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June 5, 2011, 5:35 pm

In Search of the True Self

By JOSHUA KNOBE

The Stone is a forum for contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless. Tags: conservatives, evangelicals, gays, liberals, Philosophy, true self Mark Pierpont used to be an important figure in the evangelical Christian effort to help cure gay people of their homosexual desires. He started out just printing up tracts and handing them out in gay bars, but his ministry grew over time, and eventually he was traveling the world and speaking to crowds that sometimes numbered in the thousands. There was just one problem. Mark Pierpont himself was gay. He continued to feel sexual desires toward other men and was constantly engaged in an effort to suppress them. In the documentary film Protagonist, Pierpont movingly describes his inner conflict, saying that he sometimes felt an almost physical revulsion at his own desires and would then think: Good. I hate this. I hate sin, just like God hates sin. Faced with a case like this one, we might be tempted to give Pierpont some simple advice. We might tell him that what he really needs to do is just look deep within and be true to himself. Indeed, this advice has become a ubiquitous refrain. It can be found in high art and literature (Poloniuss To thine own self be true), in catchy pop songs (Madonnas Express Yourself) and in endless advertisements for self-help programs and yoga retreats (Unlock your soul; become your authentic self). It is, perhaps, one of the distinctive ideals of modern life.

Leif Parsons Yet, though there is a great deal of consensus on the importance of this ideal, there is far less agreement about what it actually tells us to do in any concrete situation. Consider again the case of Mark Pierpont. One person might

look at his predicament and say: Deep down, he has always wanted to be with another man, but he somehow picked up from society the idea that this desire was immoral or forbidden. If he could only escape the shackles of his religious beliefs, he would be able to fully express the person he really is. But then another person could look at exactly the same case and arrive at the very opposite conclusion: Fundamentally, Pierpont is a Christian who is struggling to pursue a Christian life, but these desires he has make it difficult for him to live by his own values. If he ever gives in to them and chooses to sleep with another man, he will be betraying what was is most essential to the person he really is. Each of these perspectives seems like a reasonable one, at least worthy of serious consideration. So it seems that we are faced with a difficult philosophical question. How is one to know which aspect of a person counts as that persons true self? Many believe that the true self lies precisely in our suppressed urges and unacknowledged emotions, If we look to the philosophical tradition, we find a relatively straightforward answer to this question. This answer, endorsed by numerous different philosophers in different ways, says that what is most distinctive and essential to a human being is the capacity for rational reflection. A person might find herself having various urges, whims or fleeting emotions, but these are not who she most fundamentally is. If you want to know who she truly is, you would have to look to the moments when she stops to reflect and think about her deepest values. Take the person fighting an addiction to heroin. She might have a continual craving for another fix, but if she just gives in to this craving, it would be absurd to say that she is thereby being true to herself or expressing the person she really is. On the contrary, she is betraying herself and giving up what she values most. This sort of approach gives us a straightforward answer in a case like Mark Pierponts. It says that his sexual desires are not the real him. If he loses control and gives in to these desires, he will be betraying his true self. But when I mention this view to people outside the world of philosophy, they often seem stunned that anyone could ever believe it. They are immediately drawn to the very opposite view. The true self, they suggest, lies precisely in our suppressed urges and unacknowledged emotions, while our ability to reflect is just a hindrance that gets in the way of this true selfs expression. To find a moment when a persons true self comes out, they think, one needs to look at the times when people are so drunk or overcome by passion that they are unable to suppress what is deep within them. This view, too, yields a straightforward verdict in a case like Pierponts. It says that his sexual desires are what is most fundamental to him, and to the extent that he is restraining them, he is not revealing the person he really is.
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Read previous contributions to this series. In my view, neither of these two perspectives fully captures the concept of a true self. The trouble is that both of them assume that the true self can be identified in some straightforward way with one particular part of a persons psychology. But it seems that the matter is more complex. Peoples ordinary understanding of the true self appears to involve a kind of value judgment, a judgment about what sorts of lives are really worth living. So people will tend to arrive at different judgments regarding the nature of Pierponts self depending on whether they think that a homosexual lifestyle truly is a valuable one. To put this hypothesis to the test, I teamed up with my colleagues the psychologists George Newman and Paul Bloom. Together, we are pursuing a project in the emerging interdisciplinary field of experimental philosophy. That is to say, we are taking these abstract philosophical questions and using them to generate systematic experimental studies that can give us a better sense of how people actually use these concepts.

