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Hume Personal Identity

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The primary source material for discussion of Hume's " theory" of personal identity Book I,Part IV is stated that "The identity, which we ascribe to the mind of man, is only a fictitious one, and of a like kind with that which we ascribe to vegetables and animal bodies." In this passage Hume's main argument is based on the personal identity which is a fictional that ascription of identity over time to persons is a mistake. One we all make a mistake and that is why it is explicable. Hume characterized the identity to the perceptions because there is no such a thing as personal identity that can attributed to humans. One of the important perception that Hume mentions is that relations of resemblance and causation. The relation of resemblance does not require the clarification. For this Hume states that "an image necessarily resembles its object" therefore perceptions of the same object will necessarily resemble each other. Moreover, he is also disregarding the existence of any …show more content…

According to Hume, he did not have a "theory of personal identity" and he was claiming that there is in fact of reality as "identity" which is also "personal identity". The idea of the "personal identity" he claims that fictitious a construct of the imagination as is identifying. Hume also denies that identity applies equally to living things and the self. He states that ""The identity, which we ascribe to the mind of man, is only a fictitious one, and of a like kind with that which we ascribe to vegetables and animal bodies. It cannot, therefore, have a different origin, but must proceed from a like operation of the imagination upon like objects."[Treatise, I, IV, VI]. In short, Hume's idea of the "theory of personal identity" is in fact a theory of how people make the mistake of thinking that having a personal identity because his descriptions of the mind's identification of causal relationship.

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I will wrap it up by giving reasoning to which theory better explains the meaning behind a person existing and persisting through time. The main problem with personal identity is that it is a constant debate over the defining characteristics that make an individual unique. Gretchen starts this debate with first seeking clarification between the terms “identical” and “exactly similar”. They use the Kleenex box example to illustrate the difference.

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Identity matters because it differentiates one person from another. Without an identity, a human would not be a human, because it is crucial to life. Each person has a distinct identity, which they are known for. But, as people grow, they notice and pick up on others’ habits, and make those habits their own. Those habits thus form a person’s identity.

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Think of the ‘loose’ and popular concept of identity as common sense. If you were to go to a river, step in, then run around a little then go back to that river and step in you would think, “well, I am no mathematician. But I think I count well enough to know I have stepped in this river twice.” Or if you were to get your car battery replaced with a brand new battery, you do not say that you got a new car. These are examples of the ‘loose’ concept of identity.

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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.

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David Hume, a highly influential Scottish empiricist philosopher and historian in the 18th century, is well known in philosophy for his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, in which he discusses many philosophical matters, including epistemology, moral theory, miracles, free will and determinism. Hume follows the arguments regarding these topics wherever they lead without hesitation, resulting in many disturbing, but well-grounded conclusions. In Section IV of the Enquiry, Hume makes several claims: all of our reasonings concerning matters of fact are derived from cause and effect, all knowledge of cause and effect is based on experience, and any reasonings based on cause and effect depend on the assumption that the future will resemble

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