Jay-Zizioulas
So I'm reading a chapter from Communion and Otherness on the ontology of personhood, trying to define the pronoun "I" in theological terms. Zizioulas does "relational ontology": He believes, roughly speaking, that we are who we are entirely because we are in relationship, and that our particularity-- our I-ness-- comes before everything else because we bear the image of God, whose being is secure because the trinitarian relationship is perfect and eternal.
As I read, I realize that Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" is stuck in my head:You must not know 'bout me
You must not know 'bout me
I could have another you by tomorrow
Don't you ever for a second get to thinkin'
You're irreplaceable
Or, as Zizioulas puts it,Personhood is about hypostasis, that is, the claim to uniqueness in the absolute sense of the term, and this cannot be guaranteed by reference to sex or function or role, or even cultivated consciousness of the "self" and its psychological experiences, since all of these can be classified, thus representing qualities shared by more than one being and not pointing to absolute uniqueness.
In general, Zizioulas would take Jay-Z's side here: True personhood, as derived from the image of God proclaimed at baptism, is true precisely because it makes each person irreplaceable. In the immediate situation of relational sin, however ("rolling her around in the car that I bought you") that particularity is under radical threat, and along with it the roots of Jay-Z's uniqueness, at least within Beyonce's frame of reference.
If I ever teach this material, I've got to hang onto that. It's a terrific illustration for how quickly relational conflicts (in this case, Beyonce's domestic dispute with Jay-Z) can spiral into abstract-yet-urgent questions about our identity. There must also be some way to work Beyonce's mastery of Connect Four into this story.
As I read, I realize that Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" is stuck in my head:You must not know 'bout me
You must not know 'bout me
I could have another you by tomorrow
Don't you ever for a second get to thinkin'
You're irreplaceable
Or, as Zizioulas puts it,Personhood is about hypostasis, that is, the claim to uniqueness in the absolute sense of the term, and this cannot be guaranteed by reference to sex or function or role, or even cultivated consciousness of the "self" and its psychological experiences, since all of these can be classified, thus representing qualities shared by more than one being and not pointing to absolute uniqueness.
In general, Zizioulas would take Jay-Z's side here: True personhood, as derived from the image of God proclaimed at baptism, is true precisely because it makes each person irreplaceable. In the immediate situation of relational sin, however ("rolling her around in the car that I bought you") that particularity is under radical threat, and along with it the roots of Jay-Z's uniqueness, at least within Beyonce's frame of reference.
If I ever teach this material, I've got to hang onto that. It's a terrific illustration for how quickly relational conflicts (in this case, Beyonce's domestic dispute with Jay-Z) can spiral into abstract-yet-urgent questions about our identity. There must also be some way to work Beyonce's mastery of Connect Four into this story.