ipl-logo

Cartesianism: Explanation Of Self And Personal Identity

1562 Words7 Pages

Self and personal identity looks at whether or not a person that has gone through various experiences in the past is considered as the same person in the present (Chapman, 2015,lecture slides: 3) and two approaches have been created in order to answer this question. The first approach is known as Cartesianism and this states that the self and personal identity are a part of the mind or soul, which is considered as an immaterial object that can exist outside of its vessel, which is the body. According to this approach, our soul does not need to be created by birth nor can it be destroyed by death due to its immateriality and unlike the body, it is not made of different parts that are responsible for its function such as the heart (Chapman, …show more content…

By looking at Animalist objections to Cartesianism, such as how an Animalist would argue that physical interaction is a portrayer of self, I was able to further support Cartesianism by indicating that being able to internalise what you are interacting with, requires one to have a mind or soul as Cartesianism suggests. I also looked at how a body on its own is not an absolute indicator of identity if that body is unable to produce its own thoughts by using a cell phone as an example. In my essay, the ship of Theseus concept was also used so as to support Cartesianism over Animalism as I was able to prove that in relation to this account, even if every physical part of the body was replaced, the presence of the immaterial soul would still allow your identity to stay in tact, unlike with Animalism whereby replacing parts instead of just changing them creates a new identity that is separate from the previous one. I also discussed Locke’s view on Animalism and how his concept of memory and personal identity being linked to one another creates a possibility that there may be many versions of the same person if they are able to recall the same past events. However, due to the lack of evidence that in support of this view and by looking at Reid’s response to this possibility, I was able to show that it would be incorrect to say that one who has lost their memories is no longer the same person which proves that Cartesianism is ultimately the more plausible

Show More
Related
792 Words | 4 Pages

Every type of person struggles with a thing we call, identity. Personal identity come from multiple factors from our race to our own personal beliefs. Some people say we have the choice to choose our own identity, but is that always true? No, in fact other people can affect how we look and essentially identity our self’s. In the article called.

Read More
773 Words | 4 Pages

In “A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality”, Gretchen Weirob and Sam Miller conduct a philosophical debate about the possibility of a continued existence after death. Weirob argues that she herself cannot exist after death because her identity is composed of her body, rationality, and consciousness. In Derek Parfit’s “Personal Identity” he ponders how the concept of identity works, and how the true nature of our identity affects some of the most important questions we have about our existence. I believe that Velleman did a better job of exploring the idea of identity than Weirob did.

Read More
607 Words | 3 Pages

In this paper I will explain Elizabeth of Bohemia’s main argument against Cartesian dualism. I will also explain why Churchland rejects Cartesian dualism and her arguments against it and what alternatives she has in mind. At the end I will explain why I think a Cartesian mind is not plausible. Descartes believed in Cartesian Dualism, which is saying that the mind and body are two different things. He says that the body can be divided into pieces but the mind/soul are indivisible.

Read More
759 Words | 4 Pages

In academic article “Who Am I” by Beverly Daniel Tatum; she talks about the complexity of identity, which defined as a person. She describes the multiple identities of different kinds of people and their significance in the community. She illustrate the how person past, historical event, family background, experiences, and thought of person has impact on the personal identification. The concept of past, present, and future, those characterize the person identity. She explains how gander of person is the part of identity, which build identity.

Read More
1276 Words | 6 Pages

How others see you is influenced by material, social, and physical constraints. This causes a tension between how much control you have in constructing your own identity and how much control or constraint is exercised over you. How we see ourselves and how others see us differ in many ways, but is an important factor of our identity. “A Lesson Before Dying”,

Read More
1423 Words | 6 Pages

The argument of whether or not a human has a soul has been argued throughout centuries. Derek Parfit discusses two separate theories of personal identity, Ego Theory and Bundle Theory. The argument of which present a more accurate account of personhood is very hard to determine. The Ego Theory has some flaws such the soul is separate from the body and is a immaterialist object within us. Bundle Theory is reinforced and proven by the split-brain case, however it can lead to the argument that there is no self.

Read More
1354 Words | 6 Pages

Derek Parfit is a British philosopher who specialises in problems of personal identity and he proposes that we separate the notions of identity and survival. He is one of the most prominent philosophers in the struggle to define the self. Parfit’s 1971 essay “Personal Identity” targets two common beliefs which are central to the earliest conversations about personal identity. The first belief is about the nature of personal identity; all questions regarding this must have an answer. Between now and any future time, it is either the case that “I shall exist or I shall not”.

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

Persistence is the view that persons have psychological continuity, thus, a person is the future being that inherits the mental features from that person. A person is also the past being whose mental features they have inherited. Olson refers to this question of persistence as the “traditional problem” of personal identity. The question of persistence asks what is essential and adequate for a person existing at one time to be identical with something present at another time. Therefore, Olson believes that contemporary philosophers think an answer to this question would resolve all there is to know about the metaphysics of personal identity (“An Argument for Animalism”, 613).

Read More
1970 Words | 8 Pages

(xxvii.¶3) I argue, why should memories be treated any differently? Can it not be said with utmost certainty that a person acquires new memories over time and thus the set of memories we have is constantly undergoing change? How can the memories be the basis for this notion of consciousness and by extension, for personal identity if the set of memories do not remain the same through time? Looking at the

Read More
742 Words | 3 Pages

“An individual perception of self, of body image, of time, of space influences the way he or she responds to object and events in his/her life. As individuals grow and develop through the lifespan, experiences with changes in structure and function, of their bodies over time influence their perceptions of self” (King, 1981, p. 19). These concepts give us the basis for understanding how individuals are personal systems. Perception, is “A process of organizing, interpreting, and transforming information from sense data and memory” (King, 1981, p. 24).

Read More
1129 Words | 5 Pages

He provides criteria of personal identity through time that consist of the necessary and sufficient conditions for the survival of persons. He considered personal identity to be based on consciousness (memory and experience) and not on the physical matter of the body. He argued that many people hastily identify the physical brain with consciousness. The body and the brain are physical objects; therefore, it is subject to change whilst consciousness consistently remains the same. Consequently, personal identity is not located in the brain, but in consciousness.

Read More
1104 Words | 5 Pages

In this essay I will be comparing the identity theory to the behaviorist’s theory. Both theories are similar in the sense that they are of the monists (physicalism) view but they do vary in many other ways that I will point out in the duration of my essay. I do believe that the behaviorist theory is the better argument for reasons I will outline in this essay. The identity theory The identity theory refers to the understanding that the mind and the brain are identical.

Read More
1801 Words | 8 Pages

According to Joseph Butler, Locke makes a serious mistake of not clearly differentiating between consciousness and identity. He argues that although memory can make one remember events of the past, there is no connection between those events and the person. Therefore, despite most scholars agreeing with most of his opinions, some say it does not explain the gap between memory and experience. On the other hand, Descartes focuses on meditations in trying to explain the concept of personal identity.

Read More
1443 Words | 6 Pages

The identity is considered to be formed out of fantasies of childhood and not to grow naturally. This happens in the mirror phase of development where, a person sees his image of self in others and does not has a whole image of self formed. This defines new relation between self and

Read More
1786 Words | 8 Pages

The self can be defined as ‘an organised, consistent set of perceptions of and beliefs about oneself’ (Passer, Smith, Holt, Bremner, Sutherland & Vliek, 2009, p676). We should aim to understand ourselves, learn know how we function

Read More

More about Cartesianism: Explanation Of Self And Personal Identity

Related Topics

Open Document