PHIL 130g Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Agnosticism, Personal Identity, Default Logic
Document Summary
The physical world and our place in it. 4 topics to be covered in this class: Two kinds: (1) synchronic - at the same time; and (2) diachronic - across different times. (1) questions about synchronic identity. What are the conditions under which a human person at one time (t1) and a human person another another time (t2) are the same person. The broader question: what kind of entities we are. Shieva is not responsible for having kicked aness if the kicking was a reflexive behaviour but it is if she intentionally kicks aness. Roughly, because shieva did not have control in the case where her behavior was merely reflexive. So if causal determinism is true, then events that occurred in. 1982, say, completely determine what happens in 2015, including shieva kicking aness. If this is right, then it seems like shieva doesn"t have control over kicking aness and so can"t be responsible for it.
