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Single Idea 1361

[filed under theme 16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 2. Mental Continuity / c. Inadequacy of mental continuity ]

Full Idea

Locke's theory implies one person could shift between twenty intelligent beings, and one intelligent being could fragment mentally into twenty different persons, which is ridiculous.

Gist of Idea

If identity is consciousness, could a person move between bodies or fragment into parts?

Source

comment on John Locke (Essay Conc Human Understanding (2nd Ed) [1694], 2.27.13) by Thomas Reid - Essays on Intellectual Powers 3: Memory Ch 6

Book Ref

'Personal Identity', ed/tr. Perry,John [University of California 1975], p.114

A Reaction

Locke only says that IF the person 'shifted', that would not alter our notion that one person existed here, as long as the consciousness remained the same. The notion of 'fragmenting', though, leads to Parfit saying that personal identity is unimportant.

The 20 ideas with the same theme [criticisms the Self as continuity of consciousness]:

5513 Two persons might have qualitatively identical consciousnesses, so that isn't enough [Kant on Locke]
1345 Locke's move from substance to consciousness is a slippery slope [Butler on Locke]
6139 Locke implies that each thought has two thinkers - me, and 'my' substance [Merricks on Locke]
1197 No two thoughts at different times can be the same, as they have different beginnings [Locke]
1364 Locke confuses the test for personal identity with the thing itself [Reid on Locke]
12511 If consciousness is interrupted, and we forget our past selves, are we still the same thinking thing? [Locke]
1361 If identity is consciousness, could a person move between bodies or fragment into parts? [Reid on Locke]
21326 Locke's memory theory of identity confuses personal identity with the test for it [Reid on Locke]
1387 Butler thought Locke's theory was doomed once he rejected mental substance [Perry on Locke]
21314 Consciousness presupposes personal identity, so it cannot constitute it [Butler]
21312 Perceptions are distinct, so no connection between them can ever be discovered [Hume]
21321 Memory reveals my past identity - but so does testimony of other witnesses [Reid]
21324 If consciousness is transferable 20 persons can be 1; forgetting implies 1 can be 20 [Reid]
21325 Boy same as young man, young man same as old man, old man not boy, if forgotten! [Reid]
21327 If a stolen horse is identified by similitude, its identity is not therefore merely similitude [Reid]
1366 If consciousness is personal identity, it is continually changing [Reid]
21452 I can only determine my existence in time via external things [Kant]
5582 As balls communicate motion, so substances could communicate consciousness, but not retain identity [Kant]
5327 Temporal gaps in the consciousness of a spirit could not be bridged by memories [Ayer]
1396 We identify persons before identifying conscious states [Carruthers]