On the one hand, "I" is often just a so-called indexical, or a semantic place-holder in a larger expression -- but on the other hand, it can carry the full semantic weight of the ego, or the sense of self. The first thing to note, in the latter sense, is that "I" is still just a word ("je" in French, "yo" in Spanish, "ich" in German, and so on). And like all words, it's a construct -- meaning that this elusive entity, the acting subject, only comes into being with the acquiring of language. (Interestingly, in English at least, the first form this concept takes is often "me" -- an object in the world, in other words, before the idea of an acting subject, an agent, really takes hold as something distinct.)
So: without language, there is no I, but also, no you, no she, no they -- the "I", your self, comes into existence only along with other selves, occupying the same ontological level -- and this is the answer to solipsistic worries. The importance of this can be missed if we take the word for granted in the usual way. But even the simplest words, such as "water", e.g., represent a complex fusion of sound and neural structure.
The point of the idea of the "self" as a construction, then, is that it's embedded from its foundations in the culture that arises out of language, a culture acquired in the course of learning to speak, and modified throughout the life of the speaking individual. A consequence is that the speaking individual is the smallest unit of culture, and that "culture" should be seen as an overlay or imprint on the neural structure of consciousness.
Jun 15/20
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