Abstract
One of the fascinating questions about human beings is why we evolved such a strong capacity for individual identity. Identity is usually seen as an aspect of the individual’s separateness and autonomy, but it appears that identity evolved as part of our ultrasocial nature. In this chapter, I describe the intersubjective origin and functioning of individual identity, focusing on four key aspects. My emphasis is on the social ontogeny of individual identity and the complementary recognition of others’ identity and mental activity. First, identity is socially constituted in the richly synchronous interactive world of the infant. Infants only gradually come to recognize themselves as separate individuals who have authorship of their actions. A consciousness of oneself only emerges in relatively large-brained, intensely social species, suggesting that individual identity makes it possible for individuals to function and prosper in highly social environments. The emergence of individual identity can only occur in an interpersonal context because having an identity is a matter of differentiating oneself from others.