Overview

We present ourselves and encounter others through profiles. A profile shows us not as we are seen directly but how we are perceived by a broader public. As we observe how others observe us, we calibrate our self-presentation accordingly. Profile-based identity is evident everywhere from pop culture to politics, marketing to morality. But all too often critics simply denounce this alleged superficiality in defense of some supposedly pure ideal of authentic or sincere expression. This book argues that the profile marks an epochal shift in our concept of identity and demonstrates why that matters. You and Your Profile blends social theory, philosophy, and cultural critique to unfold an exploration of the way we have come to experience the world. Instead of polemicizing against the profile, Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul J. D'Ambrosio outline how it works, how we readily apply it in our daily lives, and how it shapes our values--personally, economically, and ethically. They develop a practical vocabulary of life in the digital age. Informed by the Daoist tradition, they suggest strategies for handling the pressure of social media by distancing oneself from one's public face. A deft and wide-ranging consideration of our era's identity crisis, this book provides vital clues on how to stay sane in a time of proliferating profiles.

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Reviews

You and Your Profile is a truly wonderful book that provides a penetrating exploration of today's conceptions of identity. This beautiful work offers powerful insights on the contemporary condition as well as a moving way to think about identity formation. -- Michael Puett, coauthor of The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us about the Good Life

Author Information

Paul J. D'Ambrosio is a fellow at the Institute of Modern Chinese Thought and Culture and associate professor of Chinese philosophy and dean of the Center for Intercultural Research at East China Normal University in Shanghai. He is coauthor, with Hans-Georg Moeller, of Genuine Pretending: On the Philosophy of the Zhuangzi (Columbia, 2017). Hans-Georg Moeller is a professor of philosophy at the University of Macau. His books include The Philosophy of the Daodejing and The Moral Fool: A Case for Amorality. James Romick considers voice-over the fourth or fifth phase of his forty-plus-year acting career, which includes nearly twenty-three years on Broadway. But never in his wildest imagination did he ever think that he would be recording and producing audiobooks at home in his den from a vocal booth that he designed and built himself, stocked with professional grade recording equipment and a spiffy DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) on his computer. Thus far, he has recorded and produced some seventy-plus audiobooks, with many more waiting in the queue. He also studied audio engineering in the late eighties at The Institute of Audio Research in NYC, when editing analog tape with a block and razor blades was still the norm. Digital recording, editing, and mastering is so much easier.

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