Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Personal Identity Through Time
- Types of change
- Qualitative change
- changes to an objects
properties: painting a chair
- Numerical Change
- when something changes so radically that it is no
longer the same object, example: reducing a chair
to a pile of ashes
- important for issues of personal responsibility - the
general and the boy picking apples in the orchard
Reid
- Where does our unity of identity come from?
- DESCARTES concluded that the essense of
the self, because of inevitable constant
physical change must be completely non
physical in order to have unity of identity.
The mind is NOT composite but the body
IS. Cartesian Dualism
- the cogito
- LOCKE argued that the mind is not what underpins
personal identity, as if we were reincarnated we
would not be able to concieve of ourselves as the
person in our previous life. Emphasis is on identity
- HUME argued that
we discover our
identity through
memory, and that at
the core of our
identity we are a
'bundle' of
perceptions.
Descartes countered
this by asking who
owned this bundle.
- WILLIAMS rejects the view that only
psychological continuity is important, saying that
we recognise eachother physically, and that
having a physically consistent brain is enough
- KANT argued that as we
could never hope to know
anything about the self
other than that it exists - so
we must conclude that the
concept of self or 'I' is
logically primitive, as
STRAWSON argued.
- PARFIT is Lockean inso far as he believes
that psychological connctedness is
important, but they differ in his emphasis
on survival rather than identity. Transitivity of memory.
- physical
- although we are constantly
growing/changing, we exist
continuously, so we can be
said to have physical continuity
to a degree
- Theseus' ship
- using this Hobbes suggests that
despite complete numerical change, the
ship is the same entity as the change
happened over a long period of time
- is it necessary?
- Teleportation thought experiement
- using this parfit suggests that physical continuity is
not necessary, as if we are destroyed and
replicated our identity remains intact.
- is it sufficient?
- Brain transplant thought experiement
- Shoemaker's example suggests that
physical continuity is not sufficient, as the
mind survives in the absence of the original
persons body.
- psychological
- based on the unity and
connectedness of our minds
through time
- Prince and the Cobbler
- Through this example Locke suggests that there is a difference betweet person and man
- Is it necessarry?
- The General and the Boy
- Reids example demonstrates that
forgetfullness could cause problems
of responsilibilty in personhood
through time, as some of our 'selves'
are linked and others are not,
however continuity remains through
links between each self.
- Is it sufficient?
- Brain brothers
- Parfits experiemnts suggests that
phsychological continuity is not a
sufficient condition for personal
identity because even though the
criteria for continuity have been
met, we would not condier both of
his brohers to be Derek
- Survival Vs Identity
- SURVIVAL is a broader term, and
allows for continuity through
transitivity rather than sameness
- However, it is perhaps too
elusive, and thus not practical
for implementation in court
cases etc.
- Parfit's
Prague
example
- IDENTITY implies sameness, or the need
for at least one distinct unchanging
characteristic