PHL240H1 Lecture : January 25 Lecture
Document Summary
Locke: you, the person, are a conscious stream. When a person is asleep, the conscious stream would stop and thus the person would not exist (?) What makes two conscious episodes part of the same stream locke appeals to memory. Any conscious episode you can remember is in your conscious stream. You, the person, are a conscious stream, where your stream is comprised by conscious episodes that you remember. Accordingly, if someone loses or forgets memories for a certain thing, the actual person did not do" any of the things they cannot remember, although the body did experience these things, the individual did not. Contrary to williams and thomson, locke"s point that the mind is more central to personal identity than the body looks plausible. But the more specific role he gives consciousness and memory look far less plausible. Parfit attempts to preserve something of locke"s view, while avoiding its troubles.
