Religion and the Self

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

The most usual way of thinking of ourselves is that we have a self, that there is a self, and that our task is simply to see it accurately, perhaps to describe it, and in all cases to know our real self. Contemporary thought rejects this Romantic view, as will this course. This course is interested in the creation of the self, and in the various ways of creating the self. The literary autobiography (as well as the biography) is one important way of creating a self, for an autobiography is not a mere description; it is a selection and a shaping, thus it creates a self for others – and ourselves – to see. According to this theory, then, autobiographies are religious per se by offering one of the most important religious functions: telling us who we are. This course will examine a variety of theories of the self and autobiographies in order to see more clearly: 1) the elements used in making a self (place, time, other people, activities, instances of evil, and others); 2) the overall forms the self is given; and 3) the consequences of the choices made.