Lecture 8: Personal identity, persistence

What is Synchronic?

What makes an object exist at that moment?

What are the 4 conditions for diachronic personal identity over time

1. The soul

2. Memory - I am the same me so far as I can remember (can be unreliable)

3. Consciousness - not about bodily location but consciousness

4. The body - sense of self is linked to our bodies

What is the relational self?

Understands that identity is interconnected to other people & environment

• identity being solitary is false → we depend on eachother

• applied to ethics of care

What does Stoljar say about autonomy?

Autonomy was criticized for being a male-centered concept

Stoljar: we still have autonomy while being relational selves

• you have true, authentic ideas of yourself

• those within internalized oppressive beliefs are not autonomous

What is Individualism?

the assumption that mental states are identifiable causes

• you are hungry → causes you to seek food in the fridge

What are the 3 reasons for accepting individualism?

1. Physicalism: everything is physical, no ghosts, souls, spirits (dominant theory)

2. Privileged self-knowledge: nobody else but you knows how you feel

3. Liberalism: identity is not defined by social roles/relationships

What is the relational mind?

Relational minds: mental states are objects of socially embodied norms

What is anti-individualism?

Denies that mental states are in the head

If there are 2 earths:

• Earth 1 says water = H2O

• Earth 2 says water = XYZ (anything else)

The meaning of water is shaped by external social meaning, not what’s in your head

What is active externalism?

Information beyond your brain is still considered inside your head

• example: you memorize a phone number then put it in your phone, that saved number in your phone came from your mind, therefore it is part of your mind

Limiting conditions:

• must be normal, trustworthy, useful

Why do philosophers have privileged universal knowledge?

They all have perspective → no universal abstract one

• they have different social roles & identities

• no way to escape biased perspective of reality

• must engage in dialects to share perspectives

What is studying from 1st person narrative?

Studying identity from 1st person view → look at people from where they are

• Phineas Gage had a pole go through his head & survived → no physical issues but had differences in personality/identity

How can 1st person narrative relate to a new personal identity?

Traumatic events shatters sense of self

• build a new sense of self with other people in terms of relational self (resist marginalized to build authentic sense of self)

• Self (Hilde Lindermann) is a representation told like a story with other people by other people

What is a re-identification question?

The conditions for re-identifying self to change overtime

What is the characterization question?

The personal characteristics that define a person

• re-identification → do you persist with the same characteristics?

What is Alasdair McIntyre’s position on personal identity?

Says that life is a story/narrative → the story’s main plot is the quest for good

What is David Velleman’s position on personal identity?

Our values are narrative

• what you value is relational

• a story of the build-up success is more interesting than a story of instant success

What is Daniel Dennet’s position on personal identity?

There is no such thing as self

• self is fictionally created by the stories you tell others

What is Marya Schechtman’s position on personal identity?

Stories have narrative structure with no goal

• your story is shaped by present expectations for the future based on your past experiences

• example: applying to grad school in Ottawa vs. elsewhere