| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | What is Charles Taylor's view on how identity is formed, and what is his critique of atomism? | Taylor argues identity is dialogical (formed through exchanges with others) against a horizon of meaning (cultural context). Critique of atomism: individuals are not self-contained; personal choices only make sense within a shared cultural framework. | | What is Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "habitus," and how does it explain personal tastes? | Habitus refers to deeply ingrained habits and preferences absorbed through upbringing. Tastes (e.g., music, food) feel natural and personal but are actually socially produced by class-specific cultural conditioning. | | How does Frantz Fanon explain the impact of colonial power on cultural identity in Black Skin, White Masks? | Fanon argues colonial power imposes identity from the outside through the colonizer's gaze. This leads to psychic alienation, where the colonized individual internalizes a lesser self-worth defined by the dominant society. | | What are cultural "scripts" according to Kwame Anthony Appiah, and what is "ethical individuality"? |

Scripts: Socially available narratives/roles that individuals can adopt, modify, or resist.
Ethical individuality: The capacity to engage critically and creatively with these inherited scripts rather than passively accepting or wholly rejecting them.

| | What is a "constitutive belief," and how does William James justify its role in identity? |

Constitutive belief: A belief so central to self-understanding that abandoning it fundamentally alters who one is, regardless of its truth.
James's justification: The pragmatic, functional value of a belief in organizing a life matters more for identity than its empirical accuracy.

| | How does Benedict Anderson's concept of "imagined communities" support the idea that false beliefs can constitute identity? | Anderson argues nations are held together by shared, mythologized narratives. Even if historically inaccurate, these stories are identity-constituting because they generate a powerful, real sense of collective belonging. | | How does Paul Ricoeur's concept of "narrative identity" explain why false family or national histories can still shape who we are? | Ricoeur argues identity is an interpretive achievement constructed through stories. Because narratives naturally involve selection and invention, a factual error can still be functionally true by organizing a coherent, purposeful identity. | | State one strong epistemological objection to the view that false beliefs can legitimately constitute our identity. | Critics argue this defends self-deception. An identity built on falsehoods is inherently fragile and liable to collapse or cause crisis when confronted with empirical truth. | | How does the Confucian view of the self contrast with the Western/Lockean individualist model? | Locke views the self as an individual, autonomous consciousness. Confucianism views the self as fundamentally relational; selfhood is cultivated through social roles and ritual practices (li), making cultural context constitutive of the self. | | What is the core maxim of Ubuntu philosophy, and how was this applied practically to post-apartheid justice in South Africa? |

Maxim: "I am because we are" (personhood is achieved through communal relationships).
Practical application: It grounded the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's focus on restorative justice (repairing relationships) over retributive punishment.

| | If Buddhism teaches the doctrine of no-self (anatta), how does it explain cultural identity? | Buddhism views cultural identity as a conventional designation. It is a useful label for practical everyday life, but it lacks any metaphysical reality or permanent substance. | | Compare Jean-Paul Sartre's and Simone de Beauvoir's views on whether we can freely choose our cultural identity. |

Sartre: Radical freedom means existence precedes essence; we are always free to accept or reject cultural conditioning.
Beauvoir: While metaphysically free, social structures and cultural domination practically limit and constrain our choices.

| | What does evidence from cultural neuroscience suggest about the depth of cultural influence on identity? | It suggests that cultural practices can shape neural pathways, meaning culture's influence extends to the biological structure of perception, emotion, and pain. | | How does Friedrich Nietzsche's genealogical method challenge the idea of timeless cultural truths? | Nietzsche argues that cultural values and beliefs are products of historical power struggles rather than objective truth, serving specific interests to shape identity. | | Charles Taylor argues in The Ethics of Authenticity that identity is fundamentally dialogical, meaning it is formed through exchanges with others rather than in isolation. | Charles Taylor argues in The Ethics of Authenticity that identity is fundamentally dialogical, meaning it is formed through exchanges with others rather than in isolation. | | Pierre Bourdieu uses the term habitus to describe the deeply ingrained, socially produced habits and tastes that individuals experience as natural and personal. | Pierre Bourdieu uses the term habitus to describe the deeply ingrained, socially produced habits and tastes that individuals experience as natural and personal. | | In Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon describes the experience of psychic alienation, where a colonized individual internalizes a lesser self-worth defined by the dominant culture. | In Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon describes the experience of psychic alienation, where a colonized individual internalizes a lesser self-worth defined by the dominant culture. | | In Confucian philosophy, the highest virtue of humaneness, ren, is cultivated through proper social relations and the ritual practices of li. | In Confucian philosophy, the highest virtue of humaneness, ren, is cultivated through proper social relations and the ritual practices of li. |

1. Being human6 subtopics

2. Aesthetics3 subtopics

3. Epistemology3 subtopics

4. Ethics3 subtopics

5. Philosophy of religion3 subtopics

6. Philosophy of science3 subtopics

7. Political philosophy3 subtopics

8. Social philosophy3 subtopics

9. HL extension: Philosophy and contemporary issues3 subtopics

10. Prescribed philosophical texts12 subtopics

IB Philosophy 1.1.3 Cultural Identity Flashcards