Blog 10:

I decided to read through Strawson a second time in hopes to get more clarity on his text. After our discussion in class, I understood Strawson’s continuously contradicting text a little more, however I was frustrated even more the second time I read through this text. Strawson continuously switched his stance and seemed to use more quotes than his own ideas in this essay. This second read through, I was perplexed by his references to multiple selves. Strawson used quotes from Erikson, Midgley, Klee, and Maugham that discussed one person being comprised of many selves. He attempted to connect this to his thesis that everyone’s life is not a narrative. I on the other hand, interpreted all of these as everyone has different sides, and aspects to their character. This has nothing to do with whether or not their life is a story. If anything, there have been a lot of events in their lives in order to shape these complex characters. During my reread of the text I looked up the phrase prima facie, which means something is excepted as correct until proven otherwise. I also looked up piecemeal, which means partial measures taken over a period of time. They were both used to try and invalidate the life narrative claims; however they did not succeed in changing my mind. This text does make more sense literally. I know what Strawson is trying to say, however I still don’t even come close to agreeing with him or think his claims make a lot of sense.