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Minerva Psichiatrica 2002 March;43(1):51-6

Copyright © 2002 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

About identity

Callegari C.

The concept of identity, as studied in the philosophic, literary, psychological, psychoanalytic and artistic fields, is discussed. The main theoretical contributions that have contributed to its formation from the archaic beliefs of ancient Greece up to the modern interpretations of psychology and psychopathology are first addressed. The argument developed suggests that identity is endowed with a possibly changing plastic nature that justifies the introduction of the term sembianza (resemblance). Fairly appropriately, this term seems able to explain the emotional dynamism necessary to permit psychological equilibrium, in spite of the constant individually and socially imposed transformations.