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What is your personal identity
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In Daniel Dennett’s Where Am I?, as the title suggests, he chooses to focus on the issue of personal identity with a primary focus on how we determine our personal spacial location. After presenting and summarizing Dennett’s ideas presented in this paper, I will share my personal interpretation along with a few words of caution and potential argument against his “tokening of thought” ideas that I would present to Dennett if I were ever able to meet him in person. In most cases of life, it would be safe to assume that our brains are attached to our bodies and thus we often are not forced to distinguish between the location of our brain and location of our body. Dennett, however, begins his story by describing a procedure that
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For simplicity, he names his original brain Yorick and the computer duplicate Hubert. According to the story, the scientists that crafted this experiment had also been sending the exact same incoming sensory signals from Dennett’s body to Hubert for the entirety of this experiment. Also, the signals that Yorick were sending to the body were checked with those of Hubert and were found to be “identical and synchronous” meaning that both Yorick and Hubert were fully capable of fulfilling the functional needs that determined Dennett’s bodily output and thus could both be justifiably identified as Dennett’s brain. Dennett also tells of a switch that determines which brain controls Dennett’s body and that Dennett could switch between Yorick and Hubert at will. Because the two systems operated in the exact same ways, Dennett would not be able to notice a switch of brains as he highlights in the following quote: "I could switch in mid-utterance, and the sentence I had begun speaking under the control of Yorick was finished without a pause or hitch of any kind under the control of Hubert." While this statement may be true, it seems as if Dennett is shying away from a subtle, yet rather critical aspect of the
It is in gaining a sense of our identity that we find a place to belong. This is presented in Episode 4, Stand Up, of the television series Redfern Now, directed by Rachael Perkins.
Alter, Adam. "Where We Are Shapes Who We Are." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 June 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
Every person thinks about a certain question at least once in the lifetime. The question that is most thought about is, ¨Who am I?¨ Many people would respond with their name, their parents, or where they live. Others use their reputation, their occupation, and their looks. At last, a few others identify themselves by their significant actions they have done. In some stories, characters try to find out who they really are. In the short stories ¨Fish Cheeks¨ by Amy Tan, ¨Two Kinds¨ by Amy Tan, and ¨Papa´s Parrot¨ by Cynthia Rylant,the characters learn about their identities through significant moments.
In the essay “Where am I?” by Daniel C. Dennett there are connections being made and questions that arise in nature of a ‘self’ and the relation to ‘mind’ and ‘body’. The essay starts out with information about how Daniel was approached by Pentagon officials in which they asked him if he would be inclined to volunteer to take on a very dangerous and secret mission. This mission involved Daniel to go underground in Oklahoma to retrieve a warhead that was placed down there that has become extremely radioactive in a new way. The nature of the device produced radiation that could cause severe abnormalities in certain tissues of the brain. There was no way to shield and protect the brain from these deadly radiation rays that the device put off in
Some believe that the mind must be a physical object, and others believe in dualism, or the idea that the mind is separate from the brain. I am a firm believer in dualism, and this is part of the argument that I will use in the favor of Dennett. The materialist view, however, would likely not consider Hubert to be a mind. That viewpoint believes that all objects are physical objects, so the mind is a physical part of a human brain, and thus this viewpoint doesn’t consider the mind and body as two separate things, but instead they are both parts of one object. The materialist would likely reject Hubert as a mind, even though circuit boards are a physical object, although even a materialist would likely agree that Yorick being separated from Dennett does not disqualify Yorick as a mind.
Among carpenters, it is a well-known fact that building a house upon a solid foundation is imperative. When beginning the construction of a home, the foundation is always the first step leading to success, for without it, the house will become unstable. During extreme weather, such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other conditions, a slight fault in the foundation of a home will most likely guarantee significant damage, if not complete destruction. Similar to a house, a person’s identity must rest upon a firm foundation; otherwise, it may not be capable of withstanding the ominous conditions of the world. When trials and burdens threaten to crumble people’s identities, their foundations must stand their ground and overcome the various tribulations. Although there are billions of inhabitants of the world, no two people share the same identity; rather, each person has unique memories, stories, events, and artifacts influencing who they have become. Some people’s identities may reflect a difficult childhood of discrimination, poverty, and hatred similar to the one described by Malcolm X in his article, “Nightmare.” Other people may associate with Katie Pederson and her article, “Identity,” in which they are defined through a simple artifact such as an identification card. In addition, numerous unfortunate people may struggle from the devastating effects of memory loss similar to those Floyd Skloot experienced, and they are helpless as their memories and identity slowly slip away from them. Still other people may find themselves desperately searching for acceptance and identity similar to the homeless man in Gina Berriault’s article, “Who Is It Can Tell Me Who I Am.” Unlike the homeless man and Malcolm X, I was fortuna...
