exam question 3: amy kind on locke and reid's debate.

Essential Property

A feature or quality of a thing that is necessary for its existence.

• ex: it is essential to the mona lisa that is has colours and paint. if u paint the mona lisa blue, you’ve destroyed it. colour is an essential property to the mona lisa.

• ex: alternatively, take a statue; the thinker. if the thinker is bent and draped over a couch with a different shape, it is no longer the thinker. shape is an essential property to the thinker.

Accidental Property

A feature or quality of a thing that is not necessary for its existence.

• ex: it is accidental that the mona lisa happens to be on a square canvas. if the canvas was bendy and draped over a couch, it is still the mona lisa.

• ex: alternatively, take a statue; the thinker. if the thinker is painted blue, it is still the thinker. colour, here, is an accidental property to the thinker

Ship of Theseus

A philosophical problem about identity and persistence of an object that raises questions about essential and accidental properties.

Identity

Refers to the relation that a person or thing bears just to itself.

Qualitative Identity

Two things are similar in their qualities or features.

Numerical Identity

Two things are one and the same thing.

Soul Theory

A theory of personal identity stating that a person at one time is identical to a person at another time if they share the same soul.

Psychological Theory

A theory of personal identity stating that a person at one time is identical to a person at another time if their psychology is connected in the right way. memory is emphasized here. think dr jekyl and hyde.

Bodily Theory

A theory of personal identity stating that a person at one time is identical to a person at another time if their bodies are connected in the right way.

Transitivity of Identity

If A is identical to B, and B is identical to C, then A is identical to C.

lockes memory theory of personal identity

“A at time t1 is identical to B at some later time t2 if and only if B remembers an experience had by A”

• as far as you can remember, you are you. if you can remember your past experiences, you are the same person that experienced those events.

• individuals are defined by their consciousness and the continuity of their memories.

ried’s objection

• Suppose there's an old general who remembers being in the trenches. But he doesn't remember being a child eating an apple. However, the younger soldier in the trenches does actually remember being the child. 

• does this mean that the general and the child are not the same person just because the general fails to remember that moment?

• Locke's theory doesn't give us the idea that identity is transitive. 

Amy Kind’s modification to Locke’s theory

“A at time t1 is identical to B at some other time t2 if and only if theere is continuity of experience memory between B and A”

• memory is like a chain: personal identity is a chain of memory. even if you dont remember being that child or doing a certain thing, there’s a VERSION of you that remembers it, and you remember that earlier version. therefore, you are connected.

two FURTHER modifications

• A memory doesn't have to be actually present in ur awareness to count for identity: potentially occurrent memories are enough (sleep)

• Perhaps memory isn't the only part of our psychology thats important to identity: maybe continuity of personality traits, desires and intentions, habits, or other psych states matters too.