Derek Parfit's Transporter

Moreland refutes physicalism through is argument of personal identity. His argument starts out with an example. (pg. 311)

From the e-Activity, compare the components of the incentive type of contract mentioned in the article that you read against the incentive contracting types referenced in Chapter 5 of your text. Expand on the difference(s) that you have found and give your opinion as to which component makes more sense

When people teach about the “Discovery of America”, most of the time it is a general view of what happened that day. However, recordings of diaries that give humanity a further understanding on the matter still exist and can be analyzed. These recordings are personal experiences from explorers of the New World. John Smith and William Bradford were explorers of America that recorded their trip to the new continent and their encounter with the Indians. The General History and Plymouth Plantation are based on real experiences that have their similarities and differences on what happened during the discovery of America.

Plutarch brings up the question of bodily identity and numerical identity in Theseus. Theseus’ ship needs repairs and so he begins to replace the old parts, piece by piece, building an additional ship with the old pieces. In the end he has two ships, one old and one new. Both have the same function, and form, and are therefore qualitatively identical, however the question

On the third night, in John Perry’s Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, Gretchen Weirob, Sam Miller and Dave Cohen discuss the concept of survival after a brain transplant. Weirob, who is in her death bed after an accident and is attempting to figure out a way of surviving after death, states that she would not want to attempt survival by having her brain implanted into another body. She believes that this is not truly surviving, as she will no longer be herself- she will lose her personal identity.

She woke her up with the same distraught shake.” Zusak page twenty one. Death came across Liesel's brother, he became infatuated with him and decided to take him. He become encouraged with the reaction he got from Liesel and her mother. He decided that he enjoyed the pain that he got from them that he wanted to stay with her, and watch her.

The guy she continuously tries to keep a close relationship with was the guy she suspected to be the murderer of her sister. Everything about her was a complete lie. Her own friends were victims of her act as well. This may be quite extreme compared to that of the quote. Nevertheless, it is a great example of how one cannot know an individual truly.

While Robbie’s time in the war changed him from a boy into man both physically and emotionally Briony’s time in the war changes her more mentally as a result of her encounter with the wounded soldier Luc. During this encounter Luc dying believes Briony to be his wife and on his death bed asks if she loves him to which Briony, acting as Luc’s wife responses “Yes.” No other reply was possible.” (292) Briony believes that this lie even though it is a lie can be justified as it brought Luc peace in his dying moments. However, this lie cause Briony to think about the lie she once told about Robbie and if it could ever be justified just as the one so told to Luc was justified. The mere fact that Briony would consider the possibility of redemption

In a series of relatively simple though complexly-worded (out of necessity) thought experiments regarding body-swapping and changes to memory and the mind, Bernard Williams attempts to demonstrate that identity should be identified with the body rather than with the mind when identity is extended into the future (and by extension during the present). That is, though it is typical for identity to be associated with the mind at any given moment, Williams argues that the logic that supports this intuitive association does not hold up over longer periods of time, and that anticipation of the future leads to an association of identity with the body rather than with the mind. Whether or not Williams is successful in this attempt is a matter of much debate, with this author finding some fundamental flaws in the very premise of the comparisons and thus the conclusions, however the argument is fairly elegant and persuasive and certainly worth of closer inspection. A careful reading of the argument might lead one to a conclusion opposite to that which was intended, but is no less rewarding for this unusual quirk.

In “Lives of the Dead”, O’Brien’s own innocence is preserved through the memory of Linda, a memory that remains untarnished by the inevitable corruption that results from life. O’Brien’s writings “save Linda’s life. Not her body--her life” (236). Storytelling and memories preserve the value of Linda’s existence while simultaneously allowing O’Brien to process death and destruction in a way that maintains a degree of optimism regarding his own life and future. Juxtaposing the images of body and life emphasizes his desire to save the idea of Linda while accepting the loss of her physical presence. O’Brien rejects the idea of death as absolute and final; instead he suggests that “once you are alive, you can never be dead” (244). Linda’s death solidifies her importance in O’Brien’s own development; she teaches him about life and real love as much as in death as in life. O’Brien’s paradoxical statement defines the lasting impact of Linda on him; her presence in his stories keeps her alive through memory; memories that even her death

… He’s dead and it’s pathetic that you sit here shivering in your own house to suffer for it. You think you’re the only one?” Liesel’s anguish over a perceived wrongdoing by Ilsa and her husband causes her to address her problem through rage, ultimately doing nothing to fix the original issue, and instead bringing up old wounds for both parties, multiplying the grief.

Once again, the question of whether an individual is a person or not, is central in arguments concerning the ethics of cloning.

As I get out of the car, I hear a girl screaming in the distance. Hearing such a noise instantly made me feel a chill go down my spine. As I walk against my own fear, I approach an overwhelming sign that says “Welcome to Six Flags over Texas”. My mother looks at me with a huge smile, reassuring me that there is nothing to be afraid of. Being only 8 years old at the time, I was a very hyper and ecstatic kid. Going against my own fears, I timidly rushed to the entrance. As I stood there before this monstrosity of amusement, my jaw was on the floor with astonishment. Leaving me in a state of shock,I could only slowly walk in with aw, and marvel at what was before me.

This case was about two girls who were injured. Due to the incident Julia’s body died but her brain was saved, opposite of that happened with Mary Frances, her body was saved but her brain was damaged completely. Miller and Weirob who argued who the new person would be if Julia’s brain was implanted into Mary’s body. Miller thinks it would be Julia because her soul or the memory is being transferred into Mary’s body so, Mary will have all the memories of Julia. Contrast of that Weirob opposed to that and claimed it would be still Frances because her body didn’t diminished. She might not have the memory but she has all her body parts. There are many people who are suffering from mental disease where they don’t remember anything that had happened with them in past years, but they are still the same person from inside. Suppose they were Mr. M who lost his brain, if someone sees them they would still call him Mr. M and not someone else. Which proves Millers second theory is also wrong. Later Weirob was having a discussion with Dave Cohen and Sam Miller where she revealed that a physicist advised an operation for her where her body will diminish but

As the advancement of time, the concept of human cloning can become a reality as with the breakthrough of biotechnology. Human cloning can be defined in terms of formation of genetically same imprint of an individual. The child who produced from this process is a new category of human being that is a clone of a person who cloned himself. Many people think that it is not right to cloned human beings. People argued that it is wrong to create identical human being, and this argument is dismissed by stating various other arguments in the favor of human cloning such as there is nothing wrong if monozygotic twins exist, and clone is not the identical copy of the original human being even in those situations where clone is exact genetic copy because those clones are developed in a completely different environment. In this paper, I will discuss the life in shadow argument as well as arguments opponent to it. In addition, I will discuss the ethical considerations of human reproductive cloning regarding this