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Rene Descartes On Personal Identity

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For many years, the issue of self-identity has been a problem that philosophers and scholars have been to explain using different theories. The question on self –identity tries to explain the concept of how a person today is different from the one in the years to come. In philosophy, the theory of personal identity tries to solve the questions who we are, our existence, and life after death. To understand the concept of self-identity, it is important to analyze a person over a period under given conditions. Despite the numerous theories on personal identity, the paper narrows down the study to the personal theories of John Locke and Rene Descartes, and their points of view on personal identity. Furthermore, it makes a comparison of the views …show more content…

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. He borrows from other scholastic views about the universe and God. Most of his understanding of personal identity immensely contributed to Locke's theory later. Descartes early views on philosophy helped in trying to explain the concept of mind, consciousness, and self. His argument is because thought is the foundation of all knowledge, which contradicts scholastic understanding on the …show more content…

While Descartes believes that knowledge depends on complete certainty, Locke believes that there is no certain knowledge of existence. For Descartes, the two ways in which knowledge can be discovered is by through experience or deduction. He further argues that knowledge can only come from external sources or can be derived from deep within. On the other hand, the deduction is the only certain knowledge in existence.
In contrast, Locke believes, that knowledge can only have a high degree of certainty but cannot be certain. Since he does not focus much on certainty in his works, he believes that perception can play a major part in the process of knowledge. He further reiterates that knowledge is based on observations and senses. According to his him, ideas come from reflection and sensation while knowledge is founded on experience
In summary, I have covered the respective positions and views that both Locke and Descartes hold in respect with self-identity and consciousness. Therefore, based on the above, I am clearly in support of Locke's theory in comparison with the one his opponent. The distinct reasons why I consider such a position are discussed

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Possibly the most knowledgeable of the three, DesCartes is most concerned with “seeking the true method of arriving at a knowledge of everything” (110). DesCartes is so particular about making sure the knowledge he does have is actual knowledge, that he creates a method to being skeptical (111). He discerns that the only barrier to knowledge is what you haven’t seen or experienced to clearly be true. According to the French thinker, we know we exist, God exist, and that what we know comes through self observation and observation of others. Under these circumstances, there is no real limitation except to got out and learn what is

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Notre Dame ID: 902008117 In René Descartes ' Mediations on First Philosophy, Descartes abandons all previous notions or things that he holds to be true and attempts to reason through his beliefs to find the things that he can truly know without a doubt. In his first two meditations Descartes comes to the conclusion that all that he can truly know is that he exists, and that he is a thinking being. In his third meditation, Descartes concludes that he came to know his existence, and the fact that he is a thinking being, from his clear and distinct perception of these two facts. Descartes then argues that if his clear and distinct perception would turn out to be false, then his clear and distinct perception that he was a thinking being would not have been enough to make him certain of it (Blanchette).

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In chapter 5, “The Problem of Personal Identity” from Problems of Philosophy, authors James and Stuart Rachels discuss the everlasting wonders of what makes you, you. Rachels speaks about the question, of who we are and how we define our identity. The chapter discusses theories that philosophers have come up with to help us get a better understanding of what defines us and gives us an identity. The authors described the theories like The Bundle-Theory, The Same-Body Theory, and The Memory Theory and examined the argument and counter argument.

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Locke’s philosophy can be observed through sections of the United States Declaration of Independence. A logical and scientific approach to socioeconomic, political, and religious matters advocated a profane view of the world producing a common awareness of progress. Individuals can and

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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”.

