The issue of soul existence Essay

identity based on an everchanging physical body is inconsistent. Additionally, there is no evidence to support that souls exist. It is impossible to distinguish between a person with Soul A and Soul B. The soul has no effect on an individuals actions, morals, or convictions thus, it has no influence on that individuals uniqueness. It is not a sound theory because it lacks substantiation and plausibility.

The memory view is greatly explored by John Locke. Lockes criterion for judging personal identity is the continuity of consciousness, or memory of a person over different times and places. However, the memory theory doesnt go without objection. With the memory theory, it is necessary for an individual to remember having done something in order for it to have been them doing it otherwise it was not that individual. According to Locke, one is considered different person if he or she forgets memories or recalls someone elses memories. The theory does not take into account false memories or forgotten memories. With that logic, it makes it impossible to hold anyone accountable for actions that he or she has committed. There needs to be a distinction between real and apparent memories. Radical mental changes can also occur which Locke did not take into consideration. It has been proven that people can experience amnesia, brain damage, etc. In these cases there is a very distinct discontinuity in psychology, though, we would tend to consider that the subject in each case remains the same person. Some claim that simply because an individual has forgotten a memory, is inebriated, or has experienced a mental trauma does not change his or her identity.

A more promising approach to the problem of personal identity has come from Derek Parfit. He proposes a setup in which a teleportation machine works by mapping every quantum particle of the teleporting subject, creating an exact replica at the destination, and at the same instant destroying the original. The replacement replica is equipped with a complete memory of being the subject, and others have no doubts about the legitimacy of the subject. Similar to Locke, Parfit recognizes a distinction between individuals and their bodies, which allows for the teleportation scenario and psychological continuity to guarantee the persistence of a person. However unlike Locke, Parfit draws a clear distinction between survival and identity.

The problem of personal identity is more complicated than any one view. I believe that personal identity is comprised of both physical and mental components. The conflicting intuitions generated by these thought experiments have led some philosophers to reject altogether the existence of a criterion for personal identity through time. But this itself is puzzling. I am the same person as my younger self but I do not share that identityrelation with any other individual, which suggests that there is something particular about the relationship that can be identified. To reject any criterion is itself deeply counterintuitive. There is no doubt because we do not yet have a conclusive theory of personhood.