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Single Idea 4836
[filed under theme 16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 7. Self and Body / a. Self needs body
]
Full Idea
The mind does not know itself, except in so far as it perceives the ideas of the modifications of the body.
Gist of Idea
The mind only knows itself by means of ideas of the modification of the body
Source
Baruch de Spinoza (The Ethics [1675], II Pr 29)
Book Ref
Spinoza,Benedict de: 'Ethics, Improvement of Understanding, Letters', ed/tr. Elwes,R [Dover 1955], p.106
A Reaction
This is reminiscent of Hume's 'bundle of perceptions' report of introspection. It is in tune with a modern 'animalist' view of a person, and with a view of the mind as a map of the body and its environs. Is he a sceptic about personal identity?
The
15 ideas
with the same theme
[a body is necessary for a sef]:
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4836
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The mind only knows itself by means of ideas of the modification of the body
[Spinoza]
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5583
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We need an account of the self based on rational principles, to avoid materialism
[Kant]
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20757
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The powerful self behind your thoughts and feelings is your body
[Nietzsche]
|
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15583
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Certainty that I will die is more basic to my existence than the Cogito
[Heidegger]
|
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23747
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What is sacred is not a person, but the whole physical human being
[Weil]
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5324
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Bodily identity and memory work together to establish personal identity
[Ayer]
|
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5668
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People own conscious states because they are causally related to the identifying body
[Ayer]
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5173
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Two experiences belong to one self if their contents belong with one body
[Ayer]
|
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5176
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Empiricists can define personal identity as bodily identity, which consists of sense-contents
[Ayer]
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9263
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A person is an entity to which we can ascribe predicates of consciousness and corporeality
[Strawson,P]
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5673
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If we have a pain, we are strongly aware of the bodily self
[Cassam]
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16236
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Maybe our persistence conditions concern bodies, rather than persons
[Olson, by Hawley]
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6669
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For 'animalism', I exist before I became a person, and can continue after it, so I am not a person
[Olson, by Lowe]
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4936
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The self is founded on bodily awareness centred in the brain stem
[Edelman/Tononi]
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6144
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You hold a child in your arms, so it is not mental substance, or mental state, or software
[Merricks]
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