What is the connection between the notion of SOUL and the individual’s sense of SELF-identity?
In order to find a connection between the notion of soul and the individual’s sense of self-identity, it is very important to know their definitions. Soul has been defined in various ways by religion and philosophers. It is claimed that a soul is the essence or immaterial aspect that human beings have that show their individuality and humanity. It is stated that the mind and self are synonymous with the soul (Chalmers). There are others who believe that a soul is immortal, therefore, cannot die. Individual’s sense of self-identity has been the subject of scrutiny by many philosophers. The sense of one’s self identity can be defined as the potential that is recognized by an individual about the qualities that they might or know their personal identity in the social context (Huitt). There are many views regarding the connection between the notion of soul and individuals sense of self-identity. One of the well-known philosophers of self-identity is Friedrich Nietzsche. He showed the connection in the book of Beyond Good and Evil. The other book that showed a connection was in the unbearable lightness of being II. This book was written by Milan Kundera.
In The Unbearable of Lightness of Being by Kundera, there are themes about the notion of soul and self-identity. This could be seen in the story of the character of Tereza. In the book, Tereza tried to see herself through her body by looking in the mirror. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she felt like she saw her soul shinning through her face. She had issues when it came to her face because to her it resembled her mother. However, when she looked harder those features fade and all she sees are her soul in her features (Kundera). The main reason for her to look in the mirror was so that could be able to look beyond her facial features and check deep inside her soul to find her identity. This shows the connection between the notion of soul and individuals self-identity. This is because Tereza found herself when she looked deeper than her physical features.
The other instance in the book where the connection can be seen is when the character of Tereza’s stomach starts to rumble when she realizes she is in love with Tomas. This fact shows the connection between the body and the soul. The body of a human cannot be identified by foreign object. This is the reason why a person’s self-identity cannot be said to be the soul that has been buried deep inside a person. This fact makes people come to the conclusion that the body and the soul come together and become mixed to cause a person’s self-identity (Kundera).
The connection of notion of soul and individual self-identify can be seen in the book written by Friedrich Nietzsche called Beyond Good and Evil. In the book, it claims that the soul and the self-identity are connected in that it makes them be who they are. According Nietzsche, he believes that the real reasons that caused people to turn to Christianity is because they fear their darker nature. Therefore, the soul in the people causes them to turn from evil by being Christians thereby causing them to have their sense of identity as Christians. The book states that individual’s thoughts, morality and truth have been brought on by passion that could be said to be the soul (Rolf-Peter & Judith). When one comes up with the self-identity that something is true then there is some power that causes one to come up with that conclusion.
According to Nietzsche in the book, is that the reality that people come up with is understood by the competing wills. These competing wills comes from the notion of soul and the individuals sense of identity that will make people do what they are doing. In the book, Nietzsche was trying to praise the souls that are free from all the prejudice that exist in the society and try to find their own assumptions or conclusion. He believes that the soul will try to look at the extra moral view that will look and examine the unconscious (Rolf-Peter & Judith). This is what will cause a person to have certain motives. In looking at this fact it shows how the souls has the ability to look beyond the worldview of morality or truth and this is what will make an individual’s self-identity and motives in whatever actions they partake.
In conclusion, there have been some philosophers who have commented about the connection of notion of soul and the individual’s sense of self-identity. A good example is Friedrich Nietzsche, who showed this connection in the book of Beyond Good and Evil. In the book, Nietzsche states by praising the souls or spirits that free themselves from the notions that people have in the society. This is done when the soul thinks beyond the normal worldview of morality and looks at the extra moral in the unconscious. This will ultimately cause a person’s self-identity because it will change their worldview and behaviour. Another person who wrote about the connection was Milan Kundera in the book called The Unbearable Lightness of Being. In this book, there was a character named Tereza, who had self-image and identity problems. This caused her to look at herself a lot on the mirror in order to see her soul. She believed that she was the spitting image of her mother thus was looking for her own identity.
Work cited
Chalmers, David. J. The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Print
Huitt, W. Self and self-views. Educational Psychology Interactive, 2011. Print
Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being II, chapter 2 & 3. New York City: Harper Perennial, 1999. Print
Rolf-Peter Horstmann and Judith Norman. Friedrich Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future. Ch. 2 & 3. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Print
