Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Derek Parfit, John Richardson and David Conway

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23 ideas

1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 3. Metaphysical Systems
20349 Metaphysics aims at the essence of things, and a system to show how this explains other truths [Richardson]
20351 Metaphysics needs systems, because analysis just obsesses over details [Richardson]
20350 Metaphysics generalises the data, to get at the ontology [Richardson]
2. Reason / E. Argument / 7. Thought Experiments
5515 Imaginary cases are good for revealing our beliefs, rather than the truth [Parfit]
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 2. Reduction
5516 Reduction can be by identity, or constitution, or elimination [Parfit, by PG]
16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 5. Self as Associations
3539 Personal identity is just causally related mental states [Parfit, by Maslin]
16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 1. Identity and the Self
5514 Psychologists are interested in identity as a type of person, but philosophers study numerical identity [Parfit]
16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 2. Mental Continuity / b. Self as mental continuity
1393 One of my future selves will not necessarily be me [Parfit]
5521 If my brain-halves are transplanted into two bodies, I have continuity, and don't need identity [Parfit]
5522 Over a period of time what matters is not that 'I' persist, but that I have psychological continuity [Parfit]
16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 4. Split Consciousness
1392 If we split like amoeba, we would be two people, neither of them being us [Parfit]
5519 It is fine to save two dying twins by merging parts of their bodies into one, and identity is irrelevant [Parfit]
5520 If two humans are merged surgically, the new identity is a purely verbal problem [Parfit]
16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 5. Concerns of the Self
1391 Concern for our own lives isn't the source of belief in identity, it is the result of it [Parfit]
16. Persons / E. Rejecting the Self / 4. Denial of the Self
5518 It doesn't matter whether I exist with half my components replaced (any more than an audio system) [Parfit]
23. Ethics / E. Utilitarianism / 1. Utilitarianism
9762 We should focus less on subjects of experience, and more on the experiences themselves [Parfit]
24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / a. Human distinctiveness
20356 Humans dominate because, unlike other animals, they have a synthesis of conflicting drives [Richardson]
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 11. Capitalism
22252 Capitalism may actually be the best way to foster community [Conway,D]
22253 Capitalism is just the market, with optional limited government, and perhaps democracy [Conway,D]
22256 Capitalism prefers representative democracy, which avoids community decision-making [Conway,D]
22255 Capitalism breaks up extended families, and must then provide welfare for the lonely people [Conway,D]
22257 Capitalism is anti-community, by only valuing individuals, and breaking up families [Conway,D]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 7. Eliminating causation
20366 A mind that could see cause and effect as a continuum would deny cause and effect [Richardson]