Emphatically One’s Own

Autonomy, Identity and Self-Respect

Abstract

Contemporary societies are increasingly polarized around identity issues. Demands for the recognition of a person’s gender identity, for instance, are viewed with scepticism or even hostility. This paper argues that recognition of persons’ identities ought to be of public concern in liberal democratic societies. It departs from Francis Fukuyama’s and Patrick Deneen’s critique of identity politics as self-centered and destructive of shared norms. Fukuyama and Deneen view identity politics as a demand for the recognition of an individual’s or group’s individuality or authentic self – who they really are. The paper clarifies this idea based on a discussion of Harry Frankfurt’s theory of personal identity and argues that, from a liberal point of view, recognition of one’s identity is a public concern. This is because identity is importantly related to autonomy. Acting autonomously depends on basal self-respect, and the ease of attaining basal self-respect depends on experiencing recognition for one’s identity. Systematic depreciation or unintelligibility of one’s identity render it much more difficult to attain the basal self-respect needed to act autonomously. This, it is argued, constitutes an injustice to which political actors and legal regulations should be attentive. In conclusion, the paper offers responses to some of Fukuyama’s and Deneen’s objections to identity politics.