Questions tagged [identity]
144 questions
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What is the moral difference between abortion and infanticide?
Many people accept abortion on the grounds that foetuses aren't persons, and that personhood is what defines the right to life. I've always been intrigued about what defines personhood; obviously attributes like consciousness (or the ability to…
natojato
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How can one differentiate nonexistent entities?
How is it possible for things that do not exist to not be the same? How can one differentiate nonexistent entities? How can I know the difference between ghosts and werewolves if neither exist?
Niklas Rosencrantz
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Why is it wrong to answer a question with a tautology? Isn't "2+2" correct when answering 'What is "2+2"'?
Many times in class, we are asked to answer, "What is 2+2?" or "What is the derivative of the function x?". It would not be the intended answer to write "2+2" or "The derivative of the function x". But, why not? A tautology is technically a correct…
user107952
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Why am I this particular human being?
Some philosophers dismiss this as a question about a tautology: when Alice asks "Why am I Alice?", this is equivalent to her asking "Why is Alice Alice?", which is not an interesting question. But other philosophers believe that, from a…
present
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When and why do we say that two things are the same?
In a preceeding question I have asked about the foundations of rational reasonning. It seems the concept of identity plays a key role. However "identity" is not observed in the real world: our mind creates identities.
For example if you see a…
robin girard
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How can a stream of thoughts and perceptions have freewill?
William James believed that there was no central entity or ego that embodied the "I" in "I feel" or "I think". That the continuous stream of thoughts and sensations generated the illusion of their being a central entity doing the thinking and…
Alexander S King
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Why is a set with one element distinct from the element itself?
Why do we consider a set which is treated for all intents and purposes as a 'collection' with one element as being different from the element itself? In this 'collection' there is one element, and only one element, if we have one thing we would…
Confused
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Why should we care about personal identity?
I just read a book about personal identity and it gave me insights in different theories about personal identity. But after all, I still don't get, why we should care about personal identity.
Being a philosophy student, I can usually grasp…
Metaphysiker
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If I upload my brain into a computer is it still me?
I think the answer is yes but I know a lot of people disagree. So, I would like to ask these people when exactly does it stop being me.
Let's say I want to upload my brain into a computer using the following procedure:
I have each of my neurons…
digital brain
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What is the status of the statement: "I am here now"?
The statement "I am here now" seems to have many peculiar properties that I am not sure how to express. It appears analytically and equally true for any speaker anywhere at anytime. Yet its truth is also contingent upon a particular, physical…
Nelson Alexander
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Identity in Quantified Modal Logic
Why is ¬(◇(a=b)∧◇¬(a=b)) a validity in Quantified Modal Logic (QML)? For example, let a:=“the present King of France” and b:=“the richest bald person alive”. Then, it seems ◇(a=b)∧◇¬(a=b) is not a contradiction, since it could have been that a King…
PW_246
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Does personal identity/"the self" persist through periods of unconsciousness, such as dreamless sleep?
http://existentialcomics.com/comic/1
I read the above comic, something which turned out to be a mistake because I have just enough understanding of physics, and philosophy to follow its line of reasoning, but not anywhere near enough to say if the…
user48033
6
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3 answers
What's a name for the impossibility of identity?
It appears to me that no two things can ever be identical, yet the notion that they can has been deployed rather without pause about a billion times in theoretical literature in philosophy and mathematics.
FYI: I'm trained in Science and Technology…
themirror
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Does a transgender person become a different person after transitioning?
Perhaps this is an odd question, but...
Question: Does a transgender person become a different person after transitioning?
I'm seeking an answer from a philosophical point of view (hence why I ask here).
As a result of transitioning, a transgender…
Rebecca J. Stones
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Does the 'too many thinkers' argument cripple Locke's conception of Man and Persons?
Does the too many thinkers problem present a counter-argument to John Locke's account of personal identity, if we apply it to his conceptions of Man and Person?
If so, how might Locke answer this objection? Does he think that only the person (and…
Ben Jackson
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