Ideas Of Personal Identity, Human Nature, And Reality

My aim in this essay is to analyze in this order the ideas of personal identity, human nature, and reality. The following essays and films will be analyzed: Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons, The Selfish Cooperator, Does the Real World Exist, Transfer, I Am and The Signal. In Derek Parfit s Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons, we learn that personal identity is ever changing, whereas in Richard Dawkin s essay The Selfish Cooperator we are taught that human nature is circumstantial, and finally John Searle argues in Does the Real World Exist that reality exists and can be independent of us. In Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons Derek Parfit believes that we don t have a personal identity, such as an ego, spirit, soul, or self. One of the examples he uses to support his claim is the split brain case experiment which reveals there are two streams of consciousness in humans, the dominant and subordinate hemispheres. When there is two stream consciousness, one would negate the other since they are not unified. He also explains that the life of a person can be analyzed in relation to physical and psychological continuity. In physical continuity, he explains that change over time. For example, the color of our eyes could change when we are a baby and even hair color can turn brown to black. Psychological continuity tells us that we keep changing because we are able to change over time by how we experience and learn from our world. Our brain andShow MoreRelatedReligiological Questions and Answers Essay1126 Words   |  5 PagesIs there a basis for valid knowledge/ truth? The foundation of valid knowledge depends on one’s personal understanding. To â€Å"know† means to understand or be aware. Everyone’s personal knowledge differs and the way we obtain and interpret our knowledge is usually through our spiritual beliefs. In order to gain knowledge I rely on the Word of God. 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