Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Tim V KoltonPersonal Identity: Philosophical Views

Alan Watts once said, "Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own

teeth." The task of personal identity is to define a quality of a human which makes

him or her a unique self. The person whose identity is in question must realize

themselves, and other people must identify this person. In other words, what makes John

unique from Bob? One must consider both internal (mind) and external (body) perspectives.

There are several general philosophical theories of this identity problem. In the

following paragraphs one will find the body theory, soul theory, and a more detailed

explanation of the conscious theory.

One theory of personal identity is known as the body theory. This is

defined as a person X has a personal identity if and only if they have the same body Y.

However there are two problems with this definition. The first is qualitative. It is

necessary to have the same body, but if that body is changed, is one the same person?

Someone’s body is surely different at age 40 than at age 4. Also a problem arrives in

alterations to a body. If John goes to war, becomes injured by a mine, and then has his

legs amputated is he not still the same person, John? Therefore, the preceding definition

of body theory is not sufficient, since it does not account alterations to the same body.

Yet another problem is numerical. If someone were to get a finger chopped off, would that

finger be considered another person? What if a scientist was to use someone’s DNA and

replicate another person with the same body? Surely just because there are two identical

bodies, these bodies cannot be the same person. They would live two different lives.

Therefore, the body theory alone cannot be considered a necessary and sufficient

definition when defining personal identity.

Another common theory of personal identity is the soul theory. This

theory is: a person is has personal identity if and only if they have the same soul. The

problem with this theory is arrived from the definition of a soul. Soul is a very

difficult term. It is thought by many to be a spirit that passes from your body into

another realm (i.e., heaven, hell, etc.). However, since no one has ever seen, felt,

touched, smelled, or tasted a soul, it is a mysterious phenomenon. Since we have no clear

and distinct idea of a soul , it would not be wise to base the definition upon it. For

instance, some religions believe in reincarnation after death. This is when a soul enters

another body. With this in mind, someone’s soul such as Elvis could become

reincarnated in someone else named John. However, we would not say that this Elvis and

John are the same person . Therefore, the definition of the soul theory fails in that the

definiens does not become sufficient for defining personal identity.

The most recognized true philosophical theory of personal identity is

the consciousness theory. The consciousness theory is believed by most to be the best

definition of personal identity according to most philosophers. However, there are three

different versions of the consciousness theory that will be discussed in further detail:

the conscious self, experiential content, and connected stream of consciousness theories.

First, we have the theory of a conscious self: a person has a personal identity if he or

she has the same conscious self. In other words, if two people have a different conscious,

then they each have personal identity. At a first glance, this would be a good definition

of a personal identity. It is analogous to Descartes’ cogito, "I think therefore

I am." Being conscious would mean knowing that one exists, and able to think about

any experience that happens. However the main fault with this is that it is a circular

definition. We are using the definiens in the definiendum which is not a good tactic of

defining personal identity. Next, a common derivative of the consciousness theory is the

consciousness of experiences theory. This is defined as having the same experiential

content. This theory is based upon Locke’s theory of the mind being blank, and

building from experiences. One would have personal identity because only one being can go

through the same experiences in a finite space. This theory does solve some problems

arrived at by other theories. Say for instance there are two twins. This would be

difficult to explain in the body theory of personal identity, but with the conscious

experience theory it would be simple. Although they have identical bodies, since the day

they are born they go through different experiences. Therefore the twins do have their own

identity since they have both had different experiences. However, there are some problems

that arrive with this theory. First, the definiens is not necessary. Say for instance a

person has two different conscious experiences. Some people have a multiple personality

disorder, but that does not mean they are truly different people, although they may have

several identities. Another problem is the definition is not sufficient. Say for instance

a brain was replicated and was put into a computer. At the exact time the brain was

replicated, both "brains" had the same experiential content. Yet the most

devastating deviation from this theory is the simplest. The biggest problem is that we

cannot consciously remember every experience of our lifetime. For instance, when one tries

to remember what they got for their fifth birthday the day after their birthday they would

be able to tell another. However, trying to remember what one received for their fifth

birthday when they are thirty is most of the time impossible. Also, just because a person

may be drunk and does some action does not make him or her another person! In other words,

the conscious experience theory fails because the human mind cannot remember every

conscious experience. Last of all, we have the connected stream of consciousness. This

theory states that a person’s identity is made up of a "stream" of

connected conscious experiences. This theory solves the problem of having a different

memory of at different times of life. For instance, when we are forty we certainly have a

different memory than when we were four years old. With the connected stream theory

though, we are still the same person whether we are four or forty. In general, we have a

finite mind, so are conscious is connected in a chronological pattern. To make it simple,

it is analogous to a river. If you were to see a river every day, one is not looking at

the same particles of water (representing body or experiences), however one cannot dispute

that it is not the same river. Therefore the river represents personal identity. This

theory solves most of the problems arrived at from the other two forms of conscious

theories. It would seem that the connected stream of consciousness is a definition which

is both necessary and sufficient in defining personal identity.

In conclusion, we have discussed the three common theories of personal

identity: the body theory, the soul theory, and the conscious theory. The main problem

with the body theory is that people’s bodies change, yet they still have the same

identity. The main problem of the soul theory is that it is immaterial, and the whole idea

of souls is disputable. Of the three consciousness theories, the conscious self theory

fails in that it is a circular definition. The conscious experience theory fails in that a

human cannot be conscious of everything of his or her life. Finally we discussed the

connected stream of consciousness theory which is the best description of a personal

ident