Personal identity, transformative experiences, and the future self

Abstract

The article explores the relation between personal identity and life-changing decisions such as the decision for a certain career or the decision to become a parent. According to L.A. Paul (Paul 2014), decisions of this kind involve "transformative experiences", to the effect that-at the time we make a choice-we simply don't know what it is like for us to experience the future situation. Importantly, she claims that some new experiences may be "personally transformative" by which she means that one may become a "new kind of person" having a different subjective perspective and "identity". The article discusses this understanding of a transformed future self. It will be argued that different notions of identity can be distinguished with respect to Paul's claim: the notion of identity in the sense of a (core) personality as well as the notion of numerical identity in the sense of sameness. By distinguishing these two notions it will become more clear how a future experience may indeed qualify as "personally transformative". Moreover, it will be shown that the notion of a self-understanding of persons helps to further clarify the kind of change at issue.

Understanding medical students’ transformative experiences of early preclinical international rural placement over a 20-year period

“…Personal context considerations include the type of prior life experience [ 28 ], emotional maturity [ 29 , 30 ], and capacity for critical reflection and self-reflection [ 9 , 15 ]. Coping and processing strategies appeared to differ greatly between those who had regular access to internet/social media/smart phones and those who participated earlier when technology was less developed.…”

Volcano Tourism in Volcanic Risk Areas: Exploration of the Higher Experience in Mount Semeru – Indonesia

“…Anxiety arises from feelings of fear and alertness to threats or unpleasant things (Milyavskaya et al, 2018). Anxiety is a response to certain situations and is a normal thing that accompanies development (Campbell et al, 2020) and ch anges in new experiences that have never been done to form self-identity and give meaning to life (Crone, 2021). Anxiety helps individuals be alert to take steps to prevent harm and or minimize the impact of harm (Zsido et al, 2020).…”

Let’s get personal: Which elements elicit perceived personalization in social media advertising?

“…In psychology, it has been found that life events (especially positive events) are crucial elements in a person's life story (Berntsen et al, 2011). Moreover, life choices (which are related to certain life events) such as the decision to change jobs or to become a parent can be life-changing, and potentially change the things valued in life (Crone, 2021). As a result, life events can be considered as highly involving, given the potential high impact of the event.…”