Personal Statement : Personal Identity

With given a choice of what to write this paper, I could not get past the subtle nature of who we are as God’s creations. This fundamental truth of our identity is simplified with the truth of our identity in Jesus. We are created in God’s image with a purpose here on earth to display all of God’s greatness, His beauty, and to reveal all of His character aspects. Best of all, we are completely dependent on God. This new enlightenment of my identity in Christ as God’s creation will allow me to help people around the world become one with Christ by revealing the truth of their identity.

Identity refers to “a relation that everything has to itself and to no other thing”, and our perception of personal identity is the knowledge that we are ourselves, and who we have been – basically, that I am the same person I was last week, last year, etc. Leibniz’s Law states that if one thing (A) is identical to another (B) at one given point in time, they share the exact same properties, making them the same, one thing (A = B).

In philosophy, the issue of personal identity concerns the conditions under which a person at one time is the same person at another time. An analysis of personal identity

“’Identity has been increasingly used to refer to the social and historical make-up of a person, personality as a construct. Sometimes such identities are conceived narrowly psychological, individualist terms, as the cumulative result of personal experience and family history”

With any philosophical theory, there are many different sides to each topic. The first argument that will be discussed about personal identity is the psychological approach. People who stand by the psychological approach concerning personal identity believe that a person’s memories and their personality traits make up who they are. According to this approach, throughout your life you will continue to be the same person because your memories and personality will never

The concept of identity is highly paradoxical at best. The notion of having a “true” identity is ultimately impossible. Each of us will take on slightly different identities to acceptably fit given situations. Although he focuses on identifying with another person or object, Burt Olivier is a notable scholar that has written extensively on identity.

Identity is very significant in one’s life. Every person in this life goes through a phase of self-assessment that involves trying to identify the different elements that compose one’s identity and personality, which can be perceived as an ultimate personal quest to answer the question “who am I?” Many cultures have rituals that provide the foundation for self-development of the individual and provide a pathway that guides the individual to the answers he or she is looking for. Since my birth, I belong to certain Community or Social Groups which can influence my identity and personality. The first was my nationality and family. I have been born in India and I belong to Hindu Culture and Religion group. I had been given my name “Harshit” by my aunt which means “One who gives happiness or Joyful or Happy”. I represent my Identity by showing my group which I belong to and how the group affects my personality. When I came to the United States for my further undergraduate studies, I joined classes, sports clubs and university clubs. These activities were part of my college curriculum. Overall, now I belong to multiple Social Groups such as my family, my classes, Hindu culture and religion, universities clubs, community groups and sports club. Within these groups, I have acquired good knowledge and have completely changed my conduct, how to get involved in social life and how to communicate effectively and fluently in English.

If on Tuesday, I suffer an accident and lose all of my memory, it is probable that my family and friends will still love and care for me, creating an impression that I am indeed the same person I once was. These conditions imply the theses of animalism and bodily continuity when it comes to personal identity. However, is this human habit enough to discard the idea that it is psychological continuity that sustains identity? Whilst many may argue that it would be against our intuition to say that I am no longer the same person, I do not believe that this is caused by our intuition, but instead a societal construct that’s sole purpose is to make the trauma of the accident and loss easier to deal with. By using this premise and upholding the psychological

What is a personal identity, and how does one go by gaining one? This is a question that has been asked and debated for centuries by many philosophers who at one time in their life asked themselves, who am I? Personal identity is the personal “qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person different from others (Merriam-Webster)”. Many people think personal identity comes from a specific pivotal moment in your life where others, feel that you receive personal identity at conception. Yet some believe that you get it based off of the life experiences that you have. It is true to an extant that you have an identity at birth, although you gain more of a semi-permanent identity in time after you have learned through

This essay will discuss the idea that personal identity persists over time. It will start by briefly analysing some philosophical approaches to the problem, with views from René Descartes, G.W. Leibniz, Thomas Reid, Ludwig Wittgenstein, John Perry and Derek Parfit. Also in the discussion, the concept of psychological continuity will be presented, and also its reaches and limits. I will, then, introduce the concept of unity as a consequence of personal continuity, and its compelling argument for the persistence of personal identity. As a conclusion, some suggestions as to where the discussion of personal identity should advance will be recommended.

Personal identity is a concept within philosophy that has persisted throughout its history. In the eighteenth century this problem came to a head. David Hume dedicated a portion of his philosophy in the attempts to finally put what he saw as a fallacious claim concerning the soul to rest. In the skeptical wake of Hume, German idealist, beginning with Immanuel Kant, were left with a variety of epistemic and metaphysical problems, the least of which was personal identity.

Many ancient philosophers were fascinated with the idea of the personal identity. This is often referred to as the “self”. The “self” is considered to be something that is not physical, therefore the search to discover the “self” is not concrete. With the “self” being something that has no physical element, many philosophers have different opinions on what the “self” is and how it functions. “Someone 's personal identity in this sense consists of those features she takes to “define her as a person” or “make her the person she is” (Eric T. Olson). John Locke was a ancient philosopher who believed that the ‘self” came from memory rather than the body. René Descartes was famous for the phrase, “I think therefore I am”.

“Identity is never static, always in the making and never made” (Fuchs). All people struggle with this concept of identity, with who they are. This one concept takes into account every aspect of oneself: an individual’s morals, values, experiences, words, and actions. Therefore, one’s identity is always changing because none of these things are static-they are always changing. William Golding uses certain characters in Lord of the Flies to convey that identity is a malleable aspect of self that conforms and adapts to different situations, depending on rewards and consequences.

The question on personal identity has been a philosophical debate for a long time. Philosophers over time have tried to argue what being a person that one is, from one day to the necessarily contains. In their endless search for philosophical bases on the same, multiple questions on the issues of life and death arise such that the correct answers to personal identity determine the changes that one person undergoes, or may undergo without being extinct but rather continuing to exist. Personal identity philosophical theory confronts the most ultimate questions on our existence as well as who we are and if by any chance there is a possibility of life after death. In attempts to distinguish change in a person in survival and after death, a criterion of personal identity over time is given. Such criterion specifies all the necessary and sufficient conditions that must prevail for a person to continue to exist (Perry et al,103)

In this world of great knowledge and great unknowns, there are many questions that are asked about the world around us as well as questions that we ask ourselves about various topics. One topic in particular philosophers have been pondering for several years is personal identity. What makes a person at an earlier time numerically identical with a person at a later time? What accounts for, explains, or constitutes being one and the same individual? When asking these questions, they pertain to what constitutes identity for humans over time. These are questions of personal survival. These questions are important because they make us think about ourselves in a bigger picture. When one is placed on this earth, they begin to question everything about themselves and the world around them. What does it mean for humans to be humans? These questions result in 3 “answers”: somatic theories, dualist theories, and psychological theories. Somatic theories is pertaining to the body and what makes for the identity is the body that one owns. Dualist theories for personal identity is saying a future person is the same as the current person if we share a soul or mind. The last theory is psychological meaning a future person is the same as the current person if they have the right kind of psychology (the right memories, character, etc.). Personal Identity can be defined as the persistent and continuous unity of the individual person normally attested by continuity of memory with present