Abstract

Through a reading of David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature this thesis investigates the process of self-constitution which underlies the ascription of personal identity. Hume argues that identity is merely a quality which we attribute to our different perceptions, rather than anything inherent in those perceptions which acts to unite their ideas. This argument provides the catalyst for an approach to the perception of self which recognises the constructive and inventive elements of the process of self-constitution. ;The reading of Hume on the self offered here gives prominence to Hume's notion of the self as a fiction a product of the feigning activity of the imagination which makes manifest the social dimensions of imagination. Book II of the Treatise emphasises the interplay between the feigning activity of imagination and the passions in the process of self-constitution. Contemporary treatments of emotion referred to in the thesis enrich the recognition of this interplay. They also imply a recognition of the limitations which selves face given that they are necessarily embedded in particular social contexts in interaction with others. ;The thesis concludes that in practice the activity of the imagination cannot be separated from its interplay with the operations of emotion and a naturalised conception of reason. Difficulties encountered in attempts to distinguish between the faculties of imagination and reason are interpreted as reinforcing a view of the imagination as actively engaged in the process of self-constitution. These difficulties also reinforce the nexus between these faculties and emotion. It is argued that the strength of this nexus dictates that we must tolerate some indefiniteness since we cannot isolate the individual contributions of these faculties to the process of self-constitution. ;Contemporary treatments of language and narrative are used to expand upon Hume's treatment of the self and on the interplay between imagination, emotion and reason. It is through autobiographical narrative that Hume's notion of the self as a fiction is unfolded and developed and his insights into the constitution of self are illustrated and illuminated. Such narratives provide examples of the interpretive activity involved in the constitution of personal identity