Ep. 261: Derek Parfit on Personal Identity (Part One)

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

• Episode: Ep. 261: Derek Parfit on Personal Identity (Part One)
• Website: The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
• Feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ThePartiallyExaminedLife
• Duration: 00:57:20
• Published: 2021-01-18 19:08

On Reasons and Persons (1984), ch. 10-13. What makes a person persist over time?

After using various sci-fi examples to test the Lockean (personhood=psychological continuity), physicalist (same brain=same person), and Cartesian (same soul=same person) theories, Parfit concludes that the whole notion is incoherent and isn't actually what we care about when wondering "will I die?"

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