Objections to Lockes Theory of Personal Identity

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Objections to Lockes Theory of Personal Identity

• 1.Limited Short Term Memory Lockes theory
  implies that we could not be reflectively aware
  of ourselves as longstanding.
• 2. Gallant Officer example (Reid)

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• Old general remembers courageous military
  escapade he engaged in as a young officer, but
  not being flogged as a boy.
• Young officer remembered the flogging.
• The memory test for a single consciousness
  implies that the boy and the general are not same
  person, but that the general and the officer are
  same person, and that the boy and the officer are
  same person.

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Possible Responses to Reid

• 1. Potential memory of each of the episodes
  implies same person. But this begs the question,
  since the only test of potentiality is that they
  are his memories, and this presumes that there is
  a single him that we are talking about.

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• 2. Locate personal identity in the memories that
  one could remember now, and the ones that the
  person could remember at those times, and the
  ones that one could remember at those times, etc.
  
• 3. Accept that fragmentary consciousness
  indicates fragmentary personal identity.

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Third Objection to Locke The Circularity
Objection

• "consciousness of personal identity presupposes,
  and therefore cannot constitute personal
  identity (Butler)
• Also called the Lockean Circle objection

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Michaels, Persons, Brains, and Bodies

• The Wanda/Schwanda example
• Lockean circle objection The fact that Wandas
  memories are intact or that Wandas brain is in
  Schwanda also cannot be significant unless we beg
  the question again in favor of Lockes theory.

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• The Dr. Nefarious example is supposed to show us
  that we are concerned about our bodys future.
• Michaels the sameness of brain theory is just
  the sameness of memory theory, and both are to be
  rejected in favor of the sameness of body theory.