In “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” John Locke defines a person’s identity by comparing the similarity between that person’s consciousness at two different times or stages. Specifically, Locke concludes for a person at a given time A to be considered the same person at a previous time B, it is both necessary and sufficient that the person at time A remembers his actions and thoughts at time B. Meanwhile, Thomas Reid criticizes Locke’s conclusion by emphasizing that if consciousness can be temporary, Locke’s identity definition is unstable. One example Reid uses to counter-argue Locke’s identity viewpoint is the brave officer. In this paper, I support Locke’s account of personal identity by explaining Locke’s viewpoint under my personal understanding, showing the weakness in his argument that is challenged by Reid’s brave officer example, and finally suggesting two ways in which Locke could respond to Reid’s counter-argument.
Locke’s account of personal identity is his solution to the personal identity problem. Traditionally, philosophers argue that in order for a person at time A is the
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Reid states that a brave officer who remembers being punished in school during his childhood is identical to that boy being punished, according to Locke’s claim. However, when the brave officer, who is now a general with medals, only remembers him being a brave officer without remembering being punished in school, the general is identical only to the brave officer but not the young boy. This example is problematic to Locke’s argument because according to Reid, since the general is identical to the brave officer, and the brave officer is identical to the young boy, the general should be identical to the young boy. Meanwhile, the general is also not identical to the young boy because he does not remember being punished in school as a child. Therefore, Reid concludes that Locke’s argument is