The PERSON is how one “exists”, outside of one’s body, in the consciousness of others.
It is the totality of markers (names, labels, signifiers, attributes, descriptors, signs) used to refer (point) to, denote and describe a particular individual and her / his life.
It is how one is (i) recognized, identified, defined and addressed by the society and its institutions and (ii) experienced, remembered and related to by others.
The markers include (i) records, (ii) memories.
(i) Records are documents or data, tangible or electronic, created and held by societal institutions (government, professional, private), such as birth / marriage certificates, bank / health / group membership, photographs, mementos, texts, etc. Records can be public (e.g. license plate, social media) or privileged / confidential (e.g. medical records, emails, private documents, etc.)
Records are (i) created prior or at one’s birth – names, date and place of birth, names of parents, government ID (SSN), citizenship, anatomical gender, blood type, color of the eyes, skin, hair, height and weight and any other alphanumeric codes or ID tags / markers assigned to a newborn, (ii) accumulated in the course of one’s life, e.g. medical, educational, vocational, credit, banking, legal records, address(es), institutional, organizational and group memberships, titles, functions, roles, relationships, lifestyle choices, etc. or (iii) created posthumously, (as “history”) e.g. obituaries, gravestones, eponyms, monuments, documents, etc.
Records include products – all public or priviledged entities (things, objects, facts, events) one has created (authored) or changed in the course of one’s life.
(ii) Memories are how one has been experienced and then remembered by other people. They are representations of how one’s body, (its appearance and behavior) and / or products have been experienced, “recorded” and remembered by others.
Memories made public become records. Records experienced by others become memories.
The markers are representations of one’s existence in the society and in consciousness and memory of others. The totality of markers, all records and memories, form a unique societal / interpersonal enclosure , (mold, “scaffolding”) around each individual PERSON, reflective of one’s existence, position and meaning in the society and among others.
The PERSON and the BODY
Fundamentally, records and memories point to the BODY, its physical existence (as presence) and its appearance and behavior. The BODY is EXPERIENCED and reflected by others as a PERSON and the PERSON is then projected back on one’s BODY. The BODY (it) becomes a PERSON (she / he / other) in the society among others. A PERSON devoid of markers becomes a BODY in its sheer physicality. Identification of one’s BODY (e.g its DNA) is the key marker in recognizing one as a particular PERSON. The appearance and behavior of the BODY, are influenced by the PERSON.
Anonymous strangers perceive each other as BODIES on which they project their initial EXPERIENCE of each other. However, once a full experience (sensation, awareness, ideation) of (i) each others’ BODIES (appearance and behavior) and (ii) some of the revealed markers are formed and encoded as representations in memory, the initial strangers (BODIES) become PERSONS to each other.
The PERSON and EXPERIENCE
The PERSON is experienced. One’s EXPERIENCE (reflection) of oneself as a PERSON contributes to the formation of the experienced identity. Others’ EXPERIENCE of one’s PERSON (records and products) leads to the formation of public identity in memory and consciousness of others
The societal significance and meaning of how a PERSON (unique configuration of markers) is experienced by one and others are articulated and expressed in language – spoken, written or enacted. Language permeates and coheres (translates) the BODY, the PERSON and EXPERIENCE in the formation of one’s individual UNIQUENESS.
Failures of coherence (fragmentation, contradictions, conflicts, dissociation, mistranslation) may lead to various manifestations of psychopathology and corresponding markers of categories of psychopathology (diagnoses) addressed separately.
Only some of the markers describing a PERSON are actually known to the person they refer to, many others, particularly private memories and informal records held by others, are often unknown. Some markers may be mutually exclusive or contradictory.
Furthermore, makers can be assigned in error to a wrong individual (mistaken identity) or can be claimed to deceive (identity theft). The multiplicity of markers and marker domains allows deception, identity fraud, exploitation, abuse or violence. Other societal challenges based on markers and markers domains are stereotyping (e.g. gender, race), group-based tribalism, prejudice, bias present in politics, business and general social discourse of the moment (See Section 1.5. below)
Formation of the PERSON
Formation of a new PERSON begins, before conception, in the EXPERIENCE (consciousness) of others as an idea (thought, image, fantasy, desire). It then evolves through pregnancy as EXPERIENCE and MEMORY of all involved, including all public records (medical, public, private). After birth, as the body (behavior, appearance) becomes directly observable to others, the formation of the PERSON unfolds in time marked records, memories and products. Culture and language provide semantic context in which the markers are encoded and understood. The formation of the PERSON continues throughout one’s life, and usually, beyond, as memory and history.