Introduction If an individual loses his past self, would he still be the same individual? According to the personal identity memory theory by John Locke, as long as a person is the same self, the personal identity of that person is the same. But for Leonard Shelby who is the main character if the Memento film, this does not apply after he suffered a condition that hinders him from creating new memories. This paper addresses the topic of the truth of John Locke’s perception of personal identity which follows that Leonard does not have a personal identity. The paper reviews the Memento film which is a psychological thriller which presents two different personal identities of Leonard Shelby after suffering from a memory condition. The paper …show more content…
The personal identity continues to be same since a person is the same rational thing, same self, and thus the personal identity never changes (Strawson, 2014). Locke also suggests that personal identity has to change when the own self-changes and therefore even a little change in the personal identity has to change the self. He also provides an argument that a person cannot question what makes something today to remain the same thing it was a day ago or yesterday because one must specify the kind of thing it was. This is because something might be a piece of plastic but be a sharp utensil and thus suggest that the continuity of consciousness is required for something to remain the same yesterday and today. John Locke also suggests that two different things of a similar type cannot be at the same time at the same place. Therefore, the criteria of the personal identity theory of Locke depends on memory or consciousness remaining the same (Strawson, 2014). This is because provided a person has memory continuity and can remember being the same individual, feeling, thinking, and doing specific things, the individual can remain to be the same person irrespective of bodily
“All these memories will be lost, in time, like tears in the rain” the end of one of “the most moving death soliloquies in cinematic history” the replicant Roy Batty explains to his would be killer that everything in his life(Mark Rowlands Philosopher at the end of the Universe 234-235). This is one of the most telling speeches of the replicant Roy Batty in his search for himself. Throughout this semester, in the study for the self, one question has endured, whether each person has a built-in, authentic self, each person strives to identify, or whether each person is “free” to develop their self through their own personal experiences. Both sides to the question have evidence to support their beliefs about the self in every human, and whether it is one consistent self, or it
...f existence before essence is echoed when Teddy tells Leonard that he (Leonard) doesn't even know who he is: when Leonard answers he is his past self, Teddy cautions "That's who you were, not who you've become." While Leonard does not believe it, Teddy reminds him that he is responsible for his wife's death, not the men he tracks down and enjoys killing. Leonard refuses to acknowledge that he is his actions, to which Sartre would say "There is no reality except in action" (316, Existentialist Philosophy). Leonard seems to avoid responsibility for his freedom, most likely because he does see who he has become. Memento is a poignant affirmation that our actions make us who we are and that we are in fact responsible for the choices we make, whether we face our freedom, or flee from our anxiety as Leonard does. Now, where was I...?
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 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 problem of personal identity is based around the issue created in the high school reunion scenario. Personal relationships and often legal disputes are built around the knowledge of personal identity; knowing a specific person is the same person from the events of the past. In order to completely explain that a person who existed ten years ago or even yesterday is the same person who exists at this moment, a criterion which demonstrates the elements of personal identity needs to be defined. Three criteria which ...
Derek Parfit claims that the idea of personal identity (having a unique personality exclusive to one person) is not as important as psychological continuity, which is having an uninterrupted mental connection between the person who you were two weeks ago and the person you are today, at least when reflecting on ones self. His arguments for this view are relatively sound, personal identity is not essential to survival or responsibility, he claims. Also, the thought experiment in which one brain is split into two parts and transferred to two separate bodies stomps all over the idea of personal identity being fundamental to our existence. However, ones personal identity, their idea of who they are, play a crucial role in their emotions and, most importantly, their happiness.
Personal identity, in the context of philosophy, does not attempt to address clichéd, qualitative questions of what makes us us. Instead, personal identity refers to numerical identity or sameness over time. For example, identical twins appear to be exactly alike, but their qualitative likeness in appearance does not make them the same person; each twin, instead, has one and only one identity – a numerical identity. As such, philosophers studying personal identity focus on questions of what has to persist for an individual to keep his or her numerical identity over time and of what the pronoun “I” refers to when an individual uses it. Over the years, theories of personal identity have been established to answer these very questions, but the
The film, Memento, tells a multidimensional story about a man, Leonard Shelby, who suffers from short-term memory loss illness, anterograde amnesia. He is impaired by this medical issue due to being hit on the head when defending his wife, who was attacked and raped in their house during the middle of the night. He kills one of the invaders during the attack. With inability to form new memories, one of the last things Leonard remembers is seeing his wife, die. He then devotes his life to finding and killing the second attacker. However, Leonard, being unable to store and remember new memories, develops a technique to help him recall what has already happened in his life post head trauma. He does this by using hand-written notes, tattoos, and Polaroid pictures, with notes and indications on them as well. In this millennium released film, director and screenwriter, Christopher Nolan, uses classic neo-noir thematic and stylistic devices to demonstrate Leonard Shelby’s existential predicament regarding his own self.
