Theories Of Personal Identity
One of the biggest fundamental questions in philosophy has to do with ourselves and what exactly makes us, us. What makes a person a person?
What is personal identity? Personal identity is the question of “who am I?” Am I just a brain that controls the chemical and electrical impulses in my body? Or am I a mind that controls all of my thoughts and feelings? Or am I a combination of both? Philosophy strives to answer these questions, and study the theories of existence and reality.
The question of personal identity and self are really at the root of philosophical theorization. Many philosophical arguments stem from this topic, and it is no surprise that ancient philosophers such as Descartes and Locke spent many days and nights pondering the
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More importantly, how can we know for sure that we exist?
Rene Descartes was a mathematician and philosopher. He is sometimes hailed as the “father of modern philosophy” (Rene Descartes Biography). Descartes’ ideas were revolutionary in his time period. While the topics that he explored weren’t new, his way of approaching and dealing with the topics was something that had never been seen before. Before Rene Descartes’s philosophy, humans were believed to be spiritual beings, and the mind, body, and soul were all tied together.
Descartes argued that while we, as humans, are fully capable of understanding our mental faculties, it is harder for us to fully understand our bodies. Descartes had a theory that he called Mind Body Dualism (sometimes referred to as ‘Cartesian Dualism’). Mind Body Dualism is the theory that the mind and body are “distinct kinds of substances or natures” (Mind-Body Dualism). This suggests that the mind and body are two entities that function separately from one another, and there is not a possibility of unity between the two
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The phrase roughly translates into “I think, therefore I am.” (Cogito, ergo sum. 2015). In other words, Descartes is saying that our minds and our thoughts are how we prove that we exist. Therefore, self can be defined with the mind.
Descartes tied consciousness to thought. Descartes believed that a “thought is something ‘in us’ of which we are conscious.” (Jorgensen). Idea of sub-consciousness was not invented yet in Descartes
Argument Against The Cogito
1624 Words | 7 PagesIn saying “I think, therefore I am”, Descartes is at the same time presupposing that there is actual thought processes going into stating that statement. However, it may actually not be the case. Consider this. A computer engineer has randomly and unintentionally invented a computer code that, when executed, would cause the computer to say, “I think, therefore I am”. If so, to whom should we ascribe existence to?
Rene Descartes First Meditation Analysis
701 Words | 3 PagesThe seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes is considered by many to be the founding father of modern philosophy. The seventeenth-century marked a turning point in history, Europeans began to explore the world by sea in search of new trade routes and moved away from the traditional Catholic Church to focus on scientific discoveries. One of Descartes most famous pieces of work was the Meditations on the First Philosophy, published in 1641. The Meditation on the First philosophy, which comprises of six meditations, is essentially summarizing a collection of thoughts Descartes had previously written about in his earlier text, the Discourse on Method.
Descartes Substance Dualism
877 Words | 4 PagesHence, Descartes has not adequately established that mind and body are two really distinct substances. The mind is not fully independent of the body, nor is the body completely independent of the mind, and therefore both cannot be understand as separate substances according to Descartes definition. The body as an extension cannot function without the mind, and the mind cannot exist as separate from the body. Therefore the dualistic nature that Descartes suggests is
Descartes Sixth Meditation Analysis
1919 Words | 8 PagesIn the sixth meditation, Descartes postulates that there exists a fundamental difference in the natures of both mind and body which necessitates that they be considered as separate and distinct entities, rather than one stemming from the other or vice versa. This essay will endeavour to provide a critical objection to Descartes’ conception of the nature of mind and body and will then further commit to elucidating a suitably Cartesian-esque response to the same objection. (Descartes,1641) In the sixth meditation Descartes approaches this point of dualism between mind and matter, which would become a famous axiom in his body of philosophical work, in numerous ways. To wit Descartes postulates that he has clear and distinct perceptions of both
Descartes Second Meditation Rhetorical Analysis
723 Words | 3 PagesHe reasons that the idea of the body is the ideas of something extended like shape and size. This predicts the mind and body dualism, and the regulation of essential and supplementary qualities. Descartes found the essence of the mind which is to think; and the embodiment of matter, which is to be expanded. He also infers that despite his underlying beliefs, the psyche is a far superior knower than the body and that it is more realistic than the material world. Descartes infers that he must know his mind more than anything.
