Philosophy

Andrew Gretsch

3.        Personal Identity

Consider the following argument for personal identity:

             P1)         Absent a good reason to accept an alternative theory, we should accept bodily identity theory.

             P2)         We have no good reason to accept an alternative theory of personal identity.

             C)           Therefore, we should accept bodily identity theory.

Your task is to determine whether the above argument is sound.  You should address at least the following points in your essay:

a.        A presentation and defense of the argument above.  (N.B. This will include more than simply restating the argument in your paper.)

Bodily identity theory focuses on the identification of one being with their one unique body.  This means that one person can be identified solely by their body. Each individual body is a different, and unique human being.  As long as that body is living, the identity of it remains stagnant.  The bodily identity theory answers three important questions: the question of personal identity, personal persistence, and of personal identification.  Personal identity is you. Your body is you and you are your body; simple as that.  Personal persistence is answered with this theory in that it is the lifetime of your body. When you die and your body ceases to exist, so do you. You are no longer you when absent of a living body.  Personal identification answered just as simply by this theory. We can identify one another by their physical body. This is how we differenciate between eachother. This is how we know our family from our friends. Due to our own inimitable flesh and blood, we have our own distinct identification.

We should accept bodily identity theory simply because there is the absence of a good reason to reject it.  We have a hard time disproving this theory because of the simplicity it provides us an explanation on personal identity. As previously discussed, it gives complete and concise solutions to the three questions of personal identity, personal persistence, and personal identification.  Since we possess no good reason to reject this theory of personal identity, the theory of bodily identity should be accepted.

b.        A defense of the view you believe is correct.

Although bodily identity theory soundly and simply answers the questions of personal identity, persistence, and identification, there are some disadvantages to the theory that can not be overlooked.  First off all, if we are identified by only by our bodies, this leaves us no possibility of living past our death, in any form. Why does this matter, you may ask? This theory conflicts nearly all of the world’s religions with the absence of any life after death. The guarantee of afterlife is provided from the very beginning in  nearly all world religions. Additionally, one human’s body will rarely stay exactly the same over the course of their entire life.  An example of this would be a soldier who lost a limb in battle. Are they no longer themselves? Are they to be identified as a completely different person simply because their body has been altered?  This is an important weakness in the theory of bodily-identity because for one identity to stay the same, the body must not change.  In the argument presented above, premise two is extremely problematic.  Personally, I believe that there is a good reason to accept a theory other than bodily identity, and that answer lies in the memory theory of personal identity.

...