Argumentative Essay On Personal Identity

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The current and past discussion in philosophy about personal identity seems to have missed something along the way. This thing is the relation of the self we are looking to define to other things in the form of “ownership” or “possession”. By exploring these ideas, it may be possible to flesh out and rethink our previous theories in a more fruitful manner. This thesis is, certainly, a large claim to make. And I have no qualifications to make such a claim; there are few people who have such qualifications: I am not among them. However, I do not see why this should restrict me from making it. If thought is restricted to only what we know, then it is impossible to learn. Of course, there is the off chance the outsider may see further than those who live in a field, but that sits secondary to the opportunity for learning, in my opinion. That is why I am writing this essay. I want to share my claim, its arguments, and the research that informs it with whoever I can, if they have even a basic interest on the topic, so that both the reader and I can …show more content…

This contrasts with questions about ourselves that arise by virtue of our being living things, conscious beings, material objects, or the like.” For our simple purpose, this definition seems fittings. Then, when stating that ownership has some place in the discussion of personal identity, I must ensure it falls within this definition in some way. However, trying to work off a broad definition fails to pin down the parts of a discussion. So, again taking from SEP, there are a few core questions in the study of personal identity that should be enumerated through when talking through each theory and examining it. But, let us first talk about them outside of applying

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