Questions tagged [identity]
The identity tag has no usage guidance.
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My philosophy question is about Identity
Bertrand Williams describes a thought experiment involving a swapping machine. What does his hypothetical machine do? How does he think we should identify A and B after the machine? Is he right? ...
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2answers
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Where do thoughts come from?
When the next thought comes, try to catch its source.
Is there an entity "you" there? Or does the thought come from silence/nothingness? Is this "you" is just a thought that comes from this silence/...
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Circularity in identity definition
It is written in the SEP:
Identity is often said to be a relation each thing bears to itself and to no other thing (e.g., Zalabardo 2000). This characterization is clearly circular (“no other ...
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3answers
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can you rationally believe in an ever changing identity, but also believe that parts of us persevere?
Is it possible to rationally believe that certain aspects of the identity don't change, while still acknowledging the fact that we are not the same person we were an instant ago? In other words, is it ...
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4answers
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Can a reason cost 5 dollars?
Imagine a school where no one can wear a red hat. John goes to school with a red hat costing 5 dollars. Someone says John's red hat "is" the reason why he can't get into the school.
What is the ...
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1answer
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Combining causal and identity relations
Suppose I have the causal relation C causes E, and the symmetric identity relation E is (E1 ^ E2 ^ E3), which have the following probability functions: E = bC and E = E1 * E2 * E3 where E, C, E1, E2 ...
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9answers
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Why am I this particular human being?
Some philosophers dismiss this as a question about a tautology: when Alice asks "Why am I Alice?", this is equivalent to her asking "Why is Alice Alice?", which is not an interesting question. But ...
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Are there any arguments for why something past-eternal must necessarily be future-eternal as well?
If we assume that something has always existed in the past, what reason is there to assume that it won't perish in the future?
I pondered on it and I wondered whether the following argument works: ...
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2answers
87 views
Conundrum of the self?
I've been thinking about this topic in relation to artificial consciousness. Specifically self-awareness.
(I can define terms precisely if requested, but usually prefer to be as general as possible:)...
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1answer
37 views
Constitutive Identity
What is the term for the alteration or change in self-indentification consequent to interaction with an authority or professional? For example, you are stopped on the street by a policeman. By his ...
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3answers
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Dawkins' gene-centered view on personal identity
Looking at the following quote by Richard Dawkins:
We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential ...
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Does anyone say that mind/brain type identity theory is just vacuous without scientific evidence that some part brain state is always the exact same?
Does anyone say that mind/brain type identity theory is just vacuous without scientific evidence that some part brain state is always the exact same experience? I think that's what type identity ...
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Has anyone claimed that any eternal return is not for and to me, because “a perfect repletion is the same”?
Has anyone claimed that any eternal return is not for and to me, because "a perfect repletion is the same"?
I use quotes cos it's something a friend said, and I reckon that (if their original ...
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1answer
160 views
Questions about personal identity and materialism with QM and spacetime
Let's assume for a moment that the materialistic view of the universe is correct. There exists a universe that contains energy in various states spread out in the dimensions of space and time that is ...
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2answers
191 views
Is there any evidence for 'identity epistomology'?
Thomas Chatterton Williams writes:
For having the temerity to defend himself, Mr. Packer was accused on social media of “excusing racism” and “whitesplaining.” Such logic extends a disturbing trend ...
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0answers
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Is my personal identity physical? [duplicate]
In the context of physicalism, Is it consistent to think that I am what I experience and also the physical processes which give rise to my experiences?
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2answers
200 views
What's an intuitive way of thinking about type versus token identity?
What's an intuitive way of thinking about type versus token identity?
I have read and understand the difference between those two terms: tokens are things in space and time; types are abstract and ...
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1answer
139 views
What areas within philosophy look at continuity of personality and self-hood?
I'm sure these kinds of questions fall within some fairly central fields of philosophy: what makes "me now" and "me 10 seconds, months, or decades ago", the same person? In what sense are these "the ...
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Examples of known or fallow existential symbioses between different scientific disciplines (in an essential, not merely engineering, sense)
The film “The Proud Rebel” plays in the time after the American Civil War, featuring a father (John Chandler) who travels with his son David (that is also in real life actor Alan Ladd's son) who is ...
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1answer
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Historiography of the Ship of Theseus
Does anybody know of a historiography or review of the discussion of the idea of the Ship of Theseus and things related thereto (I suppose this might also include Alan Gibbard's discussion of the ...
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Axiomatic Proof of Symmetry and Transitivity of Identity
Given the axioms below and the rules of Modus Ponens and Universal Generalization, how can you prove that t=s → s=t for any terms s and t? Additionally, how do you prove that t = s → (s = r → t = r) ? ...
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1answer
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Could Napoleon have been born to different parents?
According to Kripke, things get their identities by being "baptized" with a rigid designator, and we refer to them by way of a causual chain. So it is not the case that Napoleon had to become Emperor ...
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Does a transgender person become a different person after transitioning?
Perhaps this is an odd question, but...
Question: Does a transgender person become a different person after transitioning?
I'm seeking an answer from a philosophical point of view (hence why I ask ...
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1answer
257 views
Are the laws of thought still accepted as the basis of logic?
The "laws of thought" refers to the three traditional principles said to underlie logical reasoning: identity, non-contradiction, and excluded middle. Are these principles still generally accepted? Is ...
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3answers
689 views
Why am I myself rather than someone else?
Why am I myself rather than someone else?
I think I read something like this in an ecnyclopedia, one time, that it's a question in philosophy.
