The study of Philosophy is very interesting, yet mind boggling at times. One may ask, what is Philosophy and who qualifies to be a philosopher? There is no easy way to understand philosophy as it can be complex and hard to comprehend if you are not skilled in this area. John Locke’s theory on personal identity and the brave officer problem happens to be two of these cases as there are some problems that need to be addressed. My goal is to identify these problems and offer my solution on Locke’s theory. Who is John Locke: John Locke is a British philosopher of the seventeenth century. John Locke had a humble, yet interesting way on giving his theory on personal identity. According, to John Locke, “Sameness of person equals the sameness of consciousness.” …show more content…
A is a little boy who stole candy from a store. (B) is a brave officer who wins a battle and receives a medallion; and (C) is an older gentle who is a retired general. The general remembers being a brave soldier who wins a battle and receives a medallion, but does not remember being the little boy who stole candy from a store. However, the brave soldier remembers being a little boy who stole candy from a store. This is a problem as Locke’s theory entails a contradiction. According, to Locke, “Sameness of memory is not only sufficient for personal identity over time, but it is also necessary for personal identity over time.” So, since memory is important then, (C) is identical to person (A), and (C) is not identical to person (A). This is the problem that I would like to provide some clarification …show more content…
It is not that Locke is wrong in regards to his theory, he is correct. Locke did not have access, to the technology, or research findings that we have available today, in regards to unconsciousness and subconsciousness. For example, Maria is a wealthy designer business owner who studied ballet at Julliard. Maria suffered from a server brain injury and has been in a coma for eight months. The doctors said, “It is unfortunate, but it is unlikely that Maria will make a full recovery.” Three months later Maria, starts to show signs of consciousness and a week later she wakes up. Maria did not remember anything about her life prior to her incident. So, her doctor recommended that she meet with a therapist. After five months of testing and therapy, Maria slowly begins to remember bits and pieces about her life. (C) is Maria who remembers being a business owner but does not remember studying ballet. (B) is Maria as a business owner who remembers studying ballet. (A) is a girl who studied ballet at Julliard. Even though (C) does not remember being (A) then (B’s) memory of being (A) creates a continuity. According, to Locke “Persons goes where their consciousness goes.” Therefore, it is not that one does not remember. It is that they have forgotten and needs something to bring forth these memories as the brain can only store a certain amount of information at a time and to