Research
Identifying Errors in the Ethical Narrativity Thesis
Author:
Winston Meier
Portland State University, US
Abstract
A self-narrative ensures continuity for a conscious subject, in that the subject empathizes with the protagonist of both their remembered past and anticipated future. The ethical narrativity thesis (ENT) posits that such a narrative (or life-story) is requisite for agency and an ordered experience. Opponents of the ENT argue that one can inhabit an episodic (non-narrative) temporal schema and qualify as a rational agent. In this paper, I argue that narrative selfhood encourages cognitive distortions and inhibits a thorough etiological understanding of one’s past. I maintain that episodicity is the optimal form of self-constitution for rational, ethical decision-making.
How to Cite:
Meier, W., 2019. Identifying Errors in the Ethical Narrativity Thesis. International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, 11(2), p.10. DOI: http://doi.org/10.7710/2155-4838.1191
Published on
02 Aug 2019.
Peer Reviewed
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