John Locke And Locke's Theory Of Personal Identity

Personal identity has always been a big controversy, whether it be from philosophers in the past or the modern era of everyday people becoming curious. People today still question who they are or even what they are. What is it that makes a person themselves? Philosophers such as Locke have constructed theories as to what personal identity is. John Lockes ideas revolve around the discussion of personal identity and the survival of consciousness after death. John Locke claims that personal identity is a form of psychological continuity. He considers personal identity to be founded on the consciousness, rather than the substance of either soul or body. While I do agree with John Lockes perspective of consciousness, I believe there is more to

Chapter twenty-six on “Identity and Diversity” has been said to be one of the most first modern concepts in which consciousness is a repeated self-identification of oneself. Within this Locke gives his account of identity and personal identity, by stating that personal identity is a matter of psychological continuity. Consciousness as said by Locke is the experience which creates personal identity. Consciousness covers current mental states, awareness of our own bodies, we also have an awareness of our past. We all have memories, Locke explains that every memory is what makes a person, themselves. Locke is someone who believes that it is our experiences within life is what molds us, he is an empiricist. An empiricist is a person who supports the theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses. John Locke was one of the philosophers who did not stand with the Cartesian theory. The Cartesian theory is one that states that the soul is the main account for personal identity. The Cartesian theory is quite opposite when in comparison to John Lockes personal identity theory revolving around consciousness. The Cartesian theory continues to with implicating that identities are fixed, the body is not essential, and a person is unified, thinking, non-extended mental substance, unchanged by

This concept stated a person cannot be a substance, because we never experience the substance; underlying substance is irrelevant. A “man” is a creature whose identity consists basically of its life, but a “person” is a particular type of consciousness. A person has the characteristics of conscious, self-aware and rational. A person is an intelligent thinking being. As a person you make decisions, see yourself as yourself, and know what your thoughts are. Consciousness extends. What you don’t remember is not part of you. Locke initiates a third term between the soul and body, one that is mediated more or less, between the two. His approach wasn’t quiet exactly scientific ideology, if so it would identify too closely to the brain with consciousness. The brain, just as body and substance may change, consciousness remains the same. This reinstates that it is not the brain (body) responsible for personal identity, but