On 18/07/2016 3:40 pm, Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
On 18 July 2016 at 15:16, Bruce Kellett <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:On 18/07/2016 3:04 pm, Stathis Papaioannou wrote:On 18 July 2016 at 12:53, Bruce Kellett <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: So in your duplication scenarios, the case in which the original is duplicated, but continues to exist, the closest continuer theory would have some measure that gave significance to bodily continuity, so we would say that the original person continued intact, and that, although sharing some background with the continuer, a new individual was created in the manufactured duplicate. In the duplication scenario in which the original is cut or deleted, then there is no preferred unique continuer, so there is a tie, and we would say that two new persons are created (the original having been destroyed). If you think these things through, you can see that this theory of personal identity resolves all the problems that your "psychological" theory encounters. Without a psychological theory of continuity this whole discussion would be unnecessary. We could just say that a person has been copied, the two copies are identical, and the original was destroyed. The problems arise because each copy has memories of being the original and, because of the phenomenon of first person experience, feels that he is the one true copy persisting through time - even though intellectually he knows this is not true.We all know that feelings are an unreliable guide to anything. Careful analysis is a much better guide to what is actually going on. I might, in a moment of waking confusion, fell that I am the reincarnation of Cleopatra, but that is not a reliable feeling.But if it were an absolutely consistent feeling across all people under certain circumstances, we could discuss the phenomenon, including what happens when two or more people claiming to be Cleopatra meet.
We cope with the occasional illusion/delusion by reference to the external world. Mass delusions can be more problematic -- as the history of the world shows.
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