John Locke born on August 29, 1632, was an English philosopher who is well known for his theory of mind. In Chapter XXVII: Identity and Diversity, John Locke begins by saying that we only have ideas of three substances which are God, finite intelligence, and bodies. John Locke then goes on to state that personal identity also has to to do with the the string of consciousness and has nothing to do with remaining the same substance or matter which is either physical or mental. John Locke states, “When we consider something as existing at a given time and place and compare it with itself existing at another time, we are led to form the ideas of identity and diversity” (112). Meaning that one person can be only at one place at a certain time,
…show more content…
There won’t be any other person who will have the same exact type of memories as you as Locke proved that it is impossible for someone to be at the same place at the same exact time and to be in two places at once. Since you cannot be at the same place at the same time, it means that everyone will have different beginning and if you have different beginning then that means your string of consciousness will differ from everyone and that leads us to the point that your consciousness is tied your person identity For instance, even if you have an identical twin who has the same matter as you and even the same DNA, one thing that will not be the same is your memories, which leads John Locke to conclude that it isn’t either mental or physical matter which is your personal identity but instead personal identity consists in continuity of …show more content…
Locke tries to counter this argument by saying, “Human laws punish both, with a justice suitable to the state of knowledge of those who administer the law: in these cases they can’t distinguish for sure what is real from what is counterfeit; and so they don’t allow the ignorance in drunkenness or sleep as a plea” (120). Locke is stating that since his lack of consciousness cannot be proved for him but his bad actions can be proved against him he’ll have to take his
There won’t be any other person who will have the same exact type of memories as you as Locke proved that it is impossible for someone to be at the same place at the same exact time and to be in two places at once. Since you cannot be at the same place at the same time, it means that everyone will have different beginning and if you have different beginning then that means your string of consciousness will differ from everyone and that leads us to the point that your consciousness is tied your person identity For instance, even if you have an identical twin who has the same matter as you and even the same DNA, one thing that will not be the same is your memories, which leads John Locke to conclude that it isn’t either mental or physical matter which is your personal identity but instead personal identity consists in continuity of …show more content…
Locke tries to counter this argument by saying, “Human laws punish both, with a justice suitable to the state of knowledge of those who administer the law: in these cases they can’t distinguish for sure what is real from what is counterfeit; and so they don’t allow the ignorance in drunkenness or sleep as a plea” (120). Locke is stating that since his lack of consciousness cannot be proved for him but his bad actions can be proved against him he’ll have to take his