Derek Parfit

things that the Grey’s Anatomy fandom, like myself, are attracted by every time the Cosy in the Rocket theme song comes on. The romance begins in the very first scene when Meredith wakes up to an unknown man, later to be named McDreamy or Dr. Derek…

Once upon a time, in a static (5) land called Lake Charles, there was a young college freshman named Courtney Liccardi. She had very transcendent (10) plans for such a small town girl. Courtney had just been accepted into Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard gave Courtney a magnanimous (2), full ride scholarship for a track. Track was her heart and soul, she then later met her whole heart, Bentley North. They were meant to be, he ran long distance, just like Courtney did. He…

Derek Parfit’s chapter “Am I Token or a Type”, in his book “Reasons and Persons”, explores the hypothetical situation of a person named Mary Smith cloning herself. Mary was beloved by her partner, who will be referred to as Derek. If Derek loved Mary prior to the cloning process, Parfit argues that Derek ought to love Mary after the cloning process as well (Parfit 295). Parfit comes to this conclusion since he posits that the original Mary and the clone of Mary, who will be referred to as Mary*…

what a person is. According to Parfit, he proposes that people have separate the notions of identity and survival. He is wondering that what matter in survival is identity and he questions identity and survival results of certain experiments. Moreover, Parfitt also states that personal identity is not what person really value and care about and he analysis that personal identity are far ranging. The value and care are psychological connections .According from Parfit he believes that survival…

person when you are eighty. Derek Parfit summed up this idea by saying “Whatever happens between now and any future time, either I shall still exist, or I shall not. Any future experience will either be my experience, or it will not.” (Parfit- 186), which is what personal identity looks into. This essay will discuss whether personal identity is a matter of physical or psychological continuity, taking into account the famous ideas of philosophers such as John Locke, Derek Parfit and Bernard…

In ‘Personal Identity’, Derek Parfit presented the idea that being destroyed and replicated is just as good as ordinary survival. This essay will focus on Parfit’s argument of the Branch Line Case and will examine why personal identity matters, a critical perspective and will discuss an objection and respond to the empty question. Parfit argued that being replicated then destroyed resulted in the same outcome as ordinary survival. From the analogy of the Branch Line case, a human body was…

In “What We Believe Ourselves to Be”, Derek Parfit describes a dilemma of identity cause by using a tele transporter to travel. In this story a man uses steps into a tele-transporter to go from earth to Mars (Parfit). It removes his molecules in sequential order, and the teletransporter makes an exact copy of the molecules on Mars using matter from Mar as opposed to earth. Even though the person has the same memories and an identical physical state to his body on earth, other than in matter,…

When analyzing source material for any academic or formal setting, it is crucial to remember that the material was not created with the intention to be cited. Essays, like those found in Thomas Nagel's Mortal Questions, or books, such as David Parfit's Reasons and Persons are written for their own end, not the end of the person who is referencing them. Because of this, source material should be torn apart and studied to understand how to best integrate it as a source and remain true to its…

In this essay, I will show that Derek Parfit is wrong to think that without perfectionism we cannot avoid the repugnant conclusion. My first step in defending this thesis will be to review Parfit’s argument on the repugnant conclusion and the way perfectionism helps us avoid it. I will then try to undermine his view by showing it supports implausible claims. For example, the premise of Parfit’s argument is that perfectionism does provide a full means of avoiding the repugnant conclusion. However…

Personal identity can be understood as having a soul, an immaterial entity that makes us who we are, or it can be viewed as being defined as who we are by means of psychological continuity where we are defined by our memories and personal experiences. In this essay I will try to establish whether or not Locke’s Memory Criterion is the correct account of personal identity. What Is Personal Identity? One can only contemplate personal identity once the definition of ‘person’ is understood. I know…