Description
Book SynopsisAs a logical concept, identity refers to one and the same thing. So how can it describe membership in various groups, as in ethnic and religious identity? Bringing together an analytic conception of identity with a psychosocial understanding, Vincent Descombes demonstrates why a person has more than one answer to the essential question Who am I?
Trade ReviewThis is an extraordinarily rich and interesting work. It is written in a style typical of this author in which difficult arguments are illustrated in examples which both clarify and entertain. It is a pleasure to read throughout. -- Charles Taylor, McGill University
Vincent Descombes is one of the leading figures in French philosophy today. His book is original and remarkably erudite. Written in a reader-friendly style, it will be read by philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, and political scientists interested in the highly topical question of identity. -- Thomas Pavel, University of Chicago
Puzzling Identities is a tour de force of acute, constructive, lucid argumentation. -- Jonathan Rée * Times Literary Supplement *
Provides a refreshing new lens through which to scrutinize the nature of identity. Though the book reviews and examines traditional puzzles, productive new puzzles emerge, revealing the existence of an explanatory gap between strict, philosophical treatments of identity and looser, popular treatments. Out of this gap emerge ideas that will drive the literature forward…With this work, the philosophical literature on identity has matured. -- H. Storl * Choice *
