Self Identity Research Paper

Identity is anything that can provide us with a way of answering what we are. I believe that there is a core basis of

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.

Who I am? Personally, I believe that a person’s identity can take only one of two routes. One, a person’s identity can change within that person’s life. Who I am now, is not necessarily who I was when I was younger. Experience can and will likely modify our identities. Therefore, experience can solidify our personal identification or it can weaken our personal identification. And as such, individuals and their perspectives are always evolving, or at the very least, they should evolve over time. Although there are some identities that evolve throughout one’s lifetime; there are some identities that remain consistent. Two, some identities cannot and will not change. So identities are socially and/or politically forces upon you, some identities are genetically assigned to you, and some you choose to keep. No matter the reason or reasons, these identities have been and will be consist within your lifespan. But, how you deal with them is up to you as an individual.

Unfortunately, the search for such a new identity all too often proves to be a painful and fruitless odyssey. Yet like the water that's always attracted by gravity, the human soul is constantly and relentlessly evolving—along with the world around it. Thus in the end, we often are left only with ourselves rather than labels and concepts.

Personal identity is essential in the human experience. Identity is complex and can be broken down into two main groups: introspective identity, and bodily identity. Introspective identity is based off of the groups, mentalities, or beliefs that you align yourself with, and bodily identity is based off of the physical side of yourself. Whether physical or introspective, your identity impacts every action you take. Whether choices ranging from what colors you prefer to which college you want to attend are primarily based off of your introspective identity, which is a combination of both memory and consciousness, physical identity impacts how others perceive you. Consciousness is mainly the awareness of bodily identity as well as continuous introspective identify, while memory is awareness of introspective identity. These two different facets of identity are imperative in the distinction between bodily identity and introspective identity. In means of personal identity introspective identity (which is evident in memory), is essential, while bodily identity (based partially in consciousness) has less credit.

Substance dualism is the idea that the mind is its own entity, and that it is not confined to the physical world. Paul Churchland explained the idea as “a distinct nonphysical thing” and “a thing whose identity may be temporarily “attached”” (Churchland 84). One point made for this view poses the idea that because the soul cannot be seen, and therefore cannot be broken down in more parts, it must exist separately from the body (Swineburne 1). This was a view held by the well-known philosopher Plato

I am going to argue for the soul theory of personal identity. I would agree with Socrates’s thought “that each human being is composed of a physical body and a non-physical soul” (Rachel’s and Rachel’s, 2009. P. 38). A person at one time is the same as a person at another time as long as they have the very same soul.

In philosophy, substance dualism is the idea that the mind and body are two distinct things. A substance dualist believes that the behavior and characteristics of the mind could never be fully explained by the empirical scientific laws that dictate the physical world, and because of this, the mind and the body should be seen as distinct entities. This differs immensely from the ideas physicalist have. Physicalist believe that all of the characteristics of the mind can be explained by observing the behavior of the brain, and if physicalist fail to explain a characteristic of the mind with the knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics and anatomy they currently have, they simply excuse these failures as things that will eventually be explained by future scientific discoveries.

To be an American is to have traits of freedom the thing that the founding fathers counted on is to have the will to speak freely and to have the will of religion in the constitution it say that every citizen should have life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This impacts and brings everyone from different places to help create a society that is free. The founding fathers also counted for the people to speak for what is right. The reason is because this helps out on what the people want instead of the government wants this goes to show that the people matter and that is what makes a person happy and also makes a person feel like they have the pursuit to be happy.

“The mind-body dualism, in philosophy, is the fact that any theory that the mind and body are distinct kinds of substances or natures. This position implies that mind and body not only differ in meaning, but refer to different kinds of entities (Britannica).” The most basic form of dualism is substance dualism. Substance dualism is the idea that he mind and body are composed of two ontologically distinct substances. According to one who believes and studies dualism, the mind is comprised of a non-physical substance, while the body is constituted of the physical substance, also known as matter. Dualism is closely related to the philosophy of Rene Descartes. Descartes identified the mind with consciousness and self-awareness and distinguished this from the brain. He believed that the brain was the seat of all intelligence. This lead to a great debate over the mind and body. So, ultimately, what is the nature of the mind and consciousness and its relationship to the body?

Makaela Jones (300409342) Topic: State the soul theory or personal identity, and clearly explain one objection to the soul theory. Word count: 498 The soul theory of personal identity states we are persons as long as we have an immaterial soul.

Identities however, are still fixed, though the boundaries of identities are ever expanding - though the difference is that they are not pre-defined. We can more than ever choose our own identities.

The mind-body problem, which still is debating on what it can be, still goes on today about the difference or similarities between the mind and the body. Rene Descartes had a belief that the mind and body are two different substances that can exist separately on their own, and that one can live without the other. But there is no right or wrong answer for either. Physicalism and dualism, I believe both of these give a good case about the mind-body but there really isn’t a real good answer, but between the two I find dualism to be more plausible with the mind-body problem. Dualism states that the mind and the body are two completely different things, independent from one another. (Nerruan Webster) In Wikipedia, physicalism states that the body and mind is the same thing. I find it a little hard to believe that the mind, which is a nonphysical substance, can be the same as a physical body. Therefore, I will explain some theories and examples that back up dualism.

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)

When looking at personal identity, one would define who they are by perhaps what it is that makes them who they are today, compared to who they were five years prior, or even a week ago. One’s personal identity can form from virtually anything that someone believes defines who they are as a person. Soul theory goes one step further, explaining that it is not our body who defines us as who we are, it is simply our soul that does the defining. This theory suggests that our soul is completely separate from our body. Our soul exists before we are born and long after we have passed away and our body has decomposed into the earth. When we are alive, our body takes on a soul which it will possess until the day we die, or so Miller says. The soul is seen as non-material, for it cannot be seen and we cannot physically wear it. It is composed of our past experiences, thoughts, and feelings and continues to build onto them as we grow as individuals. Soul theory clearly explains that we, as humans, are not defined by the body we are in or what we do, but by the soul we have within these bodies.