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In the sixth meditation, Descartes postulates that there exists a fundamental difference in the natures of both mind and body which necessitates that they be considered as separate and distinct entities, rather than one stemming from the other or vice versa. This essay will endeavour to provide a critical objection to Descartes’ conception of the nature of mind and body and will then further commit to elucidating a suitably Cartesian-esque response to the same objection. (Descartes,1641) In the sixth meditation Descartes approaches this point of dualism between mind and matter, which would become a famous axiom in his body of philosophical work, in numerous ways. To wit Descartes postulates that he has clear and distinct perceptions of both

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Anh Nguyen - PHIL 256 Final Descartes’s arguments for the existence of God and its fallacies Descartes (1596 – 1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician and scientist. At an early age, he received his education from the Jesuits and the experience with the Aristotelian ideals there upset him, yet the field of mathematics fascinated him with its precision, uniform certainty and necessity. This dissonance eventually planted a seed into his mind and drove him to question about the nature of knowledge, namely whether it can match mathematics’ indubitableness. Descartes’ attempts in resolving the problem resulted in his Meditations of First Philosophy (1641), which was written in response to queries regarding his new philosophical basis for a novel way to approach the system of knowledge. Upon its publication, Descartes’ Meditations provoked controversy among the Aristotelians – indeed it was an assault on the Aristotelian

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Furthermore, after showing Locke’s view of the consistence of personal identity over time, I will talk you through Thomas Reid’s “transitivity of identity” argument. Following that, I will introduce you to Irving Copi’s definition of personal identity and my interpretation of it. In the end, I will summarize all the ideas and points of view, to come to my final conclusion, that you are NOT the same person as you were when you were six years old. Locke’s identity of consciousness states that there is a difference between a human being and a person. A human being is just the body of a person, everything that is considered as existing through its materiality in our bodies.

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Topic: René Descartes’s argument that the fundamental basis of our knowledge should be doubted and looked upon to see the reality of our mind and our false experiences. I agree with Descartes arguments for the following point given above and from research. Topic Background: Famous philosopher Descartes developed his reasoning of doubt throughout his book, “Meditation on First Philosophy.” In this book, he reveals six meditations in which describe the fact and the reasoning behind with.

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In John Locke’s, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke develops an argument for the existence of God. In the the following paper, I shall first reconstruct Lockes’ argument for his claim of God’s existence. I shall then identify what I take to be the weakest premise of the argument and explain why I find it in need of justification. The following is a reconstruction of Lockes’ argument: 1) Man has a clear perception of his own being 2)

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Much of the work done to support the theory of personal identity has been through thought experiment and illusory scenarios. The psychological approach to personal identity discusses the theory of memory and the importance of our mind and brain in personal identity and creating who we are as an individual. Likewise, the psychological approach to personal identity addresses the role of our brain in creating what we’ve become through our past experiences. John Locke, the key theorist in the theory of memory believed consciousness and personal identity were strongly related. However, this theory fails to acknowledge a person’s beliefs, desires or characteristics through which they express themselves through.

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In the Second Meditation, what is the Cogito, and what does it tell me for certain about my own existence? What is strongest and what is weakest in Descartes’ account? The second meditation is based on the connection between a conscious and an existing body. Descartes has one main problem that he wishes to solve “How can he be sure that any of his beliefs are true?”

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Both philosophers acknowledged that the self was integral to the origin on the knowledge. The self was the start to philosophical reflection. Although Hume did not share the belief in the existence of the self compared to Descartes, he understood humanities with it; "our propension to confound identity with relation is so great, that we are apt to imagine something unknown and mysterious connecting the parts (126) " This exemplifies that Hume is conscious of the wants and desires of humans with their mind and soul.

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This paper will critically examine the Cartesian dualist position and the notion that it can offer a plausible account of the mind and body. Proposed criticisms deal with both the logical and empirical conceivability of dualist assertions, their incompatibility with physical truths, and the reducibility of the position to absurdity. Cartesian Dualism, or substance dualism, is a metaphysical position which maintains that the mind and body consist in two separate and ontologically distinct substances. On this view, the mind is understood to be an essentially thinking substance with no spatial extension; whereas the body is a physical, non-thinking substance extended in space. Though they share no common properties, substance dualists maintain

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Locke also asserted that humans are blank states at birth. According to him, “All ideas come from sensation or reflection. Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas” (Locke, 1690, p. 96). However, Baillargeon’s research described earlier in the paper showed that infants possess certain knowledge from birth, such as the principle of persistence. Also, Locke’s claim fell into contradiction later in his paper.

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