Luckmann’s theory of personal identity

Abstract

The paper deals with the presentation of Tomas Luckman's theory of personal identity. After defining the concept of personal identity and description of Luckmann's approach as an interdisciplinary and dialectic, attention is shifted to the elaboration of the influence of different levels of reality on the construction, maintainance and transformation of personal identity. The explanation starts from the given biological base and evolution of the human organism, and continues at the level of individual consciousness and intersubjective level of face-to-face relationships, where the importance of different temporal structures is especially emphasized. Finally, structural determinants of personal identity are being put under consideration. Within this last level, following Luckman, the conditions for the formation of personal identity are compared in “archaic” and modern societies, conceived as ideal types. Luckman's deliberations on personal identity in modernity are compared with Giddens' theory of personal, that is, self-identity in modernity.Key words: Thomas Luckmann, Personal Identity, Evolution, Intersubjectivity, Structural Determinants