Philosophy talk. Friday 19th April. Boğaziçi University. Sanem Yazıcıoğlu ‘Encountering the Indeterminacy of the Self’

Boğaziçi Philosophy Colloquium Talk 

Friday 19th April 17:00
Sanem Yazıcıoğlu  (Professor, Istanbul University)

‘Encountering the Indeterminacy of the Self’Abstract 

In recent decades, phenomenology and hermeneutical phenomenology have taken the lead in addressing the question of personal identity through the inquiry of “who are you?”. Figures such as Heidegger, Arendt, and Ricoeur, all rooted in Husserlian phenomenology, have contributed diverse interpretations that provide an opportunity to reexamine the complexities of this question. The relationality between self, others, and the surrounding world, characterized by its ever-changing nature, compel us to view identity in a similar light. Thus, the primary focus of this discussion is twofold: firstly, exploring how to reconcile these complex relations into a unified conception of personal identity by following Husserl’s theory of variation, and secondly, considering the limits of defining this unity as a “biography or autobiography” in accordance with Arendt’s notion of a “life-story”. This latter point prompts a reconsideration of personal identity as a process, leading to a genetic phenomenological perspective that recognizes “indeterminacy of the self.”

Location 

Boğaziçi University

South Campus 

John Freely Building 

JF 507

Bebek

Istanbul 

Security Policy 

Due to campus security policy, anyone planning to attend the talk who does not have a Boğaziçi University ID should send me their name at least 24 hours before the event, so that I can I pass it onto campus security, who will have a list of guests at the main gate. 

Please send your name to my institutional email: barry.stocker(at)bogazici.edu.tr