Locke Personhood

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Recommended: Locke's theory of personal identity

Philosopher John Locke’s definition of a person is an individual with consciousness and self awareness, and the ability to remember, reason, and reflect on the past. Following Locke, memory is central to our identity as a person. Being your own person requires having your own memories, and Locke’s definition of a person captures this. Furthermore, to be the same person over a period of time, one must be able to recall their past. If you cannot do this, then you are not the same person in time 2 that you were in time 1. Susan Brison also has a theory of personhood, but her theory contradicts Locke’s by stating that personhood is not just memory; rather, it is a mix of memory and the body. I will argue that Locke’s theory of personhood is superior …show more content…

If you’re not able to consciously retrieve memories, than Locke would argue that you are not the same person now as you were when the memory-producing situation occurred because if you cannot remember the situation, you most definitely cannot reflect on it. Susan Brison’s definition of what a person is emphasizes the importance of the connection between mind and body. She states her personal experiencs with the mind-body connection: “My body was portrayed as an enemy, having betrayed my newfound trust and interest in it, and as a site of vulnerability. But rejecting the body and returning to the life of the mind was not an option, as body and mind had become nearly indistinguishable. My mental state (depression) felt physiological, like lead in my veins…”(Brison …show more content…

She now has trouble distinguishing her body from her mind because her traumatic memories have manifested themselves into depression. Subsequently, the depression has manifested itself into a bodily feeling of heaviness. It is a chain reaction in a sense. Bad memories can manifest themselves into mental health problems such as depression. The mental health problems can further manifest themselves into negative bodily sensations, such as feelings of heaviness throughout the body (as Brison mentions in the above quotation) and stomach aches. Brison focuses on how memories interact with the human body to produce the whole person, but she dismisses the power of the memories themselves in defining what it means to be a

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