According to Buddhism, to say that there is a self is to say that there is one part of a person that can control the different parts and that there is one part that can account for the identity of a person over time. Overall, to say that there is a self is to say that there is some part of a person that is necessary in order for that person to exist. This one necessary part would therefore be what “I” is named in Descartes mediations. The different parts of a person are called the skandhas and include corporeality, feeling, perception, mental forces, and consciousness. Buddhism states that there is no more to a person than these five elements, and it is only with all five elements that a person can form. There are two reasons as to why the skandhas are not the self, one being that they are impermanent and the other being that they are not under any sort of control. For instance, the physical body does not last forever and when the body dies, it disintegrates. The body’ impermanence shows that it is not a self. In regards to the skandha of perception, it is a simple mental event and sensory content to the mind, like the smell of bees wax. Our perceptions cannot be controlled nor do our perceptions remain the same over time, therefore perception is not the self (Siderits
According to Buddhism, to say that there is a self is to say that there is one part of a person that can control the different parts and that there is one part that can account for the identity of a person over time. Overall, to say that there is a self is to say that there is some part of a person that is necessary in order for that person to exist. This one necessary part would therefore be what “I” is named in Descartes mediations. The different parts of a person are called the skandhas and include corporeality, feeling, perception, mental forces, and consciousness. Buddhism states that there is no more to a person than these five elements, and it is only with all five elements that a person can form. There are two reasons as to why the skandhas are not the self, one being that they are impermanent and the other being that they are not under any sort of control. For instance, the physical body does not last forever and when the body dies, it disintegrates. The body’ impermanence shows that it is not a self. In regards to the skandha of perception, it is a simple mental event and sensory content to the mind, like the smell of bees wax. Our perceptions cannot be controlled nor do our perceptions remain the same over time, therefore perception is not the self (Siderits