Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
*Why do we still feel like the same person even after everything about us changes?*
Rebecca Goldstein argues that personal identity is tied to a deep form of self-directed mattering — a persistent commitment to our own continuation across time despite constant physical and psychological change.
0:21 Personal Identity and the Mattering Instinct
1:03 Why We Care About Ourselves Differently
2:22 Spinoza, Persistence, and Personal Identity
3:14 The Paradox of Remaining the Same Person
6:29 Can Personal Identity Be Self-Imagined?
*Rebecca Newberger Goldstein* is a MacArthur Fellow and National Humanities Medal recipient whose ten acclaimed books span philosophy and fiction, including her new work _The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us._
*More from Rebecca Newberger Goldstein on Closer To Truth:*
* Closer To Truth: The Podcast: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJr3pJl27pLLkP0kHQKL9nZh35UkgkR_
* Rebecca N. Goldstein - Closer To Truth: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJr3pJl27pJHIwgd48GqNCJ0XWg8vuLu
* Goldstein’s Mind-Body Problem: loc.closertotruth.com/theory/goldstein-s-mind-body-problem
* Closer To Truth contributor page: closertotruth.com/contributor/rebecca-newberger-goldstein
*Subscribe to Closer To Truth:* youtube.com/@CloserToTruthTV
*Join the Community:*
* Membership (5,000+ videos): closertotruth.com/register
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*Follow Us:*
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Closer To Truth, created and hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn, presents the world's greatest thinkers exploring humanity's deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence and sentience. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
#CloserToTruth #Meaning #RebeccaGoldstein #PersonalIdentity #PhilosophyOfMind
*Why do we still feel like the same person even after everything about us changes?*
Rebecca Goldstein argues that personal identity is tied to a deep form of self-directed mattering — a persistent commitment to our own continuation across time despite constant physical and psychological change.
0:21 Personal Identity and the Mattering Instinct
1:03 Why We Care About Ourselves Differently
2:22 Spinoza, Persistence, and Personal Identity
3:14 The Paradox of Remaining the Same Person
6:29 Can Personal Identity Be Self-Imagined?
*Rebecca Newberger Goldstein* is a MacArthur Fellow and National Humanities Medal recipient whose ten acclaimed books span philosophy and fiction, including her new work _The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us._
*More from Rebecca Newberger Goldstein on Closer To Truth:*
* Closer To Truth: The Podcast: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJr3pJl27pLLkP0kHQKL9nZh35UkgkR_
* Rebecca N. Goldstein - Closer To Truth: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJr3pJl27pJHIwgd48GqNCJ0XWg8vuLu
* Goldstein’s Mind-Body Problem: loc.closertotruth.com/theory/goldstein-s-mind-body-problem
* Closer To Truth contributor page: closertotruth.com/contributor/rebecca-newberger-goldstein
*Subscribe to Closer To Truth:* youtube.com/@CloserToTruthTV
*Join the Community:*
* Membership (5,000+ videos): closertotruth.com/register
* Audio Podcast: closertotruth.podbean.com
* Support the Show: closertotruth.com/donate
* Official Merchandise: bonfire.com/store/closertotruth
*Follow Us:*
* Facebook: facebook.com/CloserToTruthTV
* Instagram: instagram.com/closertotruth
* X: https://x.com/CloserToTruth
Closer To Truth, created and hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn, presents the world's greatest thinkers exploring humanity's deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence and sentience. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
#CloserToTruth #Meaning #RebeccaGoldstein #PersonalIdentity #PhilosophyOfMind
