The Law of Kindness: What can past and future selves learn from each other?

This thesis consists of two parts. The first part, the creative writing component, is an excerpt of 69,800 words from a novel called The Law of Kindness, a contemporary speculative fiction about a woman, Bee, who can write letters through time to her other selves. She wishes to undo her past mistakes, but at the least cost to herself.

The second part of this thesis is a 30,600 word critical commentary entitled What can past and future selves learn from each other? It uses the ideas of key theorists in analytic philosophy and psychoanalysis to examine what past and future selves can say to each other, and what they might learn. It focuses on a question at the heart of the conflict and misunderstanding between my protagonist’s older and younger selves; whether we are even the same person throughout life, and if we share the same ethical goals. The central role of the unconscious in uniting past and future selves is highlighted, and its role in generating elements of this novel.