The Formation of Identity “Our own bodies can move without the will conducting them” (Descartes 73). This philosophy is based upon the idea that the body is simply a machine used by its agent, the soul. Therefore, not only would the body be able to operate without the soul, as Rene Descartes suggests, assuming that will is enveloped in the idea of the soul, but the soul would also be able to survive outside the body, …showed first 75 words of 1634 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1634 total…finds herself following the machine’s instructions and falling into the machine’s destiny. This suggests an identity formed by the body that it occupies. Is the identity formed in it of itself or is it created by its agency? The identity first develops itself without relation to anything else, including its body. As one’s identity morphs and changes as its environment transforms. The identity is formed through a combination of these two ideas.