A causal stream of momentary mental events, as in Vasubandhu's Abhidharma analysis, generates qualitative continuity but cannot ground the numerical identity that karmic justice presupposes.
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(as the basic units Vasubandhu uses to analyze consciousness)
Individual, fleeting moments of thought or experience that last only an instant before disappearing and being replaced by the next moment.
Qualitative continuity(as what a causal stream creates)
The sense that your experience feels smooth and connected—like your personality and consciousness seem like one ongoing thing even though it's technically changing moment to moment.
Vasubandhu(the subject of the argument being discussed)
An ancient Indian Buddhist philosopher (around 4th-5th century) who developed sophisticated theories about the mind and reality, particularly the idea that everything we experience might be mental constructs rather than external objects.
numerical identity(Distinguished from qualitative similarity when discussing whether a tailed cat and a tailless cat are the same individual.)
The relation an entity bears to itself and nothing else; being one and the same individual entity rather than merely qualitatively similar.