IDENTITY OF THE MODERN INDIVIDUAL IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL-PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The article examines the problem of individual identity formation in modern conditions of neoliberalism. It is noted that the research of subjectivity, «I» (self), which is the source and condition for the formation of individual identity, actualizes the study of this problem in many social and humanitarian sciences. In the context of socio-philosophical analysis, identity represents itself as a complicated dynamic phenomenon that constantly needs new definitions, clarifications and additions. The effectiveness of using E.Erikson’s theory of individual identity in modern conditions, its significance for the formation of «I» and P.Ricker’s concept of personalistic identity are analyzed. It has been clarified that a new request for the conceptualization of identity has been formed now, which is conditioned of the collapse of political ideologies, in particular, the communist one, the significant crisis of modern neoliberal ideology and the persistent search for new forms of collective involvement or solidarity of people in the current era of globalization. However, various forms of collective identity are imposed by society, its numerous communities, ideology, state institutions, mass media, social networks with their computer capabilities, dominance of advertisements, etc. Therefore, it is not surprising that now individuals are trying to find their own identity, going out from under the pressure of the collective, mainly discursive forms of identity, and already these efforts do not depend on them to a certain extent. The construct «collective identity» in many cases does not reflect the social I (social me) of the individual, as it was conceived in the last century, because society and its communities, which involve active, mobile and changing structures, cannot be thought in terms of subjectivity. Analogies and comparisons do not work here either on a conscious or unconscious level. In the studying identity, there is a significant problem of the transition from the individual to the collective level and vice versa. A collective or group does not have the qualities of individuality with its diversity of characteristics. Taking into account the conducted consideration, it can be stated that approaches to the formation of identity are now acquiring a profound semantic transformation. An assumption was made, which needs to be carefully investigated in the future, according to which the process of partial or complete absorption of individual identity by its collective forms is currently taking place. That’s why, there is an urgent need for the formation of a new interdisciplinary approach to the research of personal identity in the modern digital society.