ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces a theory of the self as “relational” and as a process, or as it will be called, the cumulative network model (CNM) of the self, and examines the sources of the theory. The theory was inspired from the insights of relational self theories in feminism and mereological four-dimensionalist theories in analytic metaphysics. The substantive model of the self as a cumulative network is developed by drawing on philosophers coming out of American pragmatism and naturalism, in particular, Royce, Mead, and Buchler. The theory aims to bridge these several philosophical traditions and to show that there are unifying threads between them. It also challenges the idea that metaphysical and practical concerns should be kept separate, and argues that practical concerns about agency, autonomy, and responsibility do not undermine metaphysical concerns about the nature of the self and personal identity. The chapter also locates the theory of the cumulative network self in the array of other relational self theories and shows how the book provides a novel contribution by its unique bridging of feminism, analytic philosophy, and American pragmatism and naturalism.
