AN ESSAY ON IDENTITY

I. I, us? The Question Defined

The isolation conscience can find within the cells of thought I hold accountable
for spawning a question of great personal interest and elementary character. The
quest for an immobile establishment of identity is an old one amongst our kind, and
we find ourselves scarcely further ahead on the path to it’s fulfillment than when we
began.

Projection of personal composition is the purpose held here, and observation

coupled with a gentle dose of meditation will be my tools of the trade. Before
carrying on with this little expedition of sorts, it is necessary to clarify, that I hold
belief in the possible separation of an integral person into a series of diverse
constituents to be mentioned later on, and that the very nature of the aforementioned
personal composition, that is, the definition of identity, does not necessarily refer to
a single entity residing in a given body, but to the near-simultaneous government of
more than one entities, each different than the others.

II. The Separation of Powers

Reaction, initiative, and even inertia are slaved to different masters, namely
instinct, environment, cognitive capacity, corporeal constitution and character traits.
These are in turn subject to the will of the person; for the sake of clarity they will be
assigned the monikers: Stances, Factors and Will Expressions respectively. I believe
there is, in fact, a steady cycle; in which the factors determine and engender the will
to assume a given stance. These influence each other in varying degrees at different
times.