Derek Parfit

this means for the world in terms of ethics. I am going to discuss two basic categories of theories on personal identity – a reductionist view through the eyes of Derek Parfit, and a non-reductionist one, namely, the self-interest theory based on the assumption of a Cartesian Pure Ego. Theories of identity similar to the Cartesian pure ego have been an underlying assumption in many belief systems. Many religions base their beliefs on the assumption of a ‘soul’- an entity entirely separate from its simpler components, such as the body, mind, and experiences. This theory of personal identity has had massive implications in the world of ethics because so many…

In “The Psychological Criterion”, Derek Parfit tests the definition of identity by analyzing metaphysical hypotheticals, and presents the theory of psychological continuity. Faced with the issue of defining identity, Parfit seems to prefer the psychological continuity theory, seeing that it excludes the least amount of scenarios which fall outside the category of narrower theories. The psychological continuity theory stands as a revision to Locke’s experience-memory theory, which states A is…

In “Why This? Why Anything?” Derek Parfit provides his demonstration of the fallibility of providing causal answers for the creation of the universe. In light of the fallibility of causal answers, Parfit seeks to incorporate his response to the creation of the universe with the use of non-causal answers which explains something’s existence in virtue of its properties, rather than attempting to follow an infinite chain of reasoning. While Parfit adequately demonstrates an inability to conform our…

No human is perfect; the balance of willpower and necessary self-indulgence is such a fine one that even the most perfect of people occasionally make mistakes. True, the most noble of us have more finely tuned the system of giving up the wants and retaining the needs, but isn’t it said that the highest have the furthest to fall? Aristotle once said that bravery was most valuable when it is strength against wants but least valuable when it is strength against enemies. Throughout literature, many…

As Hamlet’s story begins, we see that he consciously slips into madness; After some time, we can see that his hallucinations start getting more and more real, which we can assume as to him becoming actually mad. We could say that in his eyes, the means justified the ends, and he had his ends very clearly objectified, but as the progress of achieving the ends occurs, the ends became blurry and his actions insane, which lead me to believe he was a little.. off and, undoubtedly, depressed even…

The soliloquy of act 2 scene 2 is focused on inner struggles with revenge. Earlier in this scene, Hamlet asks the actors to recite the story of Priam. While viewing this play hamlet realized the flaw in all that he has been doing, or hasn’t been doing, to act revenge on Claudius. Claudius killed Hamlet's father and stole the crown and hamlet is the only one who knows so he hatches a plan. He has made a few attempts of Claudius' life but failed. He is beating himself up at this point. As the play…

things together. When spring rolled around each year during my seventh, eighth, and ninth grade years, I signed up to play on the modified softball team. While playing modified softball I got the chance to play many positions, but I found myself consistently pitching or playing shortstop. During those years I found that I enjoyed playing shortstop and that pitching was not really my thing. Even though I really wasn’t that bad, I did not like feeling as if my teammates were depending on me and…

Throughout time, humans have displayed many positive and negative life experiences. These experiences can be categorized under various themes, ranging from; love even onto betrayal, and through these themes human emotions and experiences can be studied. “Hamlet,” by William Shakespeare, and “Death of a Salesman,” by Arthur Miller, are two well written plays, displaying a both very tragic and thematic approach. Although, they take place in two very different time periods, under two very…

One’s sanity is not something you can control. Without sanity comes madness, but it is within our minds and grows over time if not released or helped. For Hamlet, he chooses to give the appearance as if he is mad I order to find the truth about his father’s death. At the beginning of his plan, everything is going good but as time goes by Hamlet is slowly losing control of his madness, and his mind begins to spin out of control. Something that started as an act of insanity or antic disposition…

In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Hamlet, a young prince must avenge his father’s death by killing his uncle who murdered his father and married his widowed mother. This is not a simple task as Hamlet is no murderer, yet by circumstance and chance he is led down a path of no return in which he becomes a murderer, albeit a rightful one, like his uncle. The complex character of Hamlet that develops throughout the play aids in conveying the message of what true nobility is and also helps set…