How does a person understand themselves and their identity? Does one interpret what they are taught from others and know nothing more? Does the soul reflect our knowledge gained over a whole lifetime? How do we know exactly that we are living or existing? There are many different opinions and theories conceived from philosophers all over the world regarding these questions, however is there a right or wrong answer? Personal identity is a very complex subject where one must delve deep into the soul and resurface with concepts of thought and meditation. The very difficult concept of personal identity, for some, is extremely hard to understand and with the help of philosophers we can take from their learning and build our own ideas. The internet
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(Descartes, 1690) Rene Descartes wrote this statement in his book Discourse on the Method and those five words would go on to shape philosophy around the world for years to come. Rene Descartes was a 17th century French philosopher who aided the development of rationalist philosophy. He was a rationalist in a world of skeptics who mostly based their ideas on their religious beliefs. Descartes questions if our physical and mental experiences are real as well as our basic existence. A lot of Descartes’ thoughts and ideas on this can be found in his treatise; Meditations on First Philosophy. Here Descartes describes six sessions of meditations and provides us with his knowledge and thinking during these times. Descartes begins by reflecting that most of what he thinks he knows is untrue. He writes that he has found himself to be incorrect on more than one occasion, when previously he believed himself to be correct or “certain.” (Descartes,1690) He takes from this that he needs to totally withdraw from his senses and only believe what he knows is absolutely certain, like physical objects. Descartes then realizes that he cannot doubt his own existence hence the writing, “I think therefore I am.” (Descartes, 1690) Descartes also used his “Method of Doubt” or “Cartesian Doubt” which is a process that is systematic and involves doubting or being skeptical about your own beliefs.(http://www.history.com) Descartes once said, “If you would be …show more content…
A very insightful quote from Locke reads, “Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.” (Locke, 1680) Like other philosophers during the time, Locke had developed a theory of personal identity and frequently questioned the development of physical identity and psychological self. In the late 1600’s Locke wrote, “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” where he documents his thoughts and understandings of personal identity and ideas of the self and soul. John Locke was what was known as an empiricist, which means that he understood knowledge to come from a person’s experiences and not reason.(http://www.history.com) His research and thoughts are known by most people today as the “Theory of the Mind.” John Locke’s ideas put emphasis on the mind and our psychological self and less emphasis on the body. In one example that Locke used to illustrate his theory he said to “imagine the self as a blank page, you can only gain knowledge and identity from accumulated experience.” (Locke, 1680) Another example of Locke’s theory is if two people switch bodies their thoughts will switch with them. The body is just a carrier for the soul and not a key in growing by experience and identity. In this aspect, Locke’s ideas line up with the religion Christianity. This was probably due to the fact that John Locke was a Christian and part of his soul or self,
(Descartes, 1690) Rene Descartes wrote this statement in his book Discourse on the Method and those five words would go on to shape philosophy around the world for years to come. Rene Descartes was a 17th century French philosopher who aided the development of rationalist philosophy. He was a rationalist in a world of skeptics who mostly based their ideas on their religious beliefs. Descartes questions if our physical and mental experiences are real as well as our basic existence. A lot of Descartes’ thoughts and ideas on this can be found in his treatise; Meditations on First Philosophy. Here Descartes describes six sessions of meditations and provides us with his knowledge and thinking during these times. Descartes begins by reflecting that most of what he thinks he knows is untrue. He writes that he has found himself to be incorrect on more than one occasion, when previously he believed himself to be correct or “certain.” (Descartes,1690) He takes from this that he needs to totally withdraw from his senses and only believe what he knows is absolutely certain, like physical objects. Descartes then realizes that he cannot doubt his own existence hence the writing, “I think therefore I am.” (Descartes, 1690) Descartes also used his “Method of Doubt” or “Cartesian Doubt” which is a process that is systematic and involves doubting or being skeptical about your own beliefs.(http://www.history.com) Descartes once said, “If you would be …show more content…
A very insightful quote from Locke reads, “Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.” (Locke, 1680) Like other philosophers during the time, Locke had developed a theory of personal identity and frequently questioned the development of physical identity and psychological self. In the late 1600’s Locke wrote, “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” where he documents his thoughts and understandings of personal identity and ideas of the self and soul. John Locke was what was known as an empiricist, which means that he understood knowledge to come from a person’s experiences and not reason.(http://www.history.com) His research and thoughts are known by most people today as the “Theory of the Mind.” John Locke’s ideas put emphasis on the mind and our psychological self and less emphasis on the body. In one example that Locke used to illustrate his theory he said to “imagine the self as a blank page, you can only gain knowledge and identity from accumulated experience.” (Locke, 1680) Another example of Locke’s theory is if two people switch bodies their thoughts will switch with them. The body is just a carrier for the soul and not a key in growing by experience and identity. In this aspect, Locke’s ideas line up with the religion Christianity. This was probably due to the fact that John Locke was a Christian and part of his soul or self,