ABSTRACT
This part conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters. The part shows the appropriating this Aristotelian ontology, Descartes developed an essentialist and dualist notion of the self, which has greatly influenced the Western view of the self. The Cartesian distinction between “inside” and “outside” also safeguards freedom and responsibility; although it is recognized that the world influences our behavior, the existence of an inner realm secures the possibility of determining our own actions and decisions and, therefore, also the possibility to ascribe those actions and decisions to ourselves. The importance of interactions is also expressed in both Nietzsche and Peirce’s conceptions that the meaning of a thing is completely exhausted by listing the practical consequences that it implies. In Peirce’s account, organization and habit formation are strongly highlighted and structurally elaborated; they provide important directives for understanding how identities can have a durable form.
