John Locke on Personal Identity - 950 Words

I will argue that Locke believed that if you remain the same person, there are various entities contained in my body and soul composite that do not remain the same over time, or that we can conceive them changing. These entities are matter, organism (human), person (rational consciousness and memory), and the soul (immaterial thinking substance). This is a intuitive interpretation that creates many questions and problems. I will evaluate Lockes view by explaining what is and what forms personal identity, and then explaining how these changes do conceivably occur while a human remains the same person. Locke believed that the identity of a person could be assigned to the consciousness. He thought that a person would remain the same as†¦show more content†¦This means a body can have a soul at youth for a certain amount of years, then have another one in adolescence, and another during adulthood. Similarly, the same can have different bodies. So the same soul can be in a body in the year 1200, then in year 1850, and so on. A question that I have towards Lockes view is that if you have some kind of accident and lose all memory of your past permanently, are you really a new person? Locke states that you are a different person because your consciousness was no longer active after the accident, it was not continuous. Further on from that, so if a person is living their life with many memories, and then they are placed into a coma. When they wake up from that coma, and they do not remember anything at all, they now have a different identity according to Locke. Two things cannot have the same beginning according to Locke: â€Å"When we see a thing any thing, of whatever sort to be in a certain place at a certain time, we are sure that it is that very thing and not another thing existing at that time in some other place. We never find and can’t even conceive of two things of the same kind existing in the same place at the same time† (Essay II.xxvii. 1). So if that person then begins to start remembering things, is that person still the same person that they were before the coma? Or does that person now have an even newer identity due to them not being the person who did not remember anything previously. In other words, as thatShow MoreRelatedJohn Locke And Personal Identity1224 Words   |  5 PagesJohn Locke states that personal identity is a matter of physiological continuity that is based on the consciousness of a person rather than the individual’s body. Personal identity is constituted by memory connections; specifically the depiction of autobiographical memory connections that result in constituting personal identity. John Locke states that a person’s personality and psychology can be transferred to another body and that individual can still stay the same person because the consciousnessRead MoreJohn Locke on Personal Identity906 Words   |  4 Pagesbetween them. What is it for A and B to be the same pers on. That is the issue of person identity. For example what is it for me to be the same person now and when I was a baby. Is that justified to be the same person? Why? How? Locke more or less invented this topic. He came up with a idea that was really impressively sophisticated, given that he started from scratch. He took the view that appropriate criteria of identity, that is what it is that constitute sameness over time, depends on the kind of thingRead MorePersonal Identity, By John Locke1169 Words   |  5 Pagesquestions surrounding personal identity: whether it consists in consciousness, whether we are just a soul or a mind and are we only who we can remember being? Locke claims that our personal identity is found in our identity of consciousness, yet can this be true if a person can change bodies, or one mind can be inhabited by various persons? In this essay, I will first be looking at Locke’s account of personal identity and how he comes to the conclusion that person al identity consists over time. FromRead MoreReflection Of Identity In Locke And John Lockes Personal Identity954 Words   |  4 PagesJohn Locke in â€Å"Personal Identity† argues that, identity is a function of the mind and not the body. In simple terms, Locke considers personal identity as a matter of psychological continuity, founded on consciousness and not on the substance of either the soul or the body. Locke, is an empiricism which means that his theories must be built on experiences. This is why he states that consciousness is the experience we create, which then creates the personal identity of a person. Locke says that theRead MoreLocke And John Lockes Theory On Personal Identity860 Words   |  4 Pages Personal Identity or ‘Self’ has been a very important topic for philosophers for many years. Personal identity is how you describe or think of being which is derived from memories that have taken place over the years. John Locke was a philosopher who believed that your ‘Self’ or personal identity come from memory which is also referred to as consciousness in Locke’s writings. Locke believed that you are who you are, because your thoughts are yours alone no matter the vessel. However, in this paperRead MoreAnalysis Of John Locke And The Problem Of Personal Identity1622 Words   |  7 PagesProblems in Philosophy John Locke and the Problem of Personal Identity Personal identity, in a philosophical point of view, is the problem of explaining what makes a person numerically the same over a period of time, despite the change in qualities. The major questions answered by Locke were questions concerning the nature of identity, persons, and immorality (Jacobsen, 2016). This essay will discuss the three themes John Locke presents in his argument regarding personal identity, which are, the conceptRead MoreJohn Locke s Argument For Personal Identity Essay1547 Words   |  7 Pagespurpose of this essay is to define what Personal Identity is by analyzing John Locke’s argument for Personal Identity. John Locke’s argument for Personal Identity will be examined, in order to establish a better understanding of whether or not the argument for personal identity could be embraced. In order to do so, the essay will i) State and explain Locke’s argument that we are not substances or mere souls and ii) State and explain Locke’s con cept of personal identity and its relations to what he callsRead MoreJohn Locke s Theory Of Self And Personal Identity Essay1449 Words   |  6 PagesJohn Locke a seventeenth century Philosopher uses a number of thought experiments in his 1690 account, ’An Essay concerning Human Understanding’. He uses these thought experiments to help explain his definition of the self and personal identity. The thought experiments that are used, go some way in explaining his opinions and in clarifying the role that memory plays in defining the term. Although defining personal identity was and still is a complex subject and not all philosophers share the sameRead MoreJohn Locke s Theory Of Personal Identity And Diversity1046 Words   |  5 Pagesthis has happened and therefore cannot be blamed for such a crime. Locke is known to believe in his theory of personal identity and diversity. Locke’s theory talks about consciousness and how our consciousness makes our identity throu gh our experiences. Locke states that we are only considered guilty of committing a crime if we were aware of it and remember doing it. Although I agree with Locke in some terms regarding our identity having something to do with our consciousness, I do not fully agreeRead MoreDescartes And John Locke s Views On Consciousness, Self, And Personal Identity1475 Words   |  6 PagesDescartes and John Locke endeavored to question the views on consciousness, self, and personal identity. They examined belief in God, the certainty of knowledge, and the role of mind and body. The goal of this paper is to deliberate John Locke’s and Renà © Descartes views on â€Å"self† and personal identity and how each come to examine how knowledge is captured. Renà © Descartes and John Locke both present arguments that are rational in the discussion of consciousness, self, and personal identity, but each lack