More than 200 people participated in our first study. Some of these participants identified themselves as conservatives, others as liberals. All participants were given a series of questions about the true self. But there was a trick: the questions were designed in such a way that conservatives and liberals were expected to see them very differently. The conservative items described a person who changes in a direction that conservatives would be especially likely to regard as good. For example: Jim used to be homosexual. However, now Jim is married to a woman and no longer has sex with men. How much do you agree with the following statement? At his very essence, there was always something deep within Jim, calling him to stop having sex with men, and then this true self emerged. The liberal items then went in the opposite direction, describing a person who changes in a direction that liberals would be especially likely to regard as good: Ralph used to make a lot of money and prioritized his financial success above all else. However, now Ralph works in a job where he does not make a lot of money and benefits others. How much do you agree with the following statement? At his very essence, there was always something deep within Ralph, calling him to stop prioritizing his financial success above all else, and then this true self emerged. The results showed a systematic connection between peoples own values and their judgments about the true self. Conservative participants were more inclined to say that the persons true self had emerged on the conservative items, while liberals were more inclined to say that the persons true self had emerged on the liberal items. (Try running this study on yourself. I bet youll find that your judgments also end up corresponding in this way to your own values.) Of course, it would be a mistake to draw any strong conclusions from the results of this one study. Further research is needed, and the truth is bound to be quite a bit more complex than it might at first appear. Still, the findings do seem to point to an interesting new question. Does our ordinary notion of a true self simply pick out a certain part of the mind? Or is this notion actually wrapped up in some inextricable way with our own values and ideals?

Joshua Knobe is an associate professor at Yale University, where he is appointed both in Cognitive Science and in Philosophy. He is a co-editor, with Shaun Nichols, of the volume Experimental Philosophy. E-mail This Print Share

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1. MikeyMike Warsaw Poland June 5th, 2011 7:57 pm The closer you live according to your basest instincts, the closer you are to your true self. Values are ultimately more likely than not expressions of instinctual evolutionary behaviors (see Richard Dawkins on the evolutionary benefits of altruism in "The Selfish Gene"). This is why I believe that all people would feel the most comfortable in communal environments where the men were allowed to mate with many different women and the women were responsible for raising the children while the men worked. Children would be raised in communities rather than by two parents, and everyone grew their own food. searching for the "True Self" is simply an attempt to get back in touch with that which has existed from the beginning and has evolved to perfection over tens of thousands of years. Don't flatter yourself, we are not that complicated, but are complicated enough to over complicate things. The good news is that the answer is pure and simple. Recommend Recommended by 6 Readers 2. Suman1938 Sunnyvale, CA June 5th, 2011 7:58 pm

