Identities between abstraction and actuality Johanna Hopfner
Summary: Identities are abstracted from various life forms and situations, but they also unnecessarily impose limits. The case of nation can illustrate how abstractions are more or less violent and can result in suicidal/murderous behavior. The reduction to gender, as a key identity characteristic, can end up being a forced perspective even in the deconstructivist intention, which makes us lose sight of the maneuvering spaces that actually exist. The empirically obtained statements given by children and teenagers reveal surprising evidence that points to the very essence of certain credible, even though contradictory, philosophical insights. In contrast, true identities are – phenomenologically speaking – elementary bodily experiences that cannot be imagined without a link to the outside world. Most of all, identities can be openly created. These established philosophical insights are also confirmed by the carefree ways of children.