Nietzsche's Philosophy: Discussion Questions
1227 Words | 5 PagesHe noticed while he was doubting everything including his own knowledge, he was doubting. In order to doubt, you need to think, and henceforth he came to the knowledge that he was looking for which is in order to Doubt you need to think. That "breakthrough" was convinced him that the proof of his existence was the fact he was a thinking entity. Thus: I think therefore I am. Descartes' mistake was he used this fact for a bigger target which is his attempt to prove the existence of
Psychological Approach To Personal Identity Essay
1480 Words | 6 PagesIt 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
Descartes Substance Dualism Analysis
1070 Words | 5 PagesA French Philosopher from the 17th century, René Descartes, made an argument on substance dualism. His argument is about how humans are made up of spiritual and physical substances. He states that the mind is a spiritual substance, while the brain is a physical substance. In his argument, Descartes clearly expresses that mental things cannot be physical things. He argues that the body and the mind has to be distinct from one another.
Identity In Psychology
910 Words | 4 PagesOur identity is what we think of ourselves to be combined with how we choose to express it and further coupled with what others think is the best way of expressing ourselves. It is a thread of overlapping psychological states while being located in different locations. Creation of the self is always an active ongoing process where in, the answer to the question “Who am I?” is given by the story we tell about ourselves which highlights the interaction of the interior development of an individual’s personality and participation in society by internalising the cultural norms, acquiring different statuses and playing various roles in a particular context. It is a combination of our values, beliefs and our personality.
Essay On Cartesian Dualism
703 Words | 3 PagesThis paper will critically examine the Cartesian dualist position and the notion that it can offer a plausible account of the mind and body. Proposed criticisms deal with both the logical and empirical conceivability of dualist assertions, their incompatibility with physical truths, and the reducibility of the position to absurdity. Cartesian Dualism, or substance dualism, is a metaphysical position which maintains that the mind and body consist in two separate and ontologically distinct substances. On this view, the mind is understood to be an essentially thinking substance with no spatial extension; whereas the body is a physical, non-thinking substance extended in space. Though they share no common properties, substance dualists maintain
Derek Parfit's Theory Of Personal Identity
1354 Words | 6 PagesDerek Parfit is a British philosopher who specialises in problems of personal identity and he proposes that we separate the notions of identity and survival. He is one of the most prominent philosophers in the struggle to define the self. Parfit’s 1971 essay “Personal Identity” targets two common beliefs which are central to the earliest conversations about personal identity. The first belief is about the nature of personal identity; all questions regarding this must have an answer. Between now and any future time, it is either the case that “I shall exist or I shall not”.
Essay On Self And Identity
950 Words | 4 Pages2.1.1 Self and identity The connectivity between the self and identity is the primary attention in many of the current literature, as they attempt to determine the complex interplay of both. In contrast to seeing self as a separate, stable entity in isolation of contexts, the growing studies consider the self as ‘maker of meaning’ (Rodgers & Scott, 2008). In defining identity, Gee (2000) expresses that self as “core identity that holds more uniformly, for ourselves and others, across contexts” (p. 99). It could be understood then, the coherence in meaning made from different contextual experiences are held together by self to make the identity.
Rene Descartes On Personal Identity
1801 Words | 8 PagesHe borrows from other scholastic views about the universe and God. Most of his understanding of personal identity immensely contributed to Locke's theory later. Descartes early views on philosophy helped in trying to explain the concept of mind, consciousness, and self. His argument is because thought is the foundation of all knowledge, which contradicts scholastic understanding on the
Identity As A Social Construct Essay
1210 Words | 5 PagesIdentity is social construct that many have mistaken for something an individual is born with. There are many aspects of identity that one can inherit like genes that can drive a certain type of character and certain aspects of identity a person can adopt and build for themselves. However the most part of one’s identity is consistent of what the person wants and adopts for themselves and what the society/the people around him/her choose to give him/her. Identity is a said to not remain unchanged once established.
Cartesian Dualism Essay
762 Words | 4 PagesCartesian Dualism With the “new” Method of Doubt, Descartes arrived at the conclusion, that he can doubt everything except the existence of his own mind. And it is important to understand that he can doubt his physical body but not his mind, therefore he argues that there is a significant difference between Mind and Body. Modern science has shown how the brain is, simplified stated, a machine which causes thinking. For Descartes this was not his understanding of the brain. He rather thought that the brain can be understood as the connecting organ between the physical body and the immaterial mind.
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