The problem with such surveys / analysis is that they force the surveyed to respond in one of the several given choices. Human beings make a choice based not on one factor, but several and in most cases innumerable factors depending upon their education, religion, upbringing, etc. etc. These factors not taken into consideration to arrive at the given conclusion, affect more or less the outcome, but they all do affect to a certain extent. While in many cases the relationship between the conclusions and the factor under study might seem to be correct, it would only be incidental. These analyses are like stock market indicators. They seem to be perfect till the day when all of them indicate a totally contrary conclusion to the reality. But we ignore the contrarian result just as an aberration and keep on believing the indicators. Most of the popularity polls also work the same way. We are all surprised how Palin could be in the top 2 or 3 of the Republican candidates for the presidency in several nationwide polls knowing well the level of her intelligence. What we forget is the main factor working for her which is not covered by the question asked. It is - Which of the candidates you find most attractive? Whether asked or not, the respondents give their replies based on this hidden factor. That is the same reason why Bachmann is trailing far behind. Other things being more or less equal, our mind arrives at conclusions based on such factors whether they are obvious or hidden in our subconscious. nirmalasuman@therightviewonline.com Recommend Recommended by 7 Readers 3. Nick Mount Vernon, Ohio June 5th, 2011 7:58 pm Perhaps I am daftly ignorant to various nuances of this topic in the fields of philosophy and/or cognitive science, but could not one's "true self" be conflicted and multifarious? Could not someone's true self consist of both praiseworthy values as well weakness to certain thoughts or temptations? In Piermont's case, why could his "true self" not be both (1) valuing what Christians allegedly value and (2) experiencing intermittent attraction to his own gender? I understand this particular article deals with the common idea of "searching within oneself for one's true self," but I fail to see how this process requires one to filter out all conflicting properties that they perceive about themselves, reconstruct one non-conflicting identity, and profess it as their "true self." The masses may have some sort of primitive bias or assumption that persons are simple, singular, and behaviorally consistent, but there is little (that I know of) in either philosophy or psychology which would support these claims. Could we not respond to those who echo the "ubiquitous refrain" by saying, "Actually, there is little reason to think that Piermont is not already being his 'true self' (and that one and the same 'self' can at one time live a homosexual lifestyle and at later time live a monogamous heterosexual lifestyle; and that one and the same 'self' can value personal gain for a period of his life and later begin value other's well-being). Allowing people to entertain this folk theory of personal identity helps no one (it probably results in unrealistic expectations in marriage). I think approaching "selfhood" with a four-dimensional understanding of personal identity solves many of the puzzles of "inner conflict" or inconsistent behavioral patterns, akrasia, and the examples in this article. I concede that I could be wrong -- and I hope others will point out my error. Recommend Recommended by 105 Readers 4. William J. Keith Philadelphia, PA June 5th, 2011 7:58 pm One of the emerging conclusions of neurology is that the idea of a single "true self" must be discarded. We have no indivisible soul; we have multiple systems acting independently, thinking different things -- which, in fact, Mr. Pierpont was doing. Those systems may be in tension -- base hormones are telling me I want a cookie, even when

my frontal cortex is labeling the desire as unwise. Tension demands resolution, but this demand need not be met. Sustained tension can be either productive -- the relation between parts becoming part of a whole self -- or destructive, in which case growth or healing will seek to resolve the tension one way or the other, by making one system ascendant over the competing systems. To "I think, therefore I am," I respond "I think many things, and therefore am many things." Recommend Recommended by 112 Readers 5. mickeyrad Centerville Iowa June 5th, 2011 7:58 pm First, most virulent homophobes are themselves gay. That's common knowledge. Second, there are no modern conservatives who are "thinking people". There are just salivating brutes who crawl out from under rocks and then soon return. Third, there are only a handful of modern "liberals". In Congress, there are Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich. That's it. Modern "liberals" are center-right on the political spectrum. In the heyday of true liberalism, 1932-1976, these people would have been on the far right. E.g., Obama - he's far to the right of Richard Nixon, and equally obsessed with subverting the Constitution, even more so since even Nixon did not order the assassination of American citizens. Yet to foolish people today, Obama is "liberal". Recommend Recommended by 19 Readers 6. frank ann arbor michigan June 5th, 2011 7:59 pm I think the true self actually lies in the awareness that these mental ideas are taking place - and awareness of awareness Recommend Recommended by 32 Readers 7. lameadventureswoman New York, NY June 5th, 2011 7:59 pm In Marks case it seems clear that conservative religion had made him suffer shame about his true desire to be a gay man and also made him feel like a hypocrite promoting anti-gay values that were in conflict with who he was at his core. Would God really care about the gender that anyone desires or loves? Its fanatically religious people and institutions that promote these scary notions. I feel blessed being an agnostic simpleton that is not compelled to over-think these things. My biggest life-crisis is getting into the habit of cutting back on salt intake. http://lameadventures.wordpress.com/ Recommend Recommended by 25 Readers 8. Herb Plano, TX June 5th, 2011 9:24 pm

