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    Biological continuity of vital processes is not sufficien... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Living creatures can be deathlessly annihilated (i.e., cease to exist without dying).

    Biological continuity of vital processes is not sufficient for identity persistence; what matters is psychological or narrative continuity (Parfit, Locke).

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Personal identity is fundamentally about what matters to us subjectively: continuity of memories, beliefs, desires, and life narrative.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Biological continuity alone permits identity with someone whose psychology is completely replaced (via total amnesia or brain alteration).
      ?

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    • 3.Intuitive thought experiments (teleportation, fission, gradual neuron replacement) show we track psychological chains, not physical continuity.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Psychological continuity is too permissive: it allows multiple future beings to equally continue you (the fission problem).
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Memory and narrative are malleable, reconstructed, and unreliable; biology provides the only objective, causally-grounded criterion.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If only psychology matters, identical twins with identical minds are the same person—an absurd result that reveals the view's inadequacy.
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    Related

    Biological continuity alone permits identity with someone whose psychology is co...If only psychology matters, identical twins with identical minds are the same pe...Intuitive thought experiments (teleportation, fission, gradual neuron replacemen...Living creatures can be deathlessly annihilated (i.e., cease to exist without dy...
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    Memory and narrative are malleable, reconstructed, and unreliable; biology provi...Personal identity is fundamentally about what matters to us subjectively: contin...Psychological continuity is too permissive: it allows multiple future beings to ...

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    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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