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Pages:
3 pages/≈825 words
Sources:
2 Sources
Style:
MLA
Subject:
Psychology
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
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Topic:

Personal Identity and Locke's View of Human Knowledge

Essay Instructions:

If you could write the following based on the belief that we are given a soul by the creator but as a blank slate that evolves over time.
1) Come up with a theory of human identity that explains how humans have developed naturally and yet are conscious individuals with moral freedom and rational belief (you need free will to have moral freedom and rational belief).
2. Be sure to avoid arguing a position that since no one knows for sure what consciousness or free will really are we cannot say anything.
3) Again, Produce your own view of the issue regarding the problem of identity. Don't forget that agency can and does include ethical agency. What is the relationship between identity and ethical agency?
What you might find is that how you answered on the Ship of Theseus problem and the mind/body problem may have far reaching implications for issues such as persistence, learning, ethical development and agency, free will, etc.
Things to think about including in your view of human identity.
1) The problem of Consciousness. Do you have a soul?
2) If you are a soul, do souls naturally evolve? Or are they given by a creator?
3) If you do not believe that you are a soul, then are you your brain?
4. Are humans born with innate knowledge including truth and goodness like Descartes argued or is Locke correct that we are born as blank slates? Why do you think that either Descartes or Locke are correct?
5. Apply Gettier's argument to this issue. What are the justifications for your beliefs about human identity?
6. In the end, do you believe that human identity persists through change? If so, what persistence principle from the Ship of Theseus is most applicable? Why?
2-3 scholars to substantiate your position (remember the readings you have done as these are your sources).
Length: 1000 words (no less than 800 and no more than 1000).

Essay Sample Content Preview:
Student’s Name
Instructor’s Name
Course
Date
Personal Identity
The concept of personal or human identity has been debated for years. The question of what it means for a person existing in the present time to be the same person in the future is raised. What connects the past, present, and future person to make them the same person? Many scholars have developed theories of personal identity to try and explain whether and how personal identity can persist through change. Thought experiments, such as the Ship of Theseus, which questions identity, have been developed. This paper focuses on developing a theory of human identity that explains how humans have developed naturally yet are conscious individuals with moral freedom and rational belief.
To begin, it is important to discuss the problem of consciousness and, specifically, whether human beings have a soul. The question that follows is whether human consciousness exists in the brain or the soul. I would argue that human consciousness is more metaphysical than a biological state. It just exists as a first principle. As Sepetyi (p.6) reveals, the soul has a diachronic identity with the body, and this presents the ground on which personal identity persists over time. The persistence of one soul in a person's body makes a person at present be the same person in the future. I believe that human identity is tied to the human soul. That is, human beings have to be viewed as souls for their identity to be persistent over time. The soul ensures that the person's consciousness stays with them even when they forget certain memories or desires. Most humans do not remember specific details of their childhood. I think that their soul makes the child and the adult the same person.
The soul, however, evolves naturally, based on the experiences of a person. As moral beings with free will and ethical agency, the evolution of the soul is important. It ensures that people become ethically and morally evolved and can maintain their autonomy. The soul evolves to accommodate free will and ethical agency, but the evolution varies from person to person. As Swinburne discusses in "The Evolution of the Soul," human beings are distinct from other higher animals with souls because humans have moral awareness, free will, and logical reasoning. However, this is not created but evolves through the individual's life experiences. A person may lack moral awareness and free will as a child. However, as they go through life experiences and gain knowledge, they become more morally aware and autonomous well into adulthood.
For the same reason, I believe...
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