Some might say our truest self is known by what we do over time, not what we think, nor what we feel over different intervals. In the case of Mark Pierpont, his true self is revealed by his persistence in the state of conflict. That is, he is his truest self when he is most conscious of his internal conflict. He would not be true to himself by yielding to his homosexual passion, nor giving up his belief in its immorality. He would be lost indeed were either drive to disappear. In other words, his truest self is perpetual conflict. Recommend Recommended by 17 Readers 9. AHJ San Diego, CA June 5th, 2011 9:24 pm The notion that an individual must be truly be identified with one or the other side of a two-pole problem is terribly misleading and shallow; the truest self involved is the being who has designed himself a two-pole problematic trap and then enclosed himself in it. The impulse to keep things boiled down to Manichean simplicity is a guaranteed path to distortion and individual misery, IMHO. The source of both sides can be found in the individual's own exercise of his own energies. Of course, this requires a sense of responsibility for one's own condition, which is sometimes in short supply. Recommend Recommended by 27 Readers 10. Gemli Boston June 5th, 2011 9:25 pm Almost every time I read The Stone, I die a little inside. This one nearly put me into a coma. The phrase "true self" is so vague that you can basically define it to mean anything you want. You may as well ask if that cloud up there is a bunny or an angel. (Please don't run off and do an experimental study. It's a bunny.) Biology determines one's sexuality, and no matter what flavor of fundamentalist Christian Kool-Aid you have drunk, your sexuality is not something that is open to discussion. If you are born Chinese, no amount of psychoanalysis is going to reveal that your true self is Latvian. In examining liberal and conservative values, you're likely to find a biological temperament on the Nature side, combined with family values, cultural education, and personal experience on the Nurture side. These kinds of values may ebb and flow over a lifetime. It's said that a conservative is a liberal who's just been mugged, so these attitudes can change. I can assure you that I will not be making the mistake of drawing strong conclusions from this study, or from any other study in which the very things being investigated are impossible to define, much less quantify. Recommend Recommended by 120 Readers 11. Jonathan Waukesha, WI June 5th, 2011 9:25 pm Interesting. I would say that to find one's true self one ought to look for that "place" in which one's life can be lived to its fullest, which requires considering both deepest values and passions and also something else. I'm not sure what to call that something else, though. Perhaps capability? Note, "place" is primarily a matter of values, selfidentity, and relationships, although geography also plays a minor role. Taking the Pierpont case discussed above as an example, I would say that I don't have enough information to know whether or not he was being true to his true self. How did the story end? Did he wind up an alcoholic? Did he commit suicide? Either would suggest that he wasn't being true to himself because either outcome would suggest that he was demanding something of himself, body and soul, that he wasn't actually capable of performing. On the

other hand, if he survived just fine, and found life reasonably fulfilling, he may well have found his true self. Perhaps I just think this because I'm devout and have wrestled with my own passion for years (although as a straight man I'm no where near as constrained as Pierpont was/is by my faith). Still, looking at my own life, it seems that a life lived without passion or against passion is little more than a pale echo of life, but a life ruled by passion seems like it would only leave destruction and pain in its wake. Recommend Recommended by 7 Readers 12. Geoffrey Henny Ann Arbor, Michigan June 5th, 2011 9:25 pm Its all the Matrix folks. Recommend Recommended by 5 Readers 13. Danny P. Warrensburg, MO June 5th, 2011 9:26 pm It seems like there is often an intent to make the "self" an active thing and at the same time a passive thing. In one sense we would refer to the self as that part of ourselves that intuitively tells us what we should be doing, how we should do it, and is a part of the active way by which we make everyday decisions. Alternatively, we can look at the self as a passive way that we happen to be: an all-encompassing vision of Mr. Pierpont, for example, would include that he happens to have homosexual urges and happens to have a christian-motivated condemnation, so allin-all Mr. Pierpont's self is properly described as having both forces in conflict with each other. The instinct is to say that the self can be both passive and active; but in the sense of the article above by Joshua Knobe (which i found excellent despite my personal bias against cognitive science) I think this creates a conflict. On the one hand, it would be hard for any of us to say that the christian motivation and the homosexual urge are not both part of who Mr. Pierpont is. And yet the clear indication here is to say that one is somehow "false" or "not a part of the TRUE-self." This implies several things; that internal conflict is not a part of the true self or that the self can not be actively at war with itself, that this single person Mr. Pierpont who is actively fighting himself must attribute one side of the conflict to something beside the "true-self," and that this attribution must be done by the same person who is struggling with two opposing beliefs. In passive voice, we would say that both conflicting forces are a part of the self called "Mr. Pierpont." The problem comes when we try to subdivide the self to explain internal strife. Professor Knobe's study points up perfectly that we aren't relying on any real metaphysical analysis of what a human being or a self is to decide right and wrong; we are just using value judgments from other issues of personal philosophy to ad-hoc declare one true and one false. This is bad, because it leads to people arbitrarily joining one school of thought or another not because they agree with the arguments, but because they agree with the results. A person may not want higher taxes because of some economic knowledge that tells them it would be bad overall, and another agrees because they simply do not want to pay higher taxes themselves. The difference is the first person understands the cost to social services outright and squares the consequences of their beliefs on a larger scale. The second person is surprised when confronted with the cost to social services, and must then try, without the basic knowledge, to do what the first person did. People in that position will either 1) develop the knowledge necessary to re-examine their position and determine how this all relates, or more likely 2) cobble together some ad-hoc beliefs to justify previously held ones. With the recent sudden libertarian streak in the Republican party, I've seen a few people go direction #1 and most go direction #2.

