This book approaches the concept of identity from both logical-linguistic and socio-cultural perspectives, and explores its implications for our understanding of who or what we persons really are. In the process, it bridges disciplines that often remain disconnected - most notably analytic philosophy and the social sciences - and offers a novel critique of citizenship and moral education, "identity politics", and other contemporary domains of inquiry. Although the book has a multi-disciplinary focus, it is philosophical in its overall orientation (but accessible to readers from outside...

Chapters 2-5 discuss the philosophical and (where appropriate) scientific dimensions of identity, chapters 6-7 explore its socio-cultural dimensions and chapter 8 examines its educational dimensions and implications.

This book brings the tools and ideas of Anglo-American analytic philosophy to bear on how we think about issues of contemporary significance, in a way that is accessible to a broad audience. While acknowledging empirical findings within the social sciences, it takes on the prescriptive task of imagining a better world, in which being citizens in a democracy means actively engaging with others.We cling to tribal affiliations which incline us to look inward and spurn those whom we deem to be “other.” And we observe the mind-numbing, herd-like impact of social (and other) media on our...