Are you a person? Social roles and human identity in early Confucianism - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Confucianism is often described as a philosophy that puts social roles at the centre of human life, to the extent that social roles don't just shape our responsibilities but actually constitute who we are. But what does it mean when our social roles change - does the new social role create an entirely new person? This week we're looking to early Confucian texts and exploring the possibility that maybe we're not really 'persons' at all.

An influential branch of Chinese philosophy says that our identity as a person is constituted by our social roles. But does this mean that if my social role changes, I become an entirely new person? And what about babies, who as yet have no social role?(Photo: Pexels)