Blaine J. Fowers, Ph.D. University of Miami

Big Picture 1. Personhood is central 2. Identity core of personhood 3. Identity is social in nature a. Relational identity in infancy b. Relational identity in adulthood 4. Identity serves social functions 5. Aristotle’s function argument 6. The good life for social beings

What is a Person?  Agency  Rights  Dignity  Temporal unity  Moral responsibility  Self-awareness  Self-interpretive

The Centrality of Identity  Necessary for personhood  Identity distinguishes  No “I” without “you”  No “we” without “them”  Identity is relational

Neonate Sociality  Facial recognition  Synchrony  Rhythmic interaction  Temporal matching  Social contingency  Mutual gaze first  Body games

Infant Sociality  Mutually Responsive Orientation  Responsiveness  Distress  Needs  Bids for attention  Influence attempts  Shared positive affect

“Self”-Regulation  Affect regulation  Highest positive arousal  “External” regulation  Mutual regulation  Self-regulation  Self-recognition  Verbal self-reference

Toddler Sociality  Committed Compliance  Moral self  Recognize rules and standards  Self-evaluation  Moral emotions

Collective Identity  Social categorization  Individual identity  Collective identity  Social categorization heuristic  Social identity heuristic

Collective Identity  Identify who matters  Transformation of motivation  In-group favoritism  Prioritize in-group over self  Loyalty heuristic

Group Goal Transformation De Cremer & van Dijk, 2002

Group Loyalty Van Vugt & Hart 2004

Baseball Rivalry Favored Team Success Ventral Striatum Pleasure Ratings Favored Team Failure Anterior Cingulate Cortex Rival Team Failure Rival Team Success Pain Ratings Aggression Endorsement Cikara, Botvinick, & Fiske, 2011

Aristotle’s Natural Ethics  Priority of the Good  Function argument

Function Argument

Human Social Functions  Identity takes enormous energy  Social coordination  Attachment  Cooperation  Coordinated activity  Norms  Particularity  Accountability

Ethical Beings  Essentially social creatures  The Good Life for social beings  Ethical questions  Social excellences  Ubiquity of ethics  “We” as important as “I”  The Good as an attractor

Acknowledgement This work was funded by a generous grant from the Arsht Ethics Initiatives and the University of Miami Ethics Programs