Personal identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personal identity - Essay Example Basically, the personality identity of a person is totally constituent to the relation of brute physicality and either different bodies or the systems that sustain life although this should be at different time. The body theory states that we usually use human body criterion to identify ourselves time and again. Schick and Vaughn believed that in the case of person changing his or her body with another, it don’t change but it remains to be the same person therefore it can be the person’s body that makes through the change. There are two distinctive simple views of personality identity which are basically that are non-reductive and view of wholly reductive (Schick and Vaughn 234). The bodily substance theory of personality identity has a major perception of the concept of continuous existence of the human body. However, there is an argument about the identification of the human body which will still be similar for a given period of time. The human body goes through sever al changes as it grows from young to old. During this particular time, human body transforms by gaining and losing body matter thus they would not have the type of matter they had in the past. Thus, it would be a problem to have continues persistence of the human body and personal identity for a long period of time in the existence of a person’s body. ... f the body especially the biological way of view of this account which looks similar with those of other approaches of biology but don’t have common stand concerning the issue of personality identity The person’s mind is said to constitute some immaterial substances. According to the mind concept of dualist, the materials are totally separated from the body. This concept thus states that incase a person is to be identified, then it should be with his or her mind but not his or her body. Ideally, if a person was to be identified using his or her mind which will be present over a given period of time in the absence of his or her body then personal identity can be based on the non-physical substance. On the other hand this will take into consideration the change in human body substance. However, the mind-body problem shows some concern with the given explanation and its relationship of the existence of minds and the process of mental in relation with the state or process o f the body (Schick and Vaughn 289). Personal identity is based on consciousness but not on the substance of body or the soul. This is assertion is strongly fostered by John Locke who believes that we are the same people provided that we remain concuss about our specific past and be conscious of the future and be in a position of acting the same as we are acting in the present. According to Locke, if consciousness is what goes hand in hand with the human substance that makes up the person, then personal identity can only be found on the basis of acting repeatedly in relation to the human consciousness. As a result it implies that personal identity cannot be found in the substance identity but in the identity of consciousness. Thus, personal identity is not grounded on the person’s soul but on a