Exam 6: Identity

Reid claims that the memory of a past action makes one the same person as the one who performed that action.

Do you think that the elements of the Morion versus Bombos case have any application in reality? Explain.

Locke claims that if a prince had his consciousness transferred into the body of a cobbler, then the prince

What is Locke's response to the objection that one can lose memories? Is it convincing? Explain.

Recount the story of the prince and the cobbler in your own words. Do you agree with Locke's assessment of it? Explain.

What is Hume's explanation for why we think that we have an enduring self? Do you agree? Explain.

Can the self as Hume conceives of it survive after death? Explain.

What is a person for Locke? How does this inform his view of personal identity?

The court held that a rebuilt ship is identical to a previously dismantled ship only if they share the same parts.

Hume claims that there is no explanation for how we come to have an idea of the self.

In Parfit's double case, what does he imagine happening?

Reid agrees with Hume that our ordinary ways of speaking about the identity of objects admit of verbal disputes.

Reid charges Locke's view of personal identity with

Did the court decide correctly in the case of Morion versus Bombos? Explain.

If your best friend showed up to class with a radically different personality and set of memories, would you still think it was him or her? Explain. The Unimportance of Identity Derek Parfit

Is Locke's view of personal identity compatible with immortality? Explain.

Parfit wants to figure out whether he would survive if his head was transplanted onto another body.

Generally speaking, Reid understands identity as

Think of a different case (perhaps more realistic) that is analogous to the case of Morion versus Bombos and compare it with the case in the text. The Problem of Personal Identity John Perry

Locke defines a person as