I think there is fundamentally a misunderstanding somewhere in the study of the "self." Specifically, I feel like there is a problem if we can't say two parts of a person at conflict are both a part of who that person is. If internal conflict isn't a natural part of who some people are, then what the hell is teenage angst? Passively, we think of a "self" as being the entire person, but actively we think of it as some small kernel deep inside that is somehow "true-er" than the rest of the person. Even if we don't call this a metaphysical problem, it at least is a semantical one. We can't keep changing what we mean by "self" and expect to convey a consistent enough idea for philosophical work. The answer, I think, lies in the ancient Greek and far east conceptions of "the self." However, I can't imagine cognitive sciences having any taste for that ;) Recommend Recommended by 8 Readers 14. DanP NYC June 5th, 2011 9:26 pm I think that analyzing one's values is more important than determining one's true self. I do not think that anything important depends on the concept of true self. Furthermore, I do not think that behaving in accordance with one's true self is important. Justifying behavior on the basis that it is in accordance with one's true self, or not, is often an indication of weakness of will. I believe that both Liberals and Conservatives could agree with this. I may be loathe to dispense with my money yet donate to causes benefiting people I have contempt for on a personal level. I do this because my values tell me that some effort and charity is warranted to help people less fortunate than myself. Am I donating money in keeping with my true self that is charitable and altruistic, or despite my true self that is cheap and self-centered? What possible difference does the answer to this question make? I propose that the concept of "true self" is meaningless! Recommend Recommended by 17 Readers 15. sz us June 5th, 2011 9:26 pm Linking this philosophical issue to a subject matter as politically and emotionally charged as sexuality really does a disservice to the underlying questions being presented for our consideration. Recommend Recommended by 18 Readers 16. Andy Winnipeg Canada June 5th, 2011 9:26 pm Our values are what orient our decisions before we make them. And in a public setting such as a research lab we will give answers that are consistent with the values we most closely indentify ourselves with publicly. It is no great task to predict that progressives and conservatives alike will each express philosophical values that are generally consistent across a broad range of issues. If the concept of moral relativism was not known or understood we would have to invent it to explain the current state of our values. Recommend Recommended by 4 Readers 17. NuWine Press

