Single Idea 3539

[catalogued under 16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 5. Self as Associations]

Full Idea

For Parfit all personal identity really amounts to is a chain of experiences and other psychological features causally related to each other in 'direct' sorts of ways.

Gist of Idea

Personal identity is just causally related mental states

Source

report of Derek Parfit (Personal Identity [1971]) by Keith T. Maslin - Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind 10.5

Book Reference

Maslin,Keith: 'An Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind' [Polity 2001], p.269


A Reaction

When summarised like this, it strikes me that Parfit is just false to our experience, whatever Hume may say. I suspect that Parfit (and those like him) concentrate too much on rather passive perceptual experience, and neglect the will.