Of What Do We Testify? A Meditation on Becoming ‘Good’ and on the Nature of ‘Self’ in Self-Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Noting that the concept of ‘self’ often is given short shrift in self-study research, the author engages in a mediation on self and self-study. Drawing on G.H. Mead’s conception of the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’ to define the self, the author explores the nature of and possibilities for self-study that addresses as a central question, ‘Of what do I testify?’ Such research is justified not only by the promise of greater congruence between beliefs and actions, but by the moral claim that better education flows from the increased goodness of educators who must function as trustworthy guides of the young. Noting the potential dangers of authenticity and congruence as motives in self-formation, including the rise of forms of fundamentalism, the author suggests sincerity as a promising moral alterative for self-study that takes ‘goodness’ seriously.