Personal Identity: Bundle and Ego Theory

however, it is the fact that we are not “only aware of inhabiting a distinct personal world, but also…social and cultural…” which leads to confusion. This essay will therefore explore the Psychological foundations behind the question, in regards to evidence provided by the ‘Twenty Statement Test’. Analysis of this study made it apparent that ‘the self’ could be classified into three main groups; social, relational and personal selves, with each of these being readily related to the various theoretical…

Ego Theory and Bundle Theory Derek Parfit's views on personal identity and the Ego and Bundle Theory are all summarized in his article “Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons”. In his article, Parfit explains the distinction between Ego theory and Bundle theory and provides several arguments against Ego Theory. Although it proves to be very difficult to believe the Bundle Theory, Parfit’s critique is convincing and well thought out. In order to defend the Bundle Theory of personal identity…

Personal Identity: Philosophical Views Tim V Kolton Alan Watts once said, "Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth." The task of personal identity is to define a quality of a human which makes him or her a unique self. The person whose identity is in question must realize themselves, and other people must identify this person. In other words, what makes John unique from Bob? One must consider both internal (mind) and external (body) perspectives. There…

1. Any theory of personal identity should be able to solve two problems: first, the problem of individuation; second, the problem of continuity or persistence. How would you in your own words characterize these problems? Also, do these problems matter at all? Are they actually important? Why or why not? Personal identity is basically a continuity of consciousness. It is the experience that I am the same person I was five years ago. This is perhaps the easiest and most straightforward concept of…

Major Theories Regarding the Nature of Personal and Social Identity Richard Jenkins said that ‘Without social identity, there is in fact, no Society’. Sociologists see identity as related to the society in which people live. They believe that our identity is formed against a social background, which tries to make social interaction meaningful, understandable and organised by categorising people in order of the group they belong to. Because we are categorised in such a way…

John Locke (1632-1704) said ‘To find wherein personal identity consists, we must consider what person stands for …’ (Locke, in set book, p. 275). Therefore, to recapitulate Locke’s philosophy on personal identity it is necessary to clarify how he inimitably used the term ‘person’ and consequently other words, such as ‘substance’ and ‘man’, which he utilized to form his philosophical ideas. Furthermore, his work on personal identity inspired debate amongst many subsequent philosophers and motivated…

Erikson's and Marcia's Psycho-social theory of Identity and Tajfel's Social Identity theory Introduction of theorists: Erikson: Erikson's description of the eight stages of life has a lot of appeal, and Erikson himself was described in the early 1980s as the fifth most influential psychologist of the century (Gilgen, 1982). Much research has been done on predictions made by Erikson's theory, especially the adolescent crisis of identify vs. role confusion. Erikson is one of the few famous…

Personal Identity What explains the unity of consciousness is the fact that experiences are casually interconnected. My reading of the unity of consciousness states that the series of mental happenings and events are interconnected together simply by causal relation. The Unity of Life is the linked experiences of a person joint with their personality and ego. Also the Unity of life states that experiences are connected over time. Between two theories, I believe that the Bundle theory works well…

Personal Identity in philosophy refers to a person’s self-perception, ones belief about who they are and how they differ form others. Locke and Hume both share their ideas about Personal identity and although they might both drastically differ they are still both puzzling. Locke’s theory on personal identity has to do with what make a person the same person over time, and to Locke remaining the same person doesn’t necessarily mean remaining the same physically. “For, since consciousness always accompanies…

understand Locke’s concept of personal identity it is necessary to understand what he means by identity and what he means specifically by personal identity. Locke states there are three substances that we have ideas of and that have identities. He defines idea in Essay concerning Human Understanding as “whatsoever is the object of the understanding when a man thinks” (Essay, chapter 1, section 8). That is to say that an idea, to Locke, is the basic unit of human thought. Identity is based off of comparison…