NYC June 5th, 2011 9:27 pm NuWine Press is the All-Inclusive and LGBT-Affirming Voice of Indie Christian Publishing and our first book "Raw: A Poetic Journey" addresses just this issue. The book contains poetry from LGBT Christians and friends around the world about their journey to self acceptance. Some were raised Christian and homophobic (like myself) yet there was something about the unconditional love of God that propelled me to believe that God created my true self as both Gay and Christian and the dichotomy is simply societally imposed (along with the long tradition of misinterpreting scripture). Your true self is the self whose divine purpose is perfectly aligned with God's will. (Www.nuwinepress.com) Recommend Recommended by 5 Readers 18. MSandyd McMinn County, Tennessee June 5th, 2011 9:27 pm Being true to one's faith makes him able to not only resist the base urges within, but gives that one a new spirit that doesn't want to do what is not pleasing to God. Quote (Many believe that the true self lies precisely in our suppressed urges and unacknowledged emotions,) True believers are not just church people. In fact, the denominations have done more harm to the cause of Christianity than any other establishment. When one is "born again," he gets a brand new life, a life of a new spirit. The one before this new birth could not suppress the urges he felt. But after getting the ability to converse with the God of all Creation, he just loses the desires to do damage to that Holy Spirit within him. This one is now freed of those former things. The process of Sactification that is the life of a new believer goes on until the end of this world's time. In this process, the true believer learns to forsake habits that are not approved by God. The personality takes on a change that others can see. This often is a source of confusion for old friends and maybe some family members. But it is a joy to the one who has the new life. Today, true Christians are getting less and the church crowd is getting more like the world. It is hard to be in this world. People are happy to meet you until they find out your belief. Than watch them back off. I have a book I published in the fall of last year. I have had sponsors happily say they will let me have book signings only to leave me in the lurch when they find out it is a book about the Bible. Being tolerant and politically correct is more important to these people than getting the gospel out. Well, I said my mind. Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers 19. Phil New York June 5th, 2011 9:27 pm "The closer you live according to your basest instincts, the closer you are to your true self. " With that argument, prisons are filled with true selves. Reason balances instinct. The "True Self" is probably a hobgoblin of foolish consistency. A true self necessarily considers and then acts according to the situation and core values. Values can change. Life requires adaptation. A true self can be inconsistent. But let's hope reason always plays a part. Recommend Recommended by 10 Readers 20. Peter Melzer Charlottesville, VA June 5th, 2011 9:28 pm

The work of the eminent neuroanatomist Simon LeVay showed that homosexuality can be associated with differences in brain structure that develop early in development. Therefore, homosexuality may consist of more than values and ideals. That said, values and ideals can change. The connections between nerve cells in the brain remain plastic even in the mature brain, though to a lesser degree. Read more on brain plasticity here: http://brainmindinst.blogspot.com/2011/01/brain-plasticity-mind.html Recommend Recommended by 5 Readers 21. Dave Wisconsin June 5th, 2011 9:29 pm I think the case of the homosexual, the first you presented, is pretty simple. This person suppressed his urges to conform to his religious expectations. The sexual urge is so fundamental and primal, that no thought is required to understand it, and so if a person has felt the urge to be physical with a person of the same sex, then they must be truly homosexual or bisexual. It is a crazy religion that tells people to suppress that, and religion is not part of a person's makeup, it is part of their learned behavior. On the issue of getting someone really drunk to get at their basic urges, I think this is ridiculous. In a normal person, alcohol's primary effect is that it reduces inhibitions. When most people get really drunk, they tend to reduce inhibitions, but they also start to lose brain function in ways we don't completely understand. And in the alcoholic, being really drunk is like being a different person: they things they say might make absolutely no sense, or a garbled up, confused, nonsensical, or perhaps they make sense but are complete fabrications. Alcoholics, because of they way their brains are affected by the alcohol, are experiencing a complete brain malfunction rather than just reduced inhibitions. They might act out in strange ways, but it can be nearly impossible to understand what is behind the actions or words. In some, the actions and words of a drunk might be designed to create havoc in a desperate attempt to shock their sober self into never drinking that much again. The desperation of alcoholism shows itself most when a person is drunk, but paradoxically, that is the time they are least likely to be able to fight it. Therefore, elaborate, desperate coping mechanisms might develop to try to eliminate the problem in an indirect way. So do drunks show their true selves? Not even close. On politics, I think the question is much more complex, as you point out. Politics should require much more than basic urges, but for many, it probably doesn't. People tend to vote their basic urges, and many never get past that. Others, who decide to get more involved in politics, hopefully put a lot more thought into the issues, and in that case it becomes much more about rational judgements than basic urges. It requires putting basic urges into perspective with justice, societal interactions, etc... I'll be interested in the results of this study. Recommend Recommended by 3 Readers 22. salgadoce Mexico June 5th, 2011 9:29 pm I find it problematic that we are equating identity (true self) with preferences (urges, desires, etc.). And in any case, you can only 'be true' to yourself once you've 'discovered' yourself, once you've exhausted all of the experiences,

