Critical Analysis of Galen Strawson's 'Against Narrativity' Essay

This essay presents a critical analysis of Galen Strawson's 'Against Narrativity,' dissecting his arguments against the descriptive and normative claims of narrative selfhood. The analysis begins by summarizing Strawson's key points, including his examination of psychological and ethical narrativity, and his discussion of episodic and diachronic self-experience. It then delves into Strawson's exploration of how different perspectives on narrativity influence understanding of self-awareness and morality. The essay highlights Strawson's engagement with various scholars, such as Charles Taylor and Alasdair MacIntyre, to illustrate diverse perspectives on self-identity. Ultimately, the analysis critiques Strawson's perspective, particularly concerning the role of morality in narrativity and the commodification of life, providing a comprehensive overview of the essay's core concepts and arguments. The essay challenges the reader to consider the implications of Strawson's claims about narrative identity and its relationship to moral responsibility.

Running head: CRITICAL ANALYSIS
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
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1CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In this paper, namely, Against Narrativity, the author, Galen Strawson has mentioned
how the narration of a person about anything becomes self-narration and the points of viewed
instead of being universal becomes personal. In the beginning the author has mentioned about
a range of subjects like literary studies, sociology, political theory, theology, psychology and
many more. In every case, whenever an author discloses his or her insight tend to make those
amalgamated with their personal understanding. Strawman has mentioned it psychological
narrativity that connects the idea of ethical narrativity thesis.
In this paper, the author has mentioned about four combinations to show how much
there is a difference in the normative with the descriptive thesis. This first combination
relates that a normative person’s viewpoint may not be accepted by others. Second on the
contrary, descriptive thesis seems to be false to some. The third team thinks that both the
thesis of narrative as well as descriptive are true and dependable and finally others on the
opposite feel both of these narratives are false. To the author, some of the people in this
world are not narrative and these non-narrative people are satisfied in their own ways.
There are facets though which the author has tried to convince the readers to
acknowledge the fact of narrativity hence he has detailed about the episodic and diachronic
self-experience that many a times have let the persons to realize his or her self in a perfect
way. Starting from describing these two factors of self-awareness, the author has analyses the
Human psychology from these two perspectives. The author has mentioned how the
diachronic and episodic misunderstand one another to lead a satisfied relaxed life. In this

2CRITICAL ANALYSIS
section the author has effectively analyzed that there are very important traits can be found
among the people of both of these categories and how they complete one another.
In supporting the diversity of knowledge and experience that guide people to ascribe
with different narrativity, the author has detailed why and how these diachronicity and
periodicity connect the narrativity that is the main concern of this paper. From the point of
view of an episodic, he has mentioned that the narrativity of this people come from the idea
that they have a past and that connects the future. Based on this ideology they have nurtured
their narrativity. Next the author has detailed what he thinks his own perspective during an
understanding of the subjects and how he realized the whole subject from becoming the other
but analyzing his points of view. In this process the authors are true to articulate that he
maybe wrong in many cases.
In this whole paper, the author has quoted the works of many scholars like Charles
Taylor, Satyr, Alasdair MacIntyre, John Campbell, Goronwy Rees and many more. The
different realization of these scholars about self-awareness and perspective have
overwhelmed the author of this paper to understand facets of personality and experience that
guide people to realize the things in different ways. This paper ends with the connotation of
morality that the people are often misunderstood as they possess certain points of view
guiding their personality and behavior that perfectly connect their morality but in most of the
cases, type human beings are not always responsible. The episodic can therefore be happy
and lucky and diachronic may be more responsible. This cannot be supportive of any one

3CRITICAL ANALYSIS
type of person but confluence with the entirety making the question of moral and immoral to
be unimportant in reflecting the narrative. To the author hence in the case of narrativity,
morality comes in the unnecessary place making the situation mote complicated. The strange
commodification of life a time therefore may not judge the narrativity nor decide who is
wrong and who is write.