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. 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. Buy derek parfit ebooks to read online or download in pdf or epub on your pc, tablet or mobile device. Part one discusses some ways in which theories about morality and rationality can be self. Fission cases are a problem for a lockean theory of personal identity. 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. Introduction d erek parfit believes that there is nothing more to a person than the physical elements that compose her. In derek parfit s original formulation the repugnant conclusion is stated as follows. My life seemed like a glass tunnel, through which i was moving faster every year, and at the end of which there was darkness. Parfit in response to lockes theory of personal identity. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most. Derek parfit project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Derek parfit 19422017 is widely considered to be one of the most important moral philosophers of the twentieth century. It is often rational to act against our own best interersts, he argues, and most of us have moral views that are selfdefeating.
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. Many of his peers considered him the most important moral philosopher of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Derek parfit s concept of personal identity and its implications on rationality and morality ulla schmid leipzig, october 2005 contents i. Derek parfit on religion, moral and philosophy youtube. 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. We cannot track immaterial egos floating free from any particular. Personal identity by derek parfit 1907 words 8 pages. Jessie and norman parjit and my sisters theodora and joanna printed in great britain on acid free paper by cpi antony rowe, chippenham. Personal identity and ethics stanford encyclopedia