Philosophers have been pondering over the problem of personal identity for centuries and today we still have not completely figured it out. The body and soul theories clearly failed to answer that, so philosopher John Locke attempted to answer the question with his new theory, the memory theory. The memory theory states that an identical persons are equal to one another if they share at least one memory experience. This means that a present person that his past self are only identical person’s if they can both recall one memory. For example, Johnny at age 30 and Johnny at age 12 both remember their big birthday party when they were seven, so they are considered to be the same person. As stated in the claim, it only applies to memory experiences,
“I have this condition,” repeats Leonard Shelby, the leading character of Memento, a film by Christopher Nolan. In the psychological thriller, Leonard has a condition that does not allow him to make new memories. The condition was caused by head trauma; the result of trying to protect his wife from being killed by the thieves who broke into his house and raped his wife. He is doomed to a live a life by following mementos--- his pictures, notes, and tattoos. Leonard’s single life mission is to find and kill his wife’s murderer. However, his condition allows him to seek vengeance over and over again. As a result, there is not only a barrier between Leonard and reality, but also a barrier between Leonard and the understanding of himself. Rooted in this confusing film is an important philosophical study of identity. How does the ability to make memories contribute to the idea of one’s identity? Can Leonard have an identity if he has lost this ability? These questions can be explored through the perspectives of John Locke, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. Their philosophical theories of identity and the self involve a close study of the conscious mind. However, when studying only this level of self, it is difficult to argue that Leonard has an identity. Leonard’s identity can best be supported when one also considers Sigmund Freud’s theory of a multilayered self, which allows one to look deeper, beyond the conscious level to what seethes underneath.
The psychological continuity claims that personal identity is a necessary condition for personal identity persistence. According to the psychological continuity, “A person X at t is identical with Y at t* if and only if Y is psychologically continuous with X.” According to John Locke” identity of persons, is identity of consciousness” What this means is that you can change your body entirely but still be the same person because it only consider the mind. The mind is what stays the same hence psychological continuity is a necessary condition for personal identity. Though, Locke’s argument might seem convincing it’s has a lot of fallacies. A strong objector to that argument was Reid. Reid suggested through his “brave soldier” example that Locke’s argument isn’t the basis for personal identity. First, let me point out that psychological continuity has a chain of person stages connected by episodic memory. Also, psychological continuity claims that as long as you remember now being the same person in the past, then your body right now is identical to the same person you were before. In other words, if you lose your memories, then you aren’t the same person as
The 2000 film, Memento is about Leonard Shelby who is trying to find the people that raped and murdered his wife while having memory issues. I believe the message of the film was about being able to trust others in the time of need. In this essay I will be talking about how critical moments in the film and the issue of obsession led to the downfall of Leonard.
Memento is a captivating and beautifully written movie that incorporates the subject of amnesia and short term memory loss. The audience is enabled to view Leonard’s world through pieces of information he has gathered on post it notes, polaroid shots he takes of people and places, and tattoos on his body. Although the movie grasps many of the concepts of anterograde amnesia, some parts have been exaggerated and are unrealistic.
The importance of memory is shown in how essential it is to each character. Without their memories, it is arguable that none of the characters would have a “self”. They use their memories so often to form opinions of each other, remember feelings they had towards each other and to
We as human beings have the tendency to perceive many things in the world to remain constant throughout the course of time. This belief brings up the question of what makes something the same over time, and more importantly what makes a person the same over time, which ties in with an issue of personal identity. Personal identity, in the broadest sense, is the self-concept of whom we perceive we are. The complication of personal identity is identifying and knowing what exactly it means to be the same person over time. One can simply state physical appearance or mental state falls under the criteria to determine what makes someone the same person over time, but it is far more complex and too simple to just say that because our bodies and mental states are constantly changing. It is strenuous difficult to find a solution to this problem due to finding the criteria necessary to confirm if someone is the same person from years, days, or even minutes prior.