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Thursday, 12 March 2015

Violence and the Self

Exclusion and Embrace: Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation,
Miroslav Volf, Abingdon Press, 1996, page 91-92

Volf claims that "the tendency towards violence is, moreover, reinforced by an inescapable ambiguity of the self. The self is dialogically constructed." If Volf is right, the other is therefore irremovably part of the self and this causes friction. There is a tension already at work: the self asserts itself - to show identity - against the other who is actually a dialogue partner and essential component in defining that identity. Hence, Volf argues:

I slip into violence: instead of reconfiguring myself to make space for the other, I seek to reshape the other into who I want her to be in order that in relation to her I may be who I want to be.

Posted By Jonathan, 9:00am Comment Comments: