%0 Journal Article
%T Sincerity, authenticity and profilicity: Notes on the problem, a vocabulary and a history of identity
%A Hans-Georg Moeller
%A Paul J. D¡¯Ambrosio
%J Philosophy & Social Criticism
%@ 1461-734X
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0191453718799801
%X This essay attempts to provide a preliminary outline of a theory of identity. The first section addresses what the sociologist Niklas Luhmann has called ¡®the problem of identity¡¯, or, in other words, the mind¨Csociety (rather than the mind¨Cbody) problem: In how far can the internal (psychological) self and the external (social) persona be integrated into a unit? The second section of the essay briefly defines a basic vocabulary of a theory of identity. ¡®Identity¡¯ is understood as the existentially necessary formation of a coherence between the ¡®self¡¯ (the ¡®I¡¯ as it is experienced in thoughts and feelings), its body and its social ¡®persona¡¯ (the individual person with its social attributes). Three different major paradigms of identity formation are distinguished from one another: a sincere identity is constructed through a firm commitment of the self to its social roles; an authentic identity is constructed through the creation of a social persona on the basis of one¡¯s unique and original self; a ¡®profilic¡¯ identity, as we call it, is shaped by successfully presenting a personal profile under conditions of second-order observation as they prevail, for instance, in the social media, but also in other contemporary social systems. In the third section of the essay, we present a sketch of the historical sequence of these three paradigms of identity. Although these paradigms are not mutually exclusive and can coexist, it seems that sincerity flourished in pre-modern society, while authenticity came to prominence along with the functional differentiation of modern society and is now, along with the increased significance of second-order observation, gradually overshadowed by the influence of profilicity
%K authenticity
%K Hartmut Rosa
%K identity
%K individualism
%K Niklas Luhmann
%K profile-based identity
%K profilicity
%K sincerity
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0191453718799801