Identity can define anything, whether it is a physical and objective thing or a subjective idea that is mentally made. Personal identity is the attributes that a person gives to himself. When one defines personal identity as something physical, then he is describing characteristics such as gender, height, or nationality. The second way is abstract and uses mental properties to describe a person. When one refers to these mental properties, he is referring to the soul. Because personal identity can be defined by physical characteristics or by the soul, it is questionable whether the same person who exists now is the same person who will exist in the future. Gretchen Weirob, in John Perry’s A Dialogue in Personal Identity and Immortality, claims
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For example, as a person decomposes, one’s remains are no longer in a single form; they are spreaded around. As a result, the loss of physical identity is caused by death. If one was 6’1”, 170 pounds, and had blue eyes, this person would no longer exist after he dies because he would no longer be recognizable. The things that had made him unique are gone. In addition, if the physical body is what defines a person’s identity, then the person who is existing now can not be the same person who will exist later. For example, consider a person who was 170 pounds, but then lost 50 pounds. This person would not be the same person as when he was 170 pounds. If a person’s body changes every second on a molecular level, then he can not ever be the same person. Therefore, if a person’s material body defined a person, then a person who exists now can not be the same person who exists in the future. In the book, Perry uses a river to illustrate the same idea. He describes how each time a person sees the river, it gets a little dirtier (Perry, 14). A lot of the river’s characteristics may remain the same such as its origin or depth, but when the river gets dirtier, it has a different identity. People may have identified it as a clear river before; however, if it is filthy now, and people identify it as a dirty river, then its physical characteristics have
For example, as a person decomposes, one’s remains are no longer in a single form; they are spreaded around. As a result, the loss of physical identity is caused by death. If one was 6’1”, 170 pounds, and had blue eyes, this person would no longer exist after he dies because he would no longer be recognizable. The things that had made him unique are gone. In addition, if the physical body is what defines a person’s identity, then the person who is existing now can not be the same person who will exist later. For example, consider a person who was 170 pounds, but then lost 50 pounds. This person would not be the same person as when he was 170 pounds. If a person’s body changes every second on a molecular level, then he can not ever be the same person. Therefore, if a person’s material body defined a person, then a person who exists now can not be the same person who exists in the future. In the book, Perry uses a river to illustrate the same idea. He describes how each time a person sees the river, it gets a little dirtier (Perry, 14). A lot of the river’s characteristics may remain the same such as its origin or depth, but when the river gets dirtier, it has a different identity. People may have identified it as a clear river before; however, if it is filthy now, and people identify it as a dirty river, then its physical characteristics have