experimentations and interactions with the world, and have a developed a robust compendium of reactions and feelings towards the world and everything in it. Discovering your true identity presupposes your thinking through every facet of your existencea very ambitious project indeed (even for those who get paid to think all day). And, as to the study, it's teeming with bias. As my lawyer would say, "YOU'RE LEADING THE WITNESS!" Recommend Recommended by 11 Readers 23. Ladislav Nemec big bear, ca June 5th, 2011 9:29 pm I am too old to understand the 'finer points' of this article. All I have learned during my 77 ears on the planet is that there is simply no general rule for virtually anything, in this case one's sexual preference. No doubt there is an extremely wide spectrum of choices, for some people 'moral' ones, for another just based on the current level of testosterone (sorry, I know virtually nothing about lesbians). None is better than the other from any point of view, as a matter of fact, 'point of view' is another choice similarly affected by ideology and physiology. I liked very much what former Mayor Koch said a few years ago when he was asked (an obvious) question about his sexual preference. He felt 'honored' that at his age (over 70, I think) ANYONE is interesting to talk about him as a 'sexual entity'. Obviously, he considered the original question completely irrelevant. When he was running for various offices, nobody (as far as I remember and I lived at that time not far from Manhattan) asked it. That was, of course, New York during the years when Tea Baggers just bagged their tea and did not bother anyone... OK, younger folks with plenty of time on their hand can (and perhaps should) spend some time thinking hard about Leviticus 20 and stuff like that. It may make them more humble, something always welcome among males, alpha or omega... Recommend Recommended by 4 Readers 24. odej New York June 5th, 2011 9:29 pm My true self wonders what the measure for true self might be. It also wonders how you could possibly try to answer that question empirically, as if you could somehow find the objective true self that is devoid of the capitalist epoch that we all live. I think you should go back to the Romans and ask them to take the test, and then go to the Ancient Greeks, and the Asians, and the Native indians and all the other peoples of the world. In the mean time, I am amazed that philosophy led you to this point. Recommend Recommended by 3 Readers 25. Marc Portland, OR June 5th, 2011 9:30 pm The problem with these questions is that they assume a static, one-dimensional, black and white world: Sex is either good or bad; Prioritizing financial success is either good or bad. Life is much richer. Sex can be delicious but sex in Central Park is not advisable. So we have to look at the context and the consequences of our actions. If someone has a talent for making money and loves doing it, by all means, go and create wealth. If it means robbing other people, better not.

There is also a time component. My daughter started hitting my son the day he was born. Slowly but surely she is learning that she is hurting him that way. She does not really want to hurt him but has no self-control yet. At the age of five she is slowly learning when and why she wants to hit him, and how to avoid these situations. All of this is an expression of her true self, which is not static but rather delights in learning and growing. Actually, the question how to express our true self is the wrong one, because we already do. Not recognizing this leads to inner conflict. The real question is how we can be aware of all options we have available in any moment, and choose the one that is best (given what we know at the time). This way we can always be at peace with our decisions and still learn from any mistakes. Recommend Recommended by 10 Readers 1 of 7 Next

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Captain Hannum Attends the Philippi Races

What an Indiana soldier saw at the first battle of the Civil War. More From Disunion June 5, 2011
Cellphone Fears, Twitter Tears

Making good decisions about new data on technology and our use of it requires sharp critical skills. May 29, 2011
The Trouble With E-Mail

Time to ditch the Web in favor of LDL. More From Virginia Heffernan June 5, 2011
In Search of the True Self

Is it our desires or our values that determine who we really are? May 29, 2011
Are There Natural Human Rights?

The way we think about the turmoil in the Middle East and elsewhere is shaped by how we understand human rights. More From The Stone June 3, 2011
Just Drive, She Said

Do movements against male-dominated systems in Saudi Arabia, Italy and France signal a moment of progress for women? May 27, 2011
French Press

Why cant the French and the Americans just get along?

