Talk by Dr David Vella: Rediscovering Oneself Through a Story of Conscience

Rediscovering Oneself through a Story of Conscience: Refiguring Identity in a Consumer Culture' - Dr David Vella

We live in a culture that is concerned with finding our truest self, our authenticity.  Claiming to assist us in this mission are various self-professed experts and the public media that offer us certain life-strategies for adoption, which we often conform to.  Fashion, entrepreneurship, travel, fitness, and self-spirituality are the most popular. 

 In our hyper-capitalized and consumerist society, however, these lifestyles are often designed by corporate companies with the purpose to make profit.  As such they are targeted toward instant appeal and quick feelgood effects, reflecting and celebrating the consumer ideology that has pervaded our everyday lives with its emphasis on personal wellbeing and status.

This talk seeks to introduce an alternative identity model that redefines our authentic self through a self-story about conscience.  It conceives our original self as committed to a…