On 21 April 2015 at 09:25, Bruce Kellett <bhkell...@optusnet.com.au> wrote: > Dennis Ochei wrote: >> >> Do you have a coherent, non arbitrary theory of personal identity that >> claims 1) Teletransportation creates a new person, killing the original > > > It is a possible theory. See D Parfit, 'Reasons and Persons' (Oxford, 1984).
Parfit's argument is that if identity is not preserved in these thought experiments, then identity is not the thing that matters. >> and 2) Ordinary survival does not create a new person, killing the >> original? >> >> Let me remind you, although you probably know this, that all your atoms >> except some in your teeth are replaced throughout the course of a year. > > > When a cell in my arm dies and is replaced, I do not die. When my leg is cut > off, I do not die. Ordinary survival does not kill the original and create a > new person -- body replacement is a gradual, continuous process which > preserves bodily identity. What if the duplicating machine replaced first your head and then a minute later the rest of your body? > The teleportation process discussed involves actually destroying (cutting or > killing) the original and creating a new body at some (remote) location. It > is arguable whether this new body is sufficiently close to the original to > constitute a closest continuer -- hence Parfit's idea that a new person is > always created. If replacement of memories in a new body counts as > sufficient to constitute a suitable closest continuer, that is your choice. > But is is not a logical consequence. There is a difference between natural and artificial replacement, but in the end in both cases there is a new person and the matter in the old person has disintegrated. It is not enough to show there is a difference - you have to explain why it makes a difference to the philosophical argument. -- Stathis Papaioannou -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
