ABSTRACT
The concept of the 'self' plays an essential role in discussions of personal identity. Genomic information undergoes a specification as soon as it becomes part of the autobiographical self. The term genetic identity is used to express the fact that certain genes are 'exactly alike' in one or more individuals. In the Aristotelian tradition the soul is the formal principle which guarantees the identity of all living beings that is it is the substantial principle in virtue of which a body is a living body. Self-attributed genomic information might be connected with emotions, expectations, and preferences, which not only have a specific influence on one's behaviour but also on the interpretation of the information itself. An ontologically weak conception of self and personal identity is presupposed by Daniel Dennett, Owen Flanagan and Thomas Metzinger. Some promoters of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests assume that genomic information provides knowledge about not only one's biological but also one's autobiographical and social selves.
