The
purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your comprehension of one of two
classic
problems of philosophy: external world
skepticism or the criterion of personal identity. The
Logic and Nature of Personal Identity: Before you begin writing your essay, read Derek Parfit’s
paper “Personal Identity and the
Triplet Case” (excerpt from Reasons and Persons, 1986), available on
Blackboard.
It’s not as long as it looks, it will help you formulate
your ideas for this paper, and it is
very
well written. For your
paper, first, define and contrast “qualitative identity” and “numerical
identity.”Give an example of two numerically distinct items that are
qualitatively identical, and
then explain how two photographs could be of qualitatively
different but numerically
identical subjects. (2 paragraphs minimum, 30 points.)
Next explain that what philosophers mean when they bring up
“the problem of personal
identity” is the question “What keeps a person numerically
identical to him/herself over
a lifetime despite their undergoing possibly drastic
qualitative changes?” In other
words, how much could you change and still be you
(numerically speaking)? Give some
examples of people who change a lot and how its
philosophically questionable whether
or not they really still exist as the same person after
undergoing said change. A fictional example you might take inspiration from is a person who has
been turned into a zombie
or a werewolf. A non-fictional example you might take
inspiration from is Phineas Gage.
(1 paragraph minimum, 40 points.)
Explain the brain criterion of personal identity. What
reasons are there for thinking that
what makes you you is your brain? And then explain the
memory criterion of personal
identity. What do philosophers mean when they claim that
what makes you you are your
memories? What kind of memories? And does this criterion
imply that you were never a
one year-old, assuming you can’t remember being a one
year-old? (3 paragraph
minimum, 40 points.)
Personal identity is both symmetric and transitive –
explain what this means. Give
examples of transitive and symmetric relations other than
personal identity, and also
give an example of a relation that is neither transitive
nor symmetric. How does the
transitivity of personal identity solve the problem of how
an old person can be
personally identical with a one year-old child eighty years
ago, if they have no memories
in common and their bodies have no cells in common? (3
paragraphs minimum, 40
points.)
Then, explain what a “dividing” case looks like for Parfit.
While humans cannot divide
like amoeba, he thinks we can describe a case using
triplets that results in a scenario
very much like dividing amoeba in the relevant respects (it
involves very innovative
brain surgery). Describe this scenario and explain what
Parfit thinks happens to
someone if they “divide” in this way. Which of the two
resulting half-brained people
does Parfit think the original whole-brained person is
identical to, if either, and why? (2
paragraphs minimum, 40 points.)
Finally, we know that our
memories are stored in patterns of neural connections in our
brains, and so, in the future, scientists could
hypothetically discover the code used by
our brains to store memories and use this knowledge to
“implant” memories in our
minds by rewiring our neurons. In this hypothetical
scenario, scientists could scan your
brain and use this information to implant all of your
memories into a clone. Upon
awakening from surgery, the clone would have all of your
memories and no memories of
its own – the clone would think he/she is you. Imagine that
the brain scan procedure would
kill your brain if it happened to you. Nevertheless, it would allow all of your memories to be implanted
into a newer, fresher brain and younger, healthier body whenever you wished.
Explain whether or not the clones with your memories would be you. If this procedure
were offered to you, would you agree to it? Why or why not? (1paragraph
minimum, 30 points.)
Editing and Style
Your paper must be in a double-spaced, professional
12-point font. The text must be left-aligned.
Give it an appropriate title and bold and/or underline the
title. Make sure your name and date
are on your paper, but don’t put the name of the professor.
• The
paper does not contain any “filler,” i.e. sentences unrelated to the prompt or
their
paragraph’s main idea.
• The
paper has the proper typesetting spelling, grammar, paragraph structure and
editing.
