The task of personal identity is to define a quality of a human, which makes him or her a unique self. Emotions like remorse and pride presuppose a personal identity that persists through time. Can someone feel remorseful or happy about his or her actions yesterday or few years ago even if they have no notion of a personal identity? this whole idea of responsibility requires a persisting personal identity otherwise one cannot be held responsible for any act committed by him or her if that person is not the same person he or she is now. Like in the example of the box of kleenex, which was reduced to ashes and seeing that similar box in a store or at home. Even with absolute similarity, it is not possible to say that the two things are same without considering some external or internal perspectives. We believe in the continuity of the self but we are not sure what this self contains of.

The brain theory claims that the brain is crucial for the continuity of per published: 23, march 2015 personal identity starts at the moment of conception, within time personal identity can change or not change. The change in identity differs in many instances by causes of psychological, physical or environmental changes in the person life. As life progresses in time people tend to change their views on many issues and identity is involved with those issues. Day to day activities also play an important role on a person's present or prior identity by being exposed to different elements encountered within their mind while operating in these activities. The mind is the most important influential part of a person to establish their identity thru time present or future.

The identity is very important for the well being of a person in their everyday life, at work, and even with their relaintionships. When it comes to philosophy personal identity is a very broad and extensive topic, many philosopher have their own views on the issue. On the other hand my personal choice for this paper has to be a very well known philosopher by the name of john locke who was one of the greatest in europe in the late 1600's and early 1700's until his death. John locker was born into the stage in europe which was called the enlightenment in which he helped find the identity of thomas jefferson to the idea of the declaration of independence by stating this men are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. With these words stated by thomas jefferson, john locke began his successful thrill of philosophy and the issue of personal identity. Who wrote this essay request removal example essays as locke explains his version of personal identity he explains it in a higher power and often relies on faith, as opposed to science, to aid him in his major life decisions by using his personal identity. John locke's views on personal identity are set out in the selection, of identity and diversity , taken from his essay concerning human understanding.

In this essay he talks about humans are able to understand by applying his theories and ideas. John locke had his heart of personal identity in section 9 of his essay in which he states his idea of a person is that of a thinking, intelligent rational being with consciousness of itself self consciousness. The notion of a thinking intelligent being amounts to this.while john locke had his opinion and theories on personal identity other philosophers do too.in reference identity is very complex and it has no set definition everyone agrees on. This may include a photograph of the person as well as other details including nationality, a person's full name and date of birth.

Fences By August Wilson Essay

While a passport is a form of identity it does not express who you are as a person. It show's you who you are so that you can be recognized in a bureaucratic sense sarup, 1996. Sarup the author states that identity is to do with who one thinks one is, what one believes and what one does.

While kidd another author believes that identity relates to how we think about ourselves as people, how we think about other people around us and what we think others think of us. Kidd the other author states that we are shaped by our culture, and we shape it and perpetuate in it in our day to day lives. Although culture and identity are often linked they are, in fact, different in many ways than one.

With culture representing the 'macro' pattern the bigger picture and 'identity' representing the smaller more 'micro' meanings we have as individuals kidd, 2002, p.7. Identity in practice is defined socially not merely because it is believed in a social discourse of the self and of social categories, but also because it is produced as a lived experience of participation in the specific communities wenger, 1998, p.151. Published: 23, march 2015 personal identity starts at the moment of conception, within time personal identity can change or not change. John locker was born into the stage in europe which was called the enlightenment in which he helped find the identity of thomas jefferson to the idea of the declaration of independence by stating this ldquo men are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It ldquo show's you who you are so that you can be recognized in a bureaucratic sense rdquo sarup, 1996.

Sarup the author states ldquo that identity is to do with who one thinks one is, what one believes and what one does rdquo. While kidd another author believes that ldquo identity rdquo relates to how we think about ourselves as people, how we think about other people around us and what we think others think of us. In other words, the ability to ldquo figure out rdquo kidd, 2002 who we are as a person. Ldquo with culture representing the lsquo macro' pattern the bigger picture and lsquo identity' representing the smaller more lsquo micro' meanings we have as individuals rdquo kidd, 2002, p.7. Ldquo identity in practice is defined socially not merely because it is believed in a social discourse of the self and of social categories, but also because it is produced as a lived experience of participation in the specific communities rdquo wenger, 1998, p.151. Paper on personal identity october 7th 2008 i have chosen to write my paper on personal identity. Personal identity asks the question, what am i? , does my identity change over time , and what happens to me when i die? i plan to show there is no such thing as personal identity based on the many different circumstances and factors that can be conflicts in a persons life.

Any or all of those factors at any given time, can change, have that feature for a while and then loose it, or create new features that change who we are as a person. Is it them moment of conception or at the birth of the actual being? can an inanimate object such as a tree or a monkey take on human characteristics and become a person? some will say an animal’s life is just as meaningful as a human’s so they can have personal identity. Others may also say that when a woman’s egg is fertilized that at that very moment it takes on human chacteristics and changes throughout the pregnancy so of course personal identity exists there in the very beginning. What does it take for the same person to exist over time? this cannot be done, because you will experience some type of change in your life ,expected or unexpected events that will change your existence, or the being that once was. David hume the philosopher believed that the source of all genuine knowledge is our direct sense experience and through the process of introspection, we discover that there is no self ie no personal identity.

Chaffee, pg 122 pain, pleasure, sadness, joy are all emotions that come at different times in your life. One may argue that if there is no self then why do people experience identity crisis that torments some people and they feel that they are trapped in the body they are in and are not that same person. As well as people that say that there self identity persists through time and unifies their life and gives it meaning. This is all a part of how they perceive their being in life not a personal identity. How do we find out who is really here? is the person here now the same as the person yesterday? one might argue that if a person remembers doing something it is infact you who did it. But what if that person looks just like you and does the very same thing at the very same time as you what keeps that person from being you? only physical dna could prove otherwise. What about events that may cause death? suppose you are an organ donor and your organs are transplanted into another person.

When infact since we are what we feel and what we experience this is just simply not the case. Could one not also say that the organ less person is the one that keeps the same identity and this would also be false because death is a finality, you can no longer experience life and therefore those experiences that made us who we are cease. The example hume gives is i can never catch myself at any time without a perception, and can never observe anything but the perception. All of our experiences are perceptions, and none of these perceptions resemble a unified and permanent self identity that exists over time.