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Against Identity

The Wisdom of Escaping the Self

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Modern life encourages us to pursue the perfect identity. Whether we aspire to become the best lawyer or charity worker, life partner or celebrity influencer, we emulate exemplars that exist in the world – hoping it will bring us happiness. But this often leads to a complex game of envy and pride. We achieve these identities but want others to imitate us. We disagree with those whose identities contradict ours – leading to polarisation and even violence. And yet when they thump against us, we are ashamed to ring hollow.

In Against Identity, philosopher Alexander Douglas seeks an alternative wisdom. Searching the work of three thinkers – ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, Dutch Enlightenment thinker Benedict de Spinoza, and 20th Century French theorist René Girard – he explores how identity can be a spiritual violence that leads us away from truth.

Through their worlds and radically different cultures, we discover how, at moments of historical rupture, our hunger for being grows: and yet, it is exactly these times when we should make peace with our indeterminacy and discover the freedom of escaping our selves.

©2025 Alexander Douglas (P)2025 Penguin Audio Anthropology Political Science Politics & Government Sociology Funny
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Constructs a compelling argument from three distinctive thinkers. Moves at a nice pace, and is well read.

Valuable philosophical perspectives

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I like Douglas' refreshing take on identity. Stepping back from the everyday conundrums of who to be and thinking about the greater concept of identity makes room for a philosophical critique of said concept. However, I don't agree with Douglas on every point, could point out some logical issues, and think that he stretches the boundaries of interpretation on the three philosophies. That said, I still wholly recommend listening to the book for, in my view, it is not a practical guide to follow but a multifaceted idea described in detail, a great thought to keep thinking about.

interesting perspective given from three standpoints

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This rewarding audiobook / book is an excellent, fresh and clear perspective on "Identity" and the harm it can do, especially when clinging and grasping to it. On the positive side, this is also a book about how psychological flexibility and "emptiness" / kenosis can arise by becoming more independent of fixed identities and of rigid self-concepts. It is realistic enough to suggest that total independence may neither be possible nor necessary to gain the benefits of psychological flexibility.
I was reminded of the work of Iain McGilchrist - identity may largely, (but not entirely?) be a left-hemisphere construct / concept rather than a right hemisphere percept, and also of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and its emphasis on contextually-appropriate behaviour.
In ACT there is a principle that values are essential and so should be discovered and clarified, but should be held lightly. This book reminded of that principle with its treatment of identity i.e. some identity may be unavoidable but should be held lightly (and flexibly fitted to context as appropriate).
The parallels between the work of the ancient Chinese Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi, the 17th Century Dutch thinker Benedict de Spinoza, and 20th / 21st Century French polymath René Girard were eye-opening for me. As the Amazon description of the book explains, the author (Alexander Douglas) explores “how identity can be a spiritual violence that leads us away from truth”.
One interviewer / philosopher on YouTube drew a useful parallel between addiction and the clinging to identity. He suggested, in particular, a parallel between (A) the book’s principle about not controlling / grasping on to identity and (B) the second step of the 12-Step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous i.e. the need to relinquish the illusion of control and the ineffective, wilful reliance on a false self instead of a "higher power". Again, there is an echo of Iain McGilchrist's hemisphere hypothesis here and an echo of the sermon on the mount (Blessed are the poor in spirit (i.e the poor in identity / self concept) for they shall see God (rather than focussing their attention and efforts mainly on their self-concept).
This book / audiobook is so rich in ideas and principles that a short review cannot do it justice.
On finishing it, I have immediately started to listen / read it a second time and to research related books mentioned by the author.

Superb, eye-opening and richly rewarding

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A truly worldview changing book performed brilliantly by the author. I keep coming back to the ideas, and I believe it to have really captured something very true about human beings. Good philosophy ought to reveal something about humankind and this book achieves that.

Fascinating ideas expounded brilliantly

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