John Schechtman's Argumentative Analysis

293 Words2 Pages
As we have learned from our previous discussions, John Locke believed that personal identity was a matter of psychological continuity. He believed that the “self”, or personal identity was not founded on substance of body, or soul, but rather consciousness. Schechtman agrees with Locke’s perspective with regards to the notion that a person’s identity is not that of physical substance, but sameness of consciousness. Not only are we human beings, but persons as well. However, Schechtman feels the understanding of persistence is unsatisfactory. “The alternative development of the Lockean view I suggest adds to the recognition of the importance of memory and brute self-consciousness a recognition of the importance of being intelligible to ourselves.”