Introduction: Identities Unfolding in the Social World

This introduction aims at situating the eight essays that constitute the volume, which explore new perspectives on the ontology of social identities, as well as some of current challenges of theorizing identities in philosophy, psychology, and related disciplines. This introduction characterizes the contributions to the volume as explorations of the limits of traditional accounts of social identities in general and of specific social identities in particular. These new perspectives, it is noted, do not necessarily fit into the traditional areas of philosophical inquiry, as they raise questions and present approaches that cross the boundaries of ontological, epistemological, and value-laden and normative approaches.