Studied by 6 peopleIdentity
The relation a thing bears only to itself (defines what it is)
Indiscernibility of identicals
If any two things are identical they must share all the same properties.
Essential properties
Core elements needed for a thing to be the thing it is
Accidental properties
Traits that could be taken away from an object without making it a different thing.
Fungibility
The property of being interchangeable with other objects of the same kind.
Body theory
Personal identity persist over time because you remain in the same body from birth to death (material/physical)
Memory theory
Personal identity persist over time because you retain memories of yourself at different points, and each memory is connected to a past identity (non-material/ non-physical)
“The concept of the self is just an illusion”
David Hume
Identity in God
God’s image
In Adam (in state of condemnation)
In Christ
Persons
Being who are part of our moral community
Genetic criterion
Your’re a person if you have human DNA, and you are not if you don’t
Cognitive criteria
consciousness
reasoning
self-motivated activity
capacity to communicate
self-awareness
Social criterion
You’re a person whenever society recognizes you as a person, or whenever someone cares about you
Gradient theory
Personhood comes in degrees, you can have more or less of it
Reductive physicalism
The view that the world is made only of physical stuff, including us
Substance dualism
The world is made of both physical stuff and mental stuff
Internationalism
The theory that there are two entities, mind and body, each can have an effect on the other
The mind body problem
How can my body have a separate entity called a mind lurking inside of it-controlling it, and being controlled by it
Qualia
Instances of subjective, first person experience
Epipenomenalism
Physical states can give rise to mental states, but mental states can’t affect physical states
Question of the mind body problem
How can the mind act yet be dependent of the body?