Not asking what makes me myself, my body, psychology, ...
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2answers
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Can fictional entities have capacities?
Can fictional entities have capacities?
I think in Buddhism there is a definite trend to claim that every entity is fictional, but has causes and effects. i wouldn't really assent to the idea that ...
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2answers
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What are objections to personality-theoretic identity branching? [duplicate]
I am currently watching the Yale open course "Philosophy of Death" with Shelly Kagan. So far he has made the case that there is not good enough reason to believe in the existence of an immaterial soul....
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1answer
332 views
Is your memory what makes you yourself? [closed]
Pardon if this sounds like one of those "Jaden Smith tweets"
Say when you go to sleep all your conscious activities cease. Many times you won't even know how much time has passed since you went to ...
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0answers
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Is this a non-identity problem?
This is a real problem people face in terms once they go through with carrier testing.
"Person X is able to procreate either with Person Y or Person Z or not at all. If they procreate with Y then ...
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4answers
684 views
What would be the implications if the equality of opposites was true?
Heraclitus famously believed in the equality of opposites, as do I. Would the truth of the equality of opposites have any significant implications for reason and logic?
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1answer
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Mind-body problem: supervenience vs dependence vs realisation
Could someone shed some light on the differences of these 3 hypotheses?
For me, it seems all 3 relations mean the same.
I can't seem to grasp the difference between supervenience physicalism and ...
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0answers
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Does every occurring type have at least one token?
Do all types which occur have tokens?
It is that between a thing, or type of thing, and (what is best called) an occurrence of it—where an occurrence is not necessarily a token.
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1answer
159 views
Does pure mathematics express something about objects?
Do the expressions of pure mathematics express anything about objects?
i.e. are the bearers of mathematical identity (e.g. the being number one of that number) themselves objects?
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Why should we care about personal identity?
I just read a book about personal identity and it gave me insights in different theories about personal identity. But after all, I still don't get, why we should care about personal identity.
Being ...
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Who are the contemporary proponents of the metalinguistic view about idenity statements?
I am looking for contemporary proponents of the following thesis:
Identity statements such as "a = b" are to be interpreted metalingustically, for example as "the names "a" and "b" are coreferential"....
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4answers
329 views
Question of Identity
Conversing with someone trying to convince me that 2 and 1+1 are not the same thing.
His argument was that although 1+1 = 2, they are in fact different because the notation is different. We see "1+1" ...
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1answer
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Do alternative theories of self eventually dissolve into either the substance theory or the bundle theory?
It seems upon first glance that attitudes towards the existence of the self must either be defending the notion that it exists in its own right as a real thing imbued with sensible and rational power (...
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Can Dennett's reciprocity be seen in social networks?
Maybe you know the Definition of a Person from Dennett:
(1) persons are rational. (2) they are the subjects of Intentional ascriptions. (3) a certain stance or attitude must be taken towards them, ...
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2answers
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Definition of social personality from Dennett still working with digital Identities?
I am not sure how familiar you are with the definition of social personality from Dennett. It consits of 6 steps, like you can read here.
(1) persons are rational. (2) they are the subjects of ...
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4answers
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What is the status of the statement: “I am here now”?
The statement "I am here now" seems to have many peculiar properties that I am not sure how to express. It appears analytically and equally true for any speaker anywhere at anytime. Yet its truth is ...
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1answer
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Is there a philosophical categorization of mindsets?
This question is about personality and mindsets. I'm interested in categories of opinions, something more than left vs. right, conservative vs. liberal. Is there a set of basic questions that once ...
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1answer
120 views
Whole Brain Emulation - what is a being [duplicate]
As we approach the age of artificial intelligence, I was curious about whole brain emulation. If a brain and consciousnesses is uploaded to a computer, is it still the same person, even if it was ...
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5answers
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How can a stream of thoughts and perceptions have freewill?
William James believed that there was no central entity or ego that embodied the "I" in "I feel" or "I think". That the continuous stream of thoughts and sensations generated the illusion of their ...
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4answers
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Is there a philosophical definition for “difference” and “similarity”? When are 2 logical arguments “different” or “similar”? [closed]
Is there a philosophical definition for "difference" and "similarity"? When are 2 logically valid arguments "different" or "similar"?
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1answer
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How do modern moralities obscure connections between identity and the good?
Charles Taylor writes in the preface of Sources of the Self (p. x, Harvard University Press 1989), emphasis mine:
But because my entire way of proceeding involves mapping connections between senses ...
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Is an “R connection” really all we care about in terms of personal identity?
Derek Parfit in his article Reasons and Persons brings the following scenario - your brain is split in 2 pieces, each capable of surviving on their own, and transplanted into 2 other people (Righty ...
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4answers
1k views
Would a clone of myself be a different person than myself? [closed]
don't know if anyone will read this, but just a random thought I had:
Try to imagine the following: you wake up in a hospital bed, with no recollection of how you got there. You look over at the bed ...
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Why is violating “the only x and y principle” a problem in personal identity theory?
The only x and y principle states that the relation between "x=y" only depends on facts about x & y. So if we say something like "Bob is this particular human being" then this relationship is only ...
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How does Parfit's “brain division” thought experiment refute the brain theory of personal identity?
Shoemaker proposes that identical persons are individuals who are psychologically continuous and share the same brain. This is the brain theory of personal identity. However, Parfit takes objection to ...
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Are there thought experiments about physicalism?
Other than Mary's Room and maybe Searle's Chinese Room are there any other interesting thought experiments against the ideas of physicalism, and the idea our minds are identical to our brains?
