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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that It is clear to us that we will be the same person until a later time by virtue of the fact that we will retain the same character until then.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Character itself undergoes gradual, sometimes radical change over time without disrupting felt continuity of personal identity.
      ?

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    • 2.If character change were sufficient to break personal identity, survivors of religious conversion or severe depression would constitute different persons, which is counterintuitive.
      ?

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    • 3.Therefore, character retention cannot be the criterion that grounds our sense of being the same person over time.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Locke and his successors ground personal identity in continuity of memory and psychological connectedness, not in stable character traits.
      ?

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    • 2.A person with severe amnesia who retains the same temperament and values lacks the memory-chains Locke requires, yet Williams's criterion would falsely count them as fully continuous.
      ?

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    • 3.Character stability is thus epiphenomenal to identity rather than constitutive of it.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Categorical desires are important elements of our characters.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Retaining the same character over time is what makes it clear that we remain the same person.
      ?

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    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.