Philosophy in the Margins

The French Philosopher Paul Ricoeur distinguished Ipse identity from Idem identity. Idem is sameness. We are born as blobs of flesh and if we track these blobs they change but persist. Unlike cells that split and multiply, we remain identifiably the same blob from birth to death.

But this sameness is not us. It is not our identity. Our identity, Ricoeur argues, is narrative: we are the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, about our history, about our relationships with others and the world. This identity is a narrative where we often need to engage with ourselves as another. Ever wondered how we ask the question: 'Why did I do that?'?

Here I investigate philosophical issues that often sit in interesting margins and footnotes to the Canon. Usually, it's because I feel they shouldn't.

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