We include here a partial list of the tributes to derek that have appeared in the days since his death. At last the horizon appears free to us again, evengranted that it is not. Reasons and persons is arguably the most influential of the two books published in his lifetime and hailed as a classic work of ethics and personal identity. Derek parfit was among the first contemporary theorists to explore the relation between identity and ethics explicitly, first in his seminal early 1970s articles, personal identity and especially later selves and moral principles, and then in his restatement and development of the view in part iii of his 1984 book reasons and. Reasons and persons kindle edition by parfit, derek. Personal identity is unimportant derek parfit reductionist the facts about persons and personal identity consist in more particular facts about brains, bodies, and series of interrelated mental and physical events. Removing identity from persons derek parfit humanities. We are not human beings1 derek parfit 1 we can start with some science fiction. Personal identity by derek parfit 1907 words bartleby. Such theories give us certain aims, but also tell us to act in ways that frustrate these aims. Reasons and persons challenges, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity. Personal identity and ethics stanford encyclopedia of.
In his 1971 paper personal identity, derek parfit posits that it is possible and indeed desirable to free important questions from presuppositions about personal identity without losing all that matters. The belief that questions about identity must have a true answer. Many of his peers considered him the most important moral philosopher of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The two pieces of brain are then housed in two different bodies.
When i believed that personal identity is what matters, i seemed imprisoned in myself. Derek parfit takes the central principle of his discussions of personal identity to be reductionism. Part two discusses the relations between what a single person can rationally want or do. Bernard williams personal identity lrb 7 june 1984. When i changed my view, the walls of my glass tunnel disappeared. This follows, he thinks, from the results of certain thought experimentssuch as one put forth by david wigginswhich seem to suggest that it is possible for a to survive into the future even if nobody will be identical to a at that time.
To help explain, the reader quotes the philosopher derek parfit. Derek parfit oxford university abstract this article has no associated abstract. Reasons and persons is a 1984 book by the philosopher derek parfit, in which the author discusses ethics, rationality and personal identity. Derek parfit, born december 11, 1942, chengdu, chinadied january 1, 2017, london, england, english philosopher whose work in normative ethics and metaethics, personal identity, and the theory of practical reason was widely influential in the englishspeaking world from the 1980s. In working out how to do so, parfit comes to the conclusion that the question about. If parfit had discussed that particular point, it would not necessarily have harmed his case, and it might even have helped to reconcile us to it. On what matters is an essential overview and assessment of volumes 1 and 2 of parfit s monumental work by a team of international contributors, and includes responses by parfit himself. And reids objection in particular anticipates derek parfits extreme claim, to be discussed later. Personal identity and applied ethics introduces and examines different conceptions of the self, our nature, and personal identity and considers the implications of these for applied ethics. Pdf this paper reevaluates derek parfits attack on the commonly held view that personal identity is necessarily determinate and that it is what. The belief that, unless questions about identity have an answer, we cannot answer certain important questions about matters such as survival, memory and responsibility. My life seemed like a glass tunnel, through which i was moving faster every year, and at the end of which there was darkness. Derek parfit on religion, moral and philosophy youtube. Derek parfit, personal identity, and death reason and.
We cannot track immaterial egos floating free from any particular. Parfit in response to lockes theory of personal identity. If these theories are revised, these objections can be partly met. In his essay, derek parfit explains a scenario where a brain is divided into two pieces. This first beliefin the special nature of personal identityhas. But in other ways his neglect of the first personal view, in the theory of personal identity as in his earlier discussion of ones need to induce certain dispositions in oneself, leaves a gap. Par t is a partisan of the psychological criterion of personal identity psych. It is divided into four parts, dedicated to selfdefeating theories, rationality and time, personal identity and responsibility toward future generations.
For any possible population of at least ten billion people, all with a very high quality of life, there must be some much larger imaginable population whose existence, if other things are equal, would be better even though its members have lives that are barely worth living parfit 1984. His views on personal identity transformed how it is understood and used in philosophy, especially ethics. Parfit now presents a powerful new treatment of reasons, rationality, and normativity, and a critical examination of three systematic moral theories kants ethics, contractualism, and consequentialism. An interview with derek parfit derek parfit is a fellow of all souls college, oxford, and author of the controversial and widely acclaimed book reasons and persons. In fact, his reductionist view of the self, first outlined in reasons and persons in 1984, hoped to have. I shall briefly describe these views, say without argument which i believe to be true, and then discuss the implications of this view for one of the main conceptions of rationality. Personal identity by derek parfit 1907 words 8 pages. Personal identity does not matter for survival, memory, or moral responsibility. Pdf commentary about derek parfits book reasons and.
Not many books reset the philosophical agenda in the way that his one does. This book challenges, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity. It is the longawaited followup to derek parfit s 1984 book reasons and persons, one of the landmarks of twentiethcentury philosophy. In a fission scenario, both jay and bob have the same quality of autobiographical memory. Rationality and reasons derek parfit when ingmar and i discuss metaphysics or morality, our views are seldom far apart. Derek parfit seven years until a us supreme court ruling granted her parents. A number of striking claims, including the famous unimportance of identity, are. His on what matters was the most eagerly awaited book in philosophy for many years. Proceedings of the 1967 oberlin colloquium in philosophy, ed. In derek parfit s original formulation the repugnant conclusion is stated as follows. Jessie and norman parjit and my sisters theodora and joanna printed in great britain on acid free paper by cpi antony rowe, chippenham. Buy derek parfit ebooks to read online or download in pdf or epub on your pc, tablet or mobile device. Reasons and persons is a philosophical work by derek parfit, first published in 1984. Fission cases are a problem for a lockean theory of personal identity.
Challenging, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity, parfit claims that we have. Personal identity and ethics stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the graduate. Comparison between the view of derek parfit and a new theory of personal identity called open individualism by daniel kolak, with my personal proposals on the matter.
Derek parfit s concept of personal identity and its implications on rationality and morality ulla schmid leipzig, october 2005 contents i. Download reasons and persons pdf ebook reasons and persons reasons and persons ebook author by robert e. Derek parfit discussing personal identity in the documentary brainspotting duration. Part one discusses some ways in which theories about morality and rationality can be self. Challenging, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity, parfit claims that we have a false view about our own nature. It focuses on ethics, rationality and personal identity. A key feature of the book is that it discusses a range of different approaches to personal identity. Derek parfit project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. It makes people assume that the principle of selfinterest is. Derek parfit 1 proposes that we separate the notions of identity and survival.
Analyze derek parfits personal identity essay example. Pdf this paper reevaluates derek parfit s attack on the commonly held view that personal identity is necessarily determinate and that it is what. In identity and spatiotemporal continuity oxford, 1967, p. Concerning theories of personal identity usf scholar commons. Wachsberg,williamewald,galenstrawson,gordoncornwall,richardsikora,parthadasgupta,dr. It is often rational to act against our own best interersts, he argues, and most of us have moral views that are selfdefeating. Perhaps the further details of parfit s allegedly revisionary metaphysics of persons and personal identity are so inscrutable becauseto wax quineanthere is nothing there to scrute. The neokantian against derek parfits personal identity reductionism david rattray i. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most.
Derek parfit 19422017 is widely considered to be one of the most important moral philosophers of the twentieth century. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential moral philosophers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Introduction d erek parfit believes that there is nothing more to a person than the physical elements that compose her. Western philosophy, especially systematic ethics, will not be the same again. Leiter reports notice with video of parfit discussing personal identity vox article on parfit s importance.
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