Self, Narrative Perspective of Copyright © Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science ISSN: 2037-2329 and the author. No part of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without the prior permission of the Editors. To refer to the content of this article, quote: INTERS – Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science, edited by G. Tanzella-Nitti and A. Strumia, www.inters.org DOI: 10.17421/2037-2329-2014-MM-1 Author: Omowumi Ogunyemi I. Introduction - II. Narrative Structure of Human Lives: Philosophical Reflections - III. Narratives in Contemporary Psychology: Autobiographical self and Narrative Psychology - IV. A Brief Presentation of the Autobiographical Self in Contemporary Neuroscience - V. Conclusions I. Introduction Narratives are important from cultural and historical perspectives. Oral transmission of values in African traditions through storytelling is a well-known example of the use of narratives to express historical events and other important ideas like moral values, beliefs in divinities, the origin of human existence the meaning of life, and the importance of virtues to living a fulfilled human life. Thus, in many traditional African settings, narratives are not just works of art but are a means of grooming personality, building a personal identity and play an important role in the transmission of values across generations. Greek mythology also shows the use of narratives to express ideas which are central to understanding the human being, human actions, many events in human life and the human being’s relationship with the divine beings. Narratives have stayed with humans along the centuries. Today, they are useful for understanding the structure of human lives in varied fields that study the nature of the human being from different perspectives. Contemporarily, different fields of study, such as philosophy, theology, psychology and the neurosciences affirm that narratives are rooted in human nature and that human life has a narrative structure. This implies that, for many theorists within these fields (each field having targets and autonomy in its own methods of study) human lives have been described as narratives and the human being is described as being within the process of creating a personal narrative which is intertwined with those of others and with the narrative of the community. In everyday experience, we tell stories to explain things to others. We explain our actions and projects to others, starting from a beginning to an end. When people we meet tell us the