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Psychological Approach To Personal Identity Essay

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HD214 Recurrent Themes in the History of Ideas (BAJH) Topic 2: Personal Identity: Continuity through Time, Selfhood and Responsibility For the purpose of this assignment I have decided to discuss the psychological approach to personal identity. The personal identity theory questions the ideas about life and death and what happens to us after we die? Personal identity looks at the idea of a person and philosophical questions which may arise about “who am I” or “what will I become.” It questions our existence of who we are and how we change overtime. The issue of personal identity has been a contemporary issue for many philosophers over recent years. Many philosophers including Descartes and Plato believed that we are all immaterial souls or pure egos and firmly believed that we can exist after …show more content…

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. Furthermore, we are left unaware about death and what happens to our identity after we pass away. To end, we must be open to the ideas and beliefs other people may hold in terms of personal identity through narrative and bodily approaches. However, the psychological approach to personal identity best summaries the main principles many possess about our personal

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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.

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INTRODUCTION: This paper will argue that in John Perry 's “A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality”, despite Weirob being correct in her belief that personal identity is not purely represented by the immaterial/unobservable soul, personal identity is the product of the integration of the material and immaterial experience of an individual. (50) EXPOSITION: Perry 's “A Dialogue...”, features Gretchen Weirob, a philosophy professor, coming to terms with her own mortality after suffering life-threatening injuries from a motorcycle accident. Two friends come to chat with Weirob, and the three engage in a debate over how to qualify personal identity and the possibility of identity existing beyond death of the physical body.

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The purpose of this essay is to show that John Locke’s direct memory view of personal identity results in a person to be and not to be the same person at the same time. I will salvage Locke’s direct memory view of personal identity to avoid this contradiction. First, I will state Locke’s direct memory view of personal identity. Second, I will state Reid’s objection to Locke’s direct memory view of personal identity.

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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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The statements in ‘blanks’ (1) and (2) would have to be the same. This would make it both necessary and sufficient for personal identity. This philosophical conclusion leads me to John Lockes’ memory theory (Perry, 2008:35). John Locke stated that memory is the centre component of identity. Locke believed that it is through our consciousness that we remain the same ‘person’ over time.

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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.

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