Narrative, addiction, and three aspects of self-ambiguity

Philosophical Explorations 26 (1):66-85 (2023)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

ABSTRACT‘Self-ambiguity’, we suggest, is best understood as an uncertainty about how strongly a given feature reflects who one truly is. When this understanding of self-ambiguity is applied to a view of the self as having both essential and shapable components, self-ambiguity can be seen to have two aspects: (1) uncertainty about one's essential or relatively unchangeable characteristics, e.g. one's sexuality, and (2) uncertainty about how to shape oneself, e.g. which values to commit to, actions to pursue, or essential features to identify with. We explain how a narrative account of agency can accommodate these forms of self-ambiguity and argue that such an account also reveals another kind of self-ambiguity, namely, (3) uncertainty about whether one's established self-narrative represents who one really is. We illustrate this third form of self-ambiguity in the context of addiction where people's established addiction self-narratives make it difficult to identify with recovery. We argue that recovery will require embracing, especially, our third form of self-ambiguity as a chance for positive self-transformation. Treatment for addiction should, therefore, support people in going through and ultimately narratively resolving the inevitable self-ambiguities of the recovery process.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The Importance of Self-Narration in Recovery from Addiction.Doug McConnell & Anke Snoek - 2018 - Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 25 (3):31-44.
Narrative Self-Constitution and Recovery from Addiction.Doug McConnell - 2016 - American Philosophical Quarterly 53 (3):307-322.
Narrating Truths Worth Living: Addiction Narratives.Doug McConnell & Anke Snoek - 2012 - American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 3 (4):77-78.
Addiction is a Disability, and it Matters.John T. Maier - 2021 - Neuroethics 14 (3):467-477.
What Do We Mean When We Call Someone a Drug Addict?Janet Jones - 2020 - Health Care Analysis 28 (4):391-403.
Disorders of Desire: Addiction and Problems of Intimacy. [REVIEW]Helen Keane - 2004 - Journal of Medical Humanities 25 (3):189-204.
Narrative theology and the use of the Bible in systematic theology.Maarten Wisse - 2005 - Ars Disputandi: The Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion 5.

Analytics

Added to PP
2022-09-05

Downloads
21 (#630,965)

6 months
5 (#246,492)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Doug McConnell
Macquarie University

References found in this work

After virtue: a study in moral theory.Alasdair C. MacIntyre - 1981 - Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.
Deep Brain Stimulation, Authenticity and Value.Pugh Jonathan, Maslen Hannah & Savulescu Julian - 2017 - Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 26 (4):640-657.
Addiction as a disorder of belief.Neil Levy - 2014 - Biology and Philosophy 29 (3):337-355.

View all 19 references / Add more references