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Single Idea 1368
[filed under theme 16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 2. Mental Continuity / a. Memory is Self
]
Full Idea
Locke's mistake arises because he confuses the 'same' consciousness of past events. A memory is only the 'same' in the sense of being similar, not in the sense of complete identity.
Gist of Idea
Locke mistakes similarity of a memory to its original event for identity
Source
comment on John Locke (Essay Conc Human Understanding (2nd Ed) [1694], 2.27.10) by Thomas Reid - Essays on Intellectual Powers 3: Memory Ch 6
Book Ref
'Personal Identity', ed/tr. Perry,John [University of California 1975], p.117
A Reaction
cf Locke's point in Ideas 1197 and 1373.
Related Ideas
Idea 1197
No two thoughts at different times can be the same, as they have different beginnings [Locke]
Idea 1373
Identity over time involves remembering actions just as they happened [Locke]
The
21 ideas
with the same theme
[relationship between the sense of Self and memories]:
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22984
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Without memory I could not even speak of myself
[Augustine]
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17216
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The poet who forgot his own tragedies was no longer the same man
[Spinoza]
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5175
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Personal identity is my perceptions, but not my memory, as I forget too much
[Ayer on Locke]
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1363
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Locke's theory confusingly tries to unite consciousness and memory
[Reid on Locke]
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1368
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Locke mistakes similarity of a memory to its original event for identity
[Reid on Locke]
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1373
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Identity over time involves remembering actions just as they happened
[Locke]
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1380
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Should we punish people who commit crimes in their sleep?
[Locke]
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5027
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If a person's memories became totally those of the King of China, he would be the King of China
[Leibniz]
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12942
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Memory doesn't make identity; a man who relearned everything would still be the same man
[Leibniz]
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21313
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If consciousness of events makes our identity, then if we have forgotten them we didn't exist then
[Butler]
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1333
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Memory only reveals personal identity, by showing cause and effect
[Hume]
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1332
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We use memory to infer personal actions we have since forgotten
[Hume]
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21305
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Memory not only reveals identity, but creates it, by producing resemblances
[Hume]
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21307
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Who thinks that because you have forgotten an incident you are no longer that person?
[Hume]
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21323
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The identity of a thief is only known by similarity, but memory gives certainty in our own case
[Reid]
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7120
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It is theoretically possible that the Ego consists entirely of false memories
[Sartre]
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5666
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Not all exerience can be remembered, as this would produce an infinite regress
[Ayer]
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5665
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Memory is the best proposal as what unites bundles of experiences
[Ayer]
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1389
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If memory is the sole criterion of identity, we ought to use it for other people too
[Shoemaker]
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1390
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Bodily identity is one criterion and memory another, for personal identity
[Shoemaker, by PG]
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19744
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If a person relies on their notes, those notes are parted of the extended system which is the person
[Clark/Chalmers]
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