Persistence, Termination, and Memory

Concerning identity, the relationship between persistence, termination, and memory emerges from the common experience of continuity and change in the self and in the world. Persistence goes beyond basic consciousness of self-existence to self-reflexive knowledge of personal identity in and through time. We are conscious of present identity and of having been ourselves in the past with an expectation of continuing to be in the future. Memory and termination are past and future boundary conditions; both of which limit cases when considering persistence in personal identity.

Philosophical perspectives provide alternative explanations of persistence, termination, and memory. From an essentialist view, the continuity of identity reflects the essential core of the selfa fixed individual identity that exists beyond time. Essential identity does not change; people play roles and adapt to the external dynamics of time and change. From a strict constructionist view, identity is an artifact of social, cultural, and ideological forces. The self, a complex of constructed subject positions sustained and disrupted by social discourses, is a social identity. Participation in the ideological discourses of society and culture gives identity a semblance of persistencecontinuity and coherence of selfwhen actual conditions of life are dominated by discontinuity and incoherence. Constructionist views point to the memory as an unstable social production and to termination as an inevitable, ongoing feature of past, present, and future identity. From phenomenological perspectives, exploration begins with functional approaches to persistence in identity as a commonplace human experience. For example, people may come to an understanding of persistence by continually revising their personal theories of identity, by their identification with cultural narratives, or by recognizing the ongoing process of navigating personal identity in their lives. During everyday living, people consider questions of persistence and identity, partly because the boundary conditions of memory and termination are inescapable.

This entry introduces persistence, termination, and memory as a dynamic triad in identity, changing the focus of attention from one to the other to better explicate the necessary relationship between them. First, the entry describes the paradox of persistence within the context of memory and termination. Second, the boundary condition of death directs attention toward termination and transitions of temporal identity that challenge persistence and place the paradox in sharper relief. Third, the function and role of memory suggests an enigmatic ground of persistence. The entry concludes with an implication of the paradox of [Page 541]persistence, explaining persistence, termination, and memory together as a riddle of identity.