PH 202 Lecture 20: Notes for Day 20
12 May 2018
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Notes for Day 20
PERSONAL IDENTITY:
The idea of being the same self is ultimately a figment of the imagination
Then what are we?
For Hume, the important thing is that we have a notion of the self that helps us identify the notion of
morality
For Hume, the self is a bundle of perceptions because the bundles are connected to each other by
resemblance and cause and effect
But we have different bundles and therefore different selves
Hume thinks that morality is grounded in feeling, emotion
The basis for morality is the sympathy that we have for other human beings
If we didn't have this sympathy, then there will be no morality
Lack of sympathy is a lack of humanity
The sympathy is the basis for moral concern for others
Your concern for yourself amounts to the same thing that your concern for others is
Your relationship for your future self is no different to your relationship for other individuals
You are no different in comparison to the human being that sat here 4 minutes ago or two days ago
because you have the same emotion, the same feeling, and you still show the same empathy that you
expressed for other people a few days ago
Your relationship to yourself is the same as your relationship to other human beings; your self is not
based on personal identity, it is based on cause and effect, contiguity, and resemblance that you have in
terms of the relationships you have with others on a daily basis
This is what defines self
This is why you are the same person
Your morality makes you you
CAUSE AND EFFECT:
Causation: every action has a reaction
For the rationalists, cause and effect are connected by reason, causation has to be conceptually
transparent
Reason needs to connect the cause and effect
Hume defines this connection as necessary connection: requires reason to make the connection
To Hume Relation of ideas: it has either an intuitively or demonstratively connection
When dealing with objects in the world: the rationalists, it is difficult to determine the necessary
connection
Medical studies do the same thing: we found a link between x and y but we haven't proven causation
We know that there is a relationship, but we do not know what is causing the certain outcome
Causation allows us to give a rational explanation for a certain outcome (like knowing the mechanism in
which smoking causes cancer)
Mere correlation means that you can't rationally explain the necessary connection
Probability and statistics can lead to correlation but not causation
If there is causation, then there is a rational connection between two actions
Correlation shows that two actions take the same path but there is no identifiable connection between
the two actions, it cannot be explainable
Therefore, necessary connection = rational connection
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Document Summary
The idea of being the same self is ultimately a figment of the imagination. For hume, the important thing is that we have a notion of the self that helps us identify the notion of morality. For hume, the self is a bundle of perceptions because the bundles are connected to each other by resemblance and cause and effect. But we have different bundles and therefore different selves. Hume thinks that morality is grounded in feeling, emotion. The basis for morality is the sympathy that we have for other human beings. If we didn"t have this sympathy, then there will be no morality. Lack of sympathy is a lack of humanity. The sympathy is the basis for moral concern for others. Your concern for yourself amounts to the same thing that your concern for others is. Your relationship for your future self is no different to your relationship for other individuals. This is why you are the same person.
