As individuals, we stand in a special relationship with time: we
not only exist in time as a matter of pure fact, we are moreover
aware of our cross-temporal identity and existence. It is
particularly worthy of note that we conceive of ourselves as
remaining the same persons for the whole of our lives although
we quite obviously keep changing throughout - bodily and
mentally. It seems perfectly normal to look at a photograph from
one’s kindergarten age, to point at a tiny creature and to say:
“That’s me”. Even if it is impossible to discover any
significant surface similarity, no one would be really surprised
by such a statement. How does such a paradoxical phenomenon
arise? That human organisms undergo continual change cannot
provide a sufficient explanation. Apparently, different
underlying factors are at work here: for one, the peculiarities
of self-consciousness and the subjective perspective, and
furthermore, the capacity of the autobiographical memory of
individuals. To understand the complex phenomenon