Our unchosen circumstances which minimize self

 conceptions of the self ARE minimized by  the personal and ethical import 

of unchosen circumstances, 

interpersonal relationships, 

and biosocial forces which penetrate and deconstruct the 

that naive “inner citadel” of selfhood

The multiple, sometimes fractious sources of social identity constituted at the intersections of one’s gender, sexual orientation, race, class, age, ethnicity, ability, and so forth, are ignored. 

Likewise, these conceptions of 'self' deny the complexity of the intrapsychic world of unconscious fantasies, fears, and desires, and they overlook the ways in which such dynamics intrude upon conscious life. 

The modern philosophical construct of the rational subject projects a self that is not prey to ambivalence, anxiety and depression, obsession, prejudice, hatred, or violence. A disembodied mind, the body is peripheral—a source of desires for homo economicus to weigh.

Age, looks, sexuality, biological composition, and physical competencies are considered extraneous to the self.