Sameness and the self: philosophical and psychological considerations

Frontiers in Psychology

Stanley B. Klein¹ 

关键词: identity of self;    memory;    personal diachronicity;    self;    temporal continuity;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00029

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

In this paper I examine the concept of cross-temporal personal identity (diachronicity). This particular form of identity has vexed theorists for centuries—e.g., how can a person maintain a belief in the sameness of self over time in the face of continual psychological and physical change? I first discuss various forms of the sameness relation and the criteria that justify their application. I then examine philosophical and psychological treatments of personal diachronicity (for example, Locke's psychological connectedness theory; the role of episodic memory) and find each lacking on logical grounds, empirical grounds or both. I conclude that to achieve a successful resolution of the issue of the self as a temporal continuant we need to draw a sharp distinction between the feeling of the sameness of one's self and the evidence marshaled in support of that feeling.

【 授权许可】

CC BY