As a part of my studies on identities , I’ve just read Judith Butler’s article Who Are You?.  According to Butler, the very need to explain ourselves is to make ourselves recognizable and understandable. We create narratives according to social and moral norms. The content might be different, but the framework is similar.

Butler then goes on to discuss the concept of exposure. She says if the story of a person is the story of exposure to others, then we have a mutual dependence on each other. She refers to Levinas’ “The anthropology of fragility”, in which he claims that when a face of the others is completely naked, you have the potential ability to hurt them.  We should be aware, then, of this and try to live our lives without hurting other people.

Is it possible to live a life without harming others? I’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments below!