ABSTRACT
Philosophers have written volumes about the phenomena of self-knowledge, self-deception, and akrasia. The same cannot be said of forgetting yourself. A comprehensive philosophy of the self would include an account of this interesting phenomenon. This chapter discusses such an account and then links it to current concerns about awareness of group membership and racial identity. Among many African Americans, race-consciousness has become a matter of group pride. For them, forgetting race is "acting white" and acting white is something for which a black should be condemned. To the extent that it breaches an African American subgroup norm against acting white, forgetting race would seem to be explicable as an instance of forgetting yourself. People try not to forget themselves even when they are tired, angry, and intoxicated. For although the consequences of forgetting ourselves can be trivial and amusing, sometimes they are highly shameful and harmful to ourselves and others.
