On 18 July 2016 at 15:16, Bruce Kellett <bhkell...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
> On 18/07/2016 3:04 pm, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: > > On 18 July 2016 at 12:53, Bruce Kellett <bhkell...@optusnet.com.au> wrote: > > So in your duplication scenarios, the case in which the original is >> duplicated, but continues to exist, the closest continuer theory would have >> some measure that gave significance to bodily continuity, so we would say >> that the original person continued intact, and that, although sharing some >> background with the continuer, a new individual was created in the >> manufactured duplicate. In the duplication scenario in which the original >> is cut or deleted, then there is no preferred unique continuer, so there is >> a tie, and we would say that two new persons are created (the original >> having been destroyed). >> >> If you think these things through, you can see that this theory of >> personal identity resolves all the problems that your "psychological" >> theory encounters. >> > > Without a psychological theory of continuity this whole discussion would > be unnecessary. We could just say that a person has been copied, the two > copies are identical, and the original was destroyed. The problems arise > because each copy has memories of being the original and, because of the > phenomenon of first person experience, feels that he is the one true copy > persisting through time - even though intellectually he knows this is not > true. > > > We all know that feelings are an unreliable guide to anything. Careful > analysis is a much better guide to what is actually going on. I might, in a > moment of waking confusion, fell that I am the reincarnation of Cleopatra, > but that is not a reliable feeling. > But if it were an absolutely consistent feeling across all people under certain circumstances, we could discuss the phenomenon, including what happens when two or more people claiming to be Cleopatra meet. -- Stathis Papaioannou -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
