Term Paper on "Personal Identity"

Term Paper 4 pages (1292 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Memory Theory of Personal Identity

Locke's theory of personal identity entails the memory theory. According to Locke, the basic idea behind personality theory is that no two similar things can co-exist in the same spatial environment. In terms of personality then, each person has a spatio-temporal history, embedded in memory, that is unique within the environment that is occupied together with others.

Locke's view is closely intertwined with his views on religion. God is a being that exists unchanged and simultaneously in both spatial and temporal environments. Thus the memory theory of personal identity is not applicable to him, as he is infinite and unchanging. Finite beings on the other hand change and are changed by their environment. They are the sum of their unique experiences as they move through space and time to their end. As such then each finite being exists as distinct from other finite beings - hence the uniqueness of each. Each such being then occupies a space that is unique while coexisting with others of its sort.

Locke describes the identity of an individual human being as being rooted not in their rationality, nor by the presumed soul within each. Instead, this identity is to be defined as a living animal within a specific species, which has a number of particular defining characteristics.

Locke thus defines a human being in terms of function rather than underlying nature. The identity of a conscious person then is independent of the substance or substances composing the person at any time. Moral reasoning is somewhat simplified by this view, as morality is independent of personal identity. Thus moral accountability becomes a question not of personal identity, but another issue altogether.

The memory theory thus simplifies questions of morality, as memory is supposed to compose the personal identity, which should have no problem relying on its past to adhere to morals in the present and the future.

Bundle Theory

Hume, in contrast to Locke, saw personal identity as part of a greater whole, where all aspects of humanity are integrated with the personality itself. Personal identity, according to Hume is then a succession of perceptions, which changes and grows as the human being moves through life. Thus it is not a static set of characteristics, whereas Locke's theory presupposes a basic, unchanging set of attributes regardless of surface change and growth.

Hume refers to these changes as a succession of perceptions that change as human beings grow and develop. Thus, as physical growth occurs, so does perception. The personal identity is thus closely related to this succession of perceptions. According to this then the personality of the person as a child is not the same as that of the same person at twenty years of age or indeed in old age. In this way then the personal identity is variable, which contrasts with Locke's view of identity as static. According to Hume, the variables inherent in identity should also be seen in their relation to the whole in order to determine the personality as a whole.

Hume also addresses the issue of rapid vs. gradual change. If any part of the body or personality changes suddenly, so does the perceived identity change rapidly. However, the same is not true of gradual change, for example as happens in terms of physical and spiritual growth. This then could be the reason for Locke's separation of the physical identity from all other aspects of humanity: the change perceived in a growing person is too slow in succession to perceive any great change and thus the assumption is that the basic attribute set remains unchanged. This is what Hume describes as continued perception of gradual change, creating the illusion that the identity is static. This, according to the philosopher, accounts for the fact that a person, animal or plant grows and changes without losing their fundamental personal identity, although the… READ MORE

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