More From The Thread June 2, 2011

A Way to Pay for College, With Dividends

Why using human capital contracts to finance higher education isnt as scary as it sounds. May 30, 2011
Instead of Student Loans, Investing in Futures

Is it possible to finance higher education the way we finance start-up companies? More From Fixes June 2, 2011
Fall of the Wild

Can there really be no possible alternative to Californias plan to close one-fourth of its state parks? May 26, 2011
Twisters Tale

A season of violent weather and, one would hope, a return to common sense. More From Timothy Egan June 1, 2011
A Voice From the Past

Anthony M. Kennedys opinion in the California prison case recalls the days when the court took charge of failing social institutions. May 18, 2011
Justice in Dreamland

A decision this week makes it worth wondering what planet the Supreme Court justices have been living on when it comes to encounters between the police and the rest of us. More From Linda Greenhouse May 31, 2011
Hooked on Meat

The human urge to eat meat may be primal, but we cant afford to wait for it to evolve in the other direction. May 17, 2011
Imagining Detroit

Can a city come back with the help of markets, gardens and farms? More From Mark Bittman May 25, 2011
Prague 1970: Music in Spring

The education of a young composer in a time of revolution. May 18, 2011

Until the Next Revolution

Can composers embrace politics in their work without music taking a back seat to message? More From The Score May 25, 2011
Does It All Come Down to Medicare?

In the 2012 presidential election, the Democrats will try to address the fiscal problems without touching the elderly or the middle class, while the Republicans will focus on tax revenue. No matter how you slice the issue, its voodoo policy. May 18, 2011
Sex and the Politician

Is it really true that voters will overlook almost anything if they think the sinning political figures will carry out the policies they support? More From The Conversation May 23, 2011
Whats Up With the Jews?

Recent events have proven that historical attitudes about Jews, especially negative ones, continue to flourish. May 16, 2011
Sex, the Koch Brothers and Academic Freedom

When academic freedom is an issue, and when it isnt. More From Stanley Fish May 20, 2011
The First Shall Be Last Or, Anyway, Second

Postponing a talk-show debut was only one of the indignities foisted upon the author by network censors. May 6, 2011
The Week That Was

The assault on Bin Ladens compound, and the reaction to it. More From Dick Cavett May 11, 2011
Dont Let Go of the Anger

If Wall Street is not going to be held more accountable, we need to know why. April 27, 2011
Why Is Enough Never Enough?

The Raj Rajaratnam trial and other recent cases raise questions about money, motivation and risk. More From William D. Cohan May 6, 2011
Suburbia: What a Concept

A design project descends on Levittown. March 27, 2011

The Future of Manufacturing Is Local

In San Francisco and New York, manufacturing industries are showing signs of life, thanks to a new approach. More From Allison Arieff May 6, 2011
Suburbia: What a Concept

A design project descends on Levittown.

March 27, 2011

The Future of Manufacturing Is Local

In San Francisco and New York, manufacturing industries are showing signs of life, thanks to a new approach. More From Allison Arieff
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Opinionator Highlights

In Search of the True Self

By JOSHUA KNOBE

Is it our desires or our values that determine who we really are?

A Way to Pay for College, With Dividends

By DAVID BORNSTEIN

Why using human capital contracts to finance higher education isnt as scary as it sounds.

Instead of Student Loans, Investing in Futures

By DAVID BORNSTEIN

Is it possible to finance higher education the way we finance start-up companies?

Are There Natural Human Rights?

By MICHAEL BOYLAN

The way we think about the turmoil in the Middle East and elsewhere is shaped by how we understand human rights.

The Path From Charity to Profit

By TINA ROSENBERG

Social businesses require a delicate balance of the humanitarian and the financial to succeed. Previous Series

Line by Line

A series on the basics of drawing, presented by the artist and author James McMullan, beginning with line, perspective, proportion and structure.

The Elements of Math

A series on math, from the basic to the baffling, by Steven Strogatz. Beginning with why numbers are helpful and

finishing with the mysteries of infinity.

Living Rooms

The past, present and future of domestic life, with contributions from artists, journalists, design experts and historians.

Specimens

This series by Richard Conniff looks at how species discovery has transformed our lives. Subscribe Opinionator RSS The Stone RSS

From law school to a frat house?

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