  First, there is the Kantian view, advanced by Christine Korsgaard,  that conceiving ourselves as practical agents simply  requires us to view our lives as unified, despite the  weakness or strength of various psychological connections that may or may not obtain between our various temporal stages. My conception of  myself as a unified agent is not based on any metaphysical theory; it is instead based (a) on the basic need I have to eliminate  conflict among my various motivational desires in order to act  (producing my unified agency at any given time, i.e., synchronic  unity), (b) on my deliberative standpoint, within which I view  myself – a single deliberator/decider – as being over and above my various desires, weighing them and deciding between them, and (c) on my need to pursue any ends or carry out a  rational plan of life (presupposing my unified agency across time,  i.e., diachronic unity). In any case, I must conceive myself as a  unified agent both at a time and across time because I have only one  body with which to act. This unity, therefore, has no need of any  metaphysical support; instead, it is simply a practical requirement  of being an agent, a doer of deeds and a thinker of thoughts  (Korsgaard 1989).