Introduction

Every person has their own narrative, through which they express their beliefs and ideals; and if they are just listened to, there is a chance that they will be understood, that their distinctness will be recognized. As Hannah Arendt wrote, to answer the question ‘Who are you?’ we must tell our life story. The identity of ‘who’ is therefore a narrative identity, and the act of narrating the story about myself becomes a part of myself. Only then can the ‘I’ be understood as an organizing and continuous identity over time, as a subject of experience and the agent of actions. This book argues that omitting the component of narrative places the identity of the subject in an irresolvable antinomy: between a subject identical with itself in different situations, or the identical subject as a substantial illusion, the elimination of which reveals the pure multitude of desires, emotions, and perceptions. This problem is resolved when identity ‘as the same’ is replaced by identity ‘as being oneself’. In this work, I understand identity to be something that is revealed and manifested in the biography of each unique subject, something that ensures the continuity of the ‘I’ in changing contexts of life, both within the framework of the narrated life history and the life stories. This naturally concerns a subject that is situated in time and whose existence relies on understanding oneself and one’s own existence, which is furthermore guided by moral values. This is an active subject, a person who has control over their actions, who is self-aware, fundamentally rational, free, and responsible in their decision-making.