Ep. 261: Derek Parfit on Personal Identity (Part One)

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Mark Linsenmayer

Casey, Paskin, Philosophy, Linsenmayer, Society & Culture, Alwan

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2021

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On Reasons and Persons (1984), ch. 10-13. What makes a person persist over time?

After using various sci-fi examples to test the Lockean (personhood=psychological continuity), physicalist (same brain=same person), and Cartesian (same soul=same person) theories, Parfit concludes that the whole notion is incoherent and isn't actually what we care about when wondering "will I die?"

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the partially examined life, a podcast by some guys who had one point
0:12.1	said I'm doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it.
0:15.1	Our question for episode 261 is something like what constitutes personal identity and
0:21.6	is personal identity really something we should care about.
0:23.8	We're reading most of part three of Derek Parfitt's Reasons and Persons from 1984.
0:29.8	More information please visit partiallyexaminedlife.com.
0:32.9	There are future experiences that will be related in certain ways to these present experiences
0:36.9	happening in Madison, Wisconsin and I invite you to call the collectivities of these experiences
0:42.0	Mark Linton-Mire.
0:43.6	This is Wesol one entirely a product of relation R in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
0:49.5	This is Seth Pascon.
0:54.3	I'm having memories of Greta Garbo here in Austin, Texas.
1:00.6	This is Dylan Casey, one cell away from no longer being myself in San Diego, New Mexico.
1:09.8	Dylan you're in San Fe.
1:11.6	I am for the next six weeks.
1:15.1	Color me envious.
1:16.9	20 degrees warmer here in sunny.
1:21.0	You're in Texas Seth.
1:22.1	What the hell do you think I'm playing about?
1:24.1	Oh I know it's not the temperature.
1:25.7	Today was gorgeous in Austin.
1:27.2	It's just San Fe such an awesome town and it's so beautiful in New Mexico.
	...

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