The Unfolding of Identity – Article 2: The Principle of Identity and the Necessity of Being

The fragmentation of identity, examined in the first article, is not an arbitrary historical accident but the necessary unfolding of contradictions inherent in partial perspectives. If identity, in its true form, is not something contingent and constructed but eternal and indestructible, then the contradictions of relativism and self-creation must ultimately give way to the recognition of identity as grounded in the necessity of Being. To understand this, we must return to one of the most fundamental principles of thought and reality: the principle of identity.

The Indestructibility of Identity: Axiomatic Truth and Its Denial

The principle of identity—expressed as A is A, or that a thing is itself and cannot be other than what it is—forms the foundation of all coherent thought. Without it, reasoning collapses into absurdity, and any claim, including the claim that identity is fluid or self-constructed, becomes self-defeating. To say that something is something else presupposes that both terms have an identity that remains intact throughout the assertion.

Yet, modern and postmodern thought, in their rejection of fixed identities, have sought to undermine this principle. The notion that identity is endlessly malleable assumes that something can be and not be at the same time—a direct violation of the law of non-contradiction. If identity were wholly contingent, then no stable reference could exist, rendering even the assertion of fluidity meaningless. This reveals a profound irony: the very attempt to negate stable identity affirms it in an unavoidable way.

The Paradox of Self-Creation

A common assertion in contemporary discussions of identity is that individuals create their own identities, that identity is not given but invented. But this premise harbors an inherent contradiction. If identity is wholly self-created, then who is doing the creating? A self that supposedly constructs itself must already exist in order to engage in this construction, meaning that identity is presupposed even in its supposed invention.

This paradox is not merely a philosophical curiosity but a reflection of a deeper necessity: identity is not something imposed from without or constructed from within—it is an eternal reality that necessarily appears in time. The momentary configurations of identity, as they appear in history and individual experience, are partial expressions of an identity that is already whole. The contradictions we observe in shifting notions of identity are thus not signs of identity’s dissolution but of its eternal structure pressing against the limits of finite perspectives.

The Totality of Identity and the Necessity of Being

If identity were purely contingent, it could be annihilated. But what is contingent is never truly real—it is merely an appearance of something deeper. True identity is not something that comes into being and can cease to be; rather, it is part of the eternal structure of reality itself. Just as Being cannot be reduced to nothingness, identity cannot be reduced to mere flux or social construct.

Imagine a puzzle where each piece by itself seems incomplete, disjointed, and even contradictory. If one were to judge the entire image based on a single fragment, it would appear chaotic or nonsensical. But when all pieces are seen together, they reveal an unbroken totality. Identity, in its eternal form, is not limited to any singular moment or phase but is the totality of all that it ever is. What appears as fragmentation is merely the isolated moment, disconnected from the whole.

Thus, the West’s struggle with identity is not simply a crisis but a necessary stage in the appearing of this broader totality. The contradiction of self-creation and fluidity is not a refutation of identity but its incomplete recognition. Identity, in its truest sense, is not something to be defined arbitrarily but something to be unveiled as part of the indestructible structure of Being.

Conclusion: Toward the Recognition of Eternal Identity

The principle of identity is not a mere abstraction; it is the foundation of all that is. The contradictions of modern thought do not disprove it but point toward its inevitable recognition. Identity, far from being lost in the shifting sands of relativism, is pressing toward its full appearing. The unfolding of history, with all its apparent instability, is not a negation of identity but the necessary revelation of what identity has always been.

In the next article, we will explore how this recognition of identity in Being resolves the contradictions that have appeared throughout history, leading to a paradigm in which identity is no longer seen as an arbitrary construct but as an eternal necessity. The crisis of identity is not the end but the transition toward a deeper, inevitable recognition of truth.