A Dialogue On Personal Identity And Immortality

The four theories of personal identity—body theory, soul theory, memory theory, brain theory— are very well discussed in John Perry's book, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. In an argument between Gretchen Weirob, Sam Miller, and Dave Cohen, all these theories are put into question in a discussion about the possibility of life after death. Overall, throughout the book , in these discussions it seems as if the body theory wins the argument for having more pros and fewer cons than the memory, brain and soul theories. However, this theory is contradicted and deemed not possible because when the body dies the person identity no longer exists. Although there are a lot of arguments raised against the memory theory, I believe personal …show more content…
In his film, a double tragedy occurs when, Mary Frances, an average looking women is out on a walk with her son, loses sight of him as he strays away from her and ends up in the middle of the street about to be hit by a truck. Julia, a beautiful young model, who is nearby, sees what is about to happen and throws herself in front of the truck pushing the little boy to safety. In her effort to save the child, Julia gets hit by the truck. Meanwhile, Mary Frances, fearing that her child will be hit, has a brain aneurysm and collapses on the sidewalk. Both women were immediately taken to the hospital, however were both deemed clinically dead. A doctor at the hospital named David Matthews saw the conditions of the two women and believe he could perfom an operation that would save one of them. While the body of Julia was crushed in the accident, her brain remain untouched. Mary Frances, however, suffered irreparable brain damage though her body remained perfectly fine . Dr. Matthews decides that he could at least save one person by inserting Julia's good brain into Mary Frances's good body. The operation was a success. The question is, however, who is the person lying in the recovery