Please summarize explain what Locke thinks personal identity ultimately consists
ID: 3525228 • Letter: P
Question
Please summarize explain what Locke thinks personal identity ultimately consists in? Next, provide at least two additional reasons for thinking that Locke’s account of personal might be on the right track. Finally, provide a critical evaluation of Locke’s account of personal identity by considering at least two objections to Locke’s account. Present the objections as clearly as possible and explain how these objections are supposed to undermine Locke’s theory. ( please make answer at least 300 words)
Explanation / Answer
JOHN LOCKES'S THEORY OF PERSONAL IDENTITY:
According to John Locke, Personal identity is a psychological continuity. He explained that the personal identity is not present in the substance (the body or the soul), rather it is in the consciousness (memory).
Locke's theory ultimately consists of the soul and the consciousness. He said that consciouness could be transferred from one soul in to the other, and thus the personal identity of an soul could be obtained by other soul. He also adds that, though the soul is changed, the consciousness does not change while transferring, and thus the personal identity remains the same, so the same soul is not needed for the consciousness to exist.
Thus Locke's theory has been put in to question because, according to his assumption, 'If I remember who I am, it is only because of the memory that I have regarding my past experiences, and it is not necessarily has to be my own consciousness, but it could also be some other soul's consciousness that is been transferred or carried over to me.'
Locke's theory could be partially acceptable because, most people tend to member certain things from their unconscious mind which they would have never experienced in their life. In Locke's terms, it could be said that it is due to the transferred consciousness from other soul.
Locke's theory is been highly controversial as it lacks scientific evidences. He failed to explain how these consciousness transfer from one soul in to the other and how does the new soul remember the memories of the newly acquired consciousness.