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Single Idea 5324

[filed under theme 16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 7. Self and Body / a. Self needs body ]

Full Idea

In general the two criteria of memory and bodily identity work together.

Gist of Idea

Bodily identity and memory work together to establish personal identity

Source

A.J. Ayer (The Central Questions of Philosophy [1973], §VI.B)

Book Ref

Ayer,A.J.: 'The Central Questions of Philosophy' [Penguin 1976], p.116


A Reaction

This seems better than any simplistic one-criterion approach. In life we use different criteria for our own identity, as when dreaming, or waking with a hangover, or wondering if we are dead after an accident.


The 13 ideas from 'The Central Questions of Philosophy'

Self-consciousness is not basic, because experiences are not instrinsically marked with ownership [Ayer]
Qualia must be united by a subject, because they lead to concepts and judgements [Ayer]
Is something an 'experience' because it relates to other experiences, or because it relates to a subject? [Ayer]
Bodily identity and memory work together to establish personal identity [Ayer]
Temporal gaps in the consciousness of a spirit could not be bridged by memories [Ayer]
Why shouldn't we say brain depends on mind? Better explanation! [Ayer]
Originally I combined a mentalistic view of introspection with a behaviouristic view of other minds [Ayer]
Physicalism undercuts the other mind problem, by equating experience with 'public' brain events [Ayer]
You can't infer that because you have a hidden birth-mark, everybody else does [Ayer]
The theory of other minds has no rival [Ayer]
We see properties necessary for a kind (in the definition), but not for an individual [Ayer]
It is currently held that quantifying over something implies belief in its existence [Ayer]
Talk of propositions is just shorthand for talking about equivalent sentences [Ayer]