Section 4.2 - PowerPoint Presentation

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Section 4.2Golden Memories

Self as Psyche

McGraw-Hill

© 2013 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.Slide2

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Memory TheoryIdentical persons are those who share at least one experience memory.

Consequences:Persons can switch bodies as long as they retain their memories.Two persons can inhabit the same body as long as they have different memories.Slide3

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Thought Probe: Sleepwalking and Murder

Locke suggests that Socrates waking and sleeping could be two separate persons if they shared no memories.Courts have found persons not guilty of what their bodies did while sleepwalking. Does this support Locke’s view? Are courts justified in using sleepwalking as an excuse?Slide4

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Thought Probe: Memory Damping

The prospect of erasing memories was explored in the movie The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.There are drugs like propranolol that actually have that effect.Would the widespread use of such drugs be unethical? Why or why not?Slide5

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The Inconsistency Objection

Most people forget a good deal of what has happened to them.If you lose all memory of some part of your life, does that mean that you are no longer identical to the person who was in your body at that time?Locke would seem to think so.Slide6

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Thought Experiment: Reid’s Tale of the Brave Officer and the Senile General

Suppose a brave officer who stole a flag from an enemy also stole an apple from an orchard when he was a boy.A senile general remembers stealing the flag but not stealing the apple.According to Locke, the senile general is identical to the brave officer but not the boy.Slide7

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The Transitivity of Identity

If A is identical to B, and if B is identical to C, then A is identical to C.For example, if Mark Twain is identical to Samuel Clemens and Samuel Clemens is identical to the author of Huckleberry Finn, then Mark Twain is identical to the author of Huckleberry Finn.Slide8

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The Inconsistency Objection

Locke’s theory is inconsistent because it violates the transitivity of identity.The senile general is identical to the brave officer and the brave officer is identical to the boy but the senile general is not identical to the boy.Slide9

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Direct Memory vs. Indirect Memories

A direct memory is a memory that a person can consciously recall.An indirect memory is a memory that an earlier stage of a person can recall.Slide10

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Thought Probe:Were You Ever a Fetus?

According to Locke, your identity extends only as far back as your memories.It seems to follow, then that you were never a fetus. You came into existence from a fetus, but you yourself never were a fetus.Is this consequence of Locke’s theory plausible?Slide11

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Real Memories vs. Apparent Memories

A real memory is a memory of an event that was experienced by the person remembering it and was caused by the event it records.An apparent memory is a memory of an event that either didn’t happen or wasn’t caused by the event it records.Slide12

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The Circularity Objection

Only real memories can serve as the basis of personal identity.But real memories can’t be used to explain personal identity because the explanation would be circular.Real memories are defined in terms of personal identity so they can’t be used to define personal identity. Slide13

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Quasi-MemoriesSomeone quasi-remembers an experience if and only if they have an apparent memory that was caused in the right way by an actual experience.

To quasi remember something, you don’t have to be identical to the person who had the experience.Slide14

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Quasi-Memories and Personal Identity

Quasi-memories are not defined in terms of personal identity.Thus they can be used to provide a non-circular definition of personal identity.Slide15

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Thought Probe: Soul Catcher

Scientists at British Telecom are reportedly working on a silicon chip that can record human thoughts.Do you believe that such a chip could be developed?If it were developed, should it be made available to the general public?Slide16

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The Insufficiency Objection

Who we are seems to be determined not only by our memories, but also by our desires and intentions.If our desires and intentions changed radically enough, there would be reason to think that we had ceased to exist.Slide17

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Quasi-DesiresA person quasi-desires something if and only if they have a desire that is caused in the right way by an actual desire.

To quasi desire something you don’t have to be identical to the person who originally had the desire.Slide18

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Psychological Connectedness vs. Psychological Continuity

Two people are psychologically connected if they can consciously quasi-remember and quasi-desire the same things.Two people are psychologically continuous if they form part of an overlapping series of persons who are psychologically connected with one another.Slide19

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Psychological Continuity Theory

Identical persons are those who are psychologically continuous with one another.To survive the death of your body, you only have to be psychologically continuous with someone who lived before.Slide20

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Thought Probe: Is Darth Vader Anakin Skywalker?

In episode 6 of Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobe tells Luke Skywalker:“Your father was seduced by the dark side of the force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened the good man who was your father was destroyed.”Did Anakin literally become a different person?Slide21

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The Reduplication Problem

Those who believe in reincarnation believe that people born at different times can be psychologically continuous with one another.The question is whether psychological continuity is enough to make people living at different times identical.Slide22

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Thought Experiment—Williams’ Reincarnation of Guy Fawkes

Suppose Charles undergoes a sudden and violent change of character.Suppose further that he now has Guy Fawkes memory and character.So Charles is psychologically continuous with Guy Fawkes. Slide23

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Thought Experiment: Williams’s Reduplication Argument

If it’s possible for Charles to undergo those sorts of psychological changes, it’s possible for his brother Robert to undergo them as well.But it’s not possible for two different people to be numerically identical.So psychological continuity is not sufficient for identity.Slide24

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Thought Experiment: Parfit’s Transporter Tale

Suppose we could teletransport people from one location to another.Suppose further that a replica of oneself was transported while the original was kept intact.Would the replica be you?Slide25

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Thought Probe: Transporter Travel

Suppose it was possible to teletransport a human from one place to another.Would you use the teletransporter? Why or why not?What theory of personal identity lies behind your decision?Slide26

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Thought Probe: Can You Go to Heaven?

If a reincarnation is, at best, a copy of you, wouldn’t a person in heaven be, at best, a copy of you?Can someone in heaven who does not have your physical body be numerically identical to you?Slide27

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Thought Experiment: Bodily Torture

Suppose someone tells you that the person in your body is going to be tortured tomorrow.That person, however, will have none of your memories and you will have no memory of being tortured.Should you fear being tortured? Will you ever be conscious of being tortured?