In the essay "It’s Hard Enough Being Me," Anna Lisa Raya relates her experiences as a multicultural American at Columbia University in New York and the confusion she felt about her identity. She grew up in L.A. and mostly identified with her Mexican background, but occasionally with her Puerto Rican background as well. Upon arriving to New York however, she discovered that to everyone else, she was considered "Latina." She points out that a typical "Latina" must salsa dance, know Mexican history, and most importantly, speak Spanish. Raya argues that she doesn’t know any of these things, so how could this label apply to her? She’s caught between being a "sell-out" to her heritage, and at the same time a "spic" to Americans. She adds that trying to cope with college life and the confusion of searching for an identity is a burden. Anna Raya closes her essay by presenting a piece of advice she was given on how to deal with her identity. She was told that she should try to satisfy herself and not worry about other people’s opinions. Anna Lisa Raya’s essay is an informative account of life for a multicultural American as well as an important insight into how people of multicultural backgrounds handle the labels that are placed upon them, and the confusion it leads to in the attempt to find an identity. Searching for an identity in a society that seeks to place a label on each individual is a difficult task, especially for people of multicultural ancestry.
This is very difficult to prove or disprove, due to the limited information that has been given to us. We first find out that Dennett has two distinct entities at the end of “Where Am I?” and even though we do not know which mind is Hubert and which mind is Yorick, we are able to see notice that the behavior of each mind was consistent with rational beings. One mind, let 's call him mind A, was highly concerned about his personal identity, and the prospect of two Dennett’s staking a claim to one body. The other mind, mind B was thrilled to have been let out of “purgatory” and was adamant about a new end, finding a new body for them to be separated. Mind B was also concerned about the well being of mind A, and the means of which will be taken to determine whether minds A or mind B is going to be the one to keep Dennett’s body. This indicates that both mind A and B are both rational beings that are capable of moral
In his 1971 paper “Personal Identity”, Derek Parfit posits that it is possible and indeed desirable to free important questions from presuppositions about personal identity without losing all that matter. In working out how to do so, Parfit comes to the conclusion that “the question of identity has no importance” (Parfit, 1971, p. 4.2:3). In this essay, I will attempt to show that Parfit’s thesis is a valid one, with positive implications for human behaviour. The first section of the essay will examine the thesis in further detail, and the second will assess how Parfit’s claims fare in the face of criticism. Problems of personal identity generally involve questions about what makes one the person one is and what it takes for the same person to exist at separate times (Olson, 2010).
The two hemispheres of the brain are the left and the right hemisphere. Each having it's own unique purpose and function. The two hemispheres are separated by a fold down the middle connected only by a thick nerve cable called the corpus callosum. The Left hemisphere is thought to be the logical side controlling speech, reading, writing, details, facts, maths and science and rational, literal, practical analysis. The right hemisphere is seen as controlling the intuitive, creative side of life, with spatial perception, symbols and images, face recognition, imagination, beliefs and fantasy. (Vered, 2013, www.brainskills.co.uk)
What is personal identity? This question has been asked and debated by philosophers for centuries. The problem of personal identity is determining what conditions and qualities are necessary and sufficient for a person to exist as the same being at one time as another. Some think personal identity is physical, taking a materialistic perspective believing that bodily continuity or physicality is what makes a person a person with the view that even mental things are caused by some kind of physical occurrence. Others take a more idealist approach with the belief that mental continuity is the sole factor in establishing personal identity holding that physical things are just reflections of the mind. One more perspective on personal identity and the one I will attempt to explain and defend in this paper is that personal identity requires both physical and psychological continuity; my argument is as follows:
Adrienne Rich once wrote an open letter titled “Politics of Location” that profoundly opened my eyes to a relevantly obvious concept of self-identity. More often than not, one fails to see the truth that sits right before his or her own eyes. However, it is still the responsibility of the individual to be accountable for that truth. The concept of politics of location is simply that one’s life experiences affects one’s perspective. Unintentionally, individuals make themselves the center of reality. When, in actuality, one is only the center of his or her own reality. Rich also goes on to explain that people are different; yet, individuals have an uncanny since of imagined community. That being, the feeling that
In the world of man, one would think everyone sees the world in the same way. That person would be greatly mistaken. The human brain is more complex than most can believe; some would say the brain is still a modern mystery. When it comes to psychology, the idea behind perception and cognition is usually through the psyche of a ‘normal’ individual. However, some argue that studying abnormal brains, or persons with brain disorders could help better understand perception and cognition. It is correct that unusual brains can perceive differently from a standard brain. These studies can only help the scientific field expand its understanding of the brain by encompassing all brains, including those suffering from disorders. In short, brain disorders
In this paper I will be focusing on Erikson’s Theory mainly about identity versus role confusion. Finding one’s identity is not always an easy task. Everyone at some point in his or her life has had, as Erikson puts it, an identity crisis. Everyone experiences different struggles that can have either a positive or negative impact on their identity. On my path to identity, I have reached identity achievement, which means I have explored and made commitments. I will also be focusing on two articles highlighting a fifth possible outcome regarding identity and looking at identity statuses as developmental trajectories.
In conclusion, the formation of one’s identity has many components. Beginning at the onset of adolescence and continuing to expand, grow and form and reform as we live through the struggles or success of life. Many theorists have endeavored to clarify the development of identity formation. However, Erik Erickson offered one significant theory involving the formation of one’s identity. Expounding on Erickson theory, Marcia developed his Identity Status Model according to the existence or absence of crisis and commitments. These four statuses, diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement can combine in various ways to produce a self. One’s sense of identity is determined largely by the choices and commitments made, therefore, having a well-developed sense of self can provide an individual with insight to their strengths, weaknesses, and individual uniqueness. An individual that finds themselves