Posted by Estella on August 5, 2006, at 7:47:13
some think of the self as an entity that persists through time relatively unchanging... rather like a soul.
descartes thought that his essential nature was that he was an immaterial entity that cognizes (thinks, believes, perceives, remembers, desires): 'cogito ergo sum' roughly 'i think, i exist'. identity is determined by the same immaterial substance and so the particular thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, memories, and desires can come and go in the immaterial mind.
locke similarly thought that ideas (thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, memories, desires) reside in an immaterial entity (the mind). he thought that personal identity was determined by the persistence of the thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, memories, and desires over time, however.
animalist theorists consider the persistence of the body to be the relevant criterion for personal identity. they think of the identity of a person through time the same way they think of the identity of dogs through time. in a sense... they are worried about a different question... like considering the self to be a 'featherless biped' (aristotle) or a 'rational animal' (plato) or a member of the species homo sapiens (darwin).
hume thought that the self was just a bundle of perceptions. no matter how much he tried to see the entity that was having the perceptions, all he became aware of was more perceptions. he looked within himself (via introspection) and never could locate himself (the object that does the thinking).psychologists tend to think of the self as a social construct. people exhibit different traits in different contexts, and there can also be considerable variation across time.
buddists think that instead of focusing on the notion of a persisting self (which is an illusion), instead of focusing on attachments and projects true happiness comes from focusing on the eternal present.
dennett thinks of the self as a 'certain kind of mind'. as a heuristic, or abstract object, or organising principle for a bundle of behaviours.
behaviorists think of the self as a cluster of behaviours (or more plausibly behavioural dispositions)
poster:Estella
thread:673916
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/esteem/20060725/msgs/673916.html