Ideas of Derek Parfit, by Theme
[British, 1942 - 2017, Fellow of All Soul's College, Oxford.]
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2. Reason / E. Argument / 7. Thought Experiments
5515
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Imaginary cases are good for revealing our beliefs, rather than the truth
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7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 2. Reduction
5516
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Reduction can be by identity, or constitution, or elimination [PG]
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16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 5. Self as Associations
3539
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Personal identity is just causally related mental states [Maslin]
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16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 1. Identity and the Self
5514
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Psychologists are interested in identity as a type of person, but philosophers study numerical identity
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16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 2. Mental Continuity / b. Self as mental continuity
1393
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One of my future selves will not necessarily be me
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5521
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If my brain-halves are transplanted into two bodies, I have continuity, and don't need identity
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5522
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Over a period of time what matters is not that 'I' persist, but that I have psychological continuity
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16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 4. Split Consciousness
1392
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If we split like amoeba, we would be two people, neither of them being us
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5519
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It is fine to save two dying twins by merging parts of their bodies into one, and identity is irrelevant
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5520
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If two humans are merged surgically, the new identity is a purely verbal problem
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16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 5. Concerns of the Self
1391
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Concern for our own lives isn't the source of belief in identity, it is the result of it
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16. Persons / E. Rejecting the Self / 4. Denial of the Self
5518
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It doesn't matter whether I exist with half my components replaced (any more than an audio system)
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23. Ethics / E. Utilitarianism / 1. Utilitarianism
9762
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We should focus less on subjects of experience, and more on the experiences themselves
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