, or if it has to be thought of within a cultural context. If one conceives of oneself as an entity, is one an entity? If one conceives of oneself as a separate self, is one a separate self? How much is identity a question of self definition? Of other-definition? Are we who we say we are because we say so? Or do we need cultural recognition of some sort? If I say that I am a man trapped in a woman's body, there would be far more acceptance now than a hundred years ago. But it doesn't make the truth of it any different than it was a hundred years ago. If I say I am a self trapped in a body with another self, am I? Am I if I say so? Am I if others agree?
Does the self exist in isolation?
Or does the delineation of borders between the
"I" and the "not-I" depend as much on the "not-I" as the "I"?
poster:Dinah
thread:476326
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050315/msgs/476533.html