Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Wednesday, 25 Oct 2017, 21:53
A couple of days ago i agreed with the ou adverts claiming thst ou study is life changing.
I tended to agree with that statement.
Having just read Parfitts work on self indentity, i would agree even further.
The idea of personal indentity as a bundle of consciousness and physcological continuity is very interesting.
I am not a man of faith, i do not believe in a divine maker, hence i can have no soul, as hume pointed out, when he looked inside himself, there was only sensations and ideas, but no soul.
I find the same in myself.
So i am just a bundle of contining consciousness. For 8 hours every night my brain shuts down most of its neurological function while it sleeps. Does that mean my personal identity is lost for a third of everyday, a third of my lifetime?. Does that upset me?
As Hume pointed out we know the sun will rise tomorrow, and barring tragedy so will my consciousness.
I struggle to decide if this knowledge makes me thankful that i have consciousness or sad because of how fragile my consciousness is.
I will think about that in the morning, when the sun has come up and i have spent 8 hours not having a personal indentity...
Life changing experiance
A couple of days ago i agreed with the ou adverts claiming thst ou study is life changing.
I tended to agree with that statement.
Having just read Parfitts work on self indentity, i would agree even further.
The idea of personal indentity as a bundle of consciousness and physcological continuity is very interesting.
I am not a man of faith, i do not believe in a divine maker, hence i can have no soul, as hume pointed out, when he looked inside himself, there was only sensations and ideas, but no soul.
I find the same in myself.
So i am just a bundle of contining consciousness. For 8 hours every night my brain shuts down most of its neurological function while it sleeps. Does that mean my personal identity is lost for a third of everyday, a third of my lifetime?. Does that upset me?
As Hume pointed out we know the sun will rise tomorrow, and barring tragedy so will my consciousness.
I struggle to decide if this knowledge makes me thankful that i have consciousness or sad because of how fragile my consciousness is.
I will think about that in the morning, when the sun has come up and i have spent 8 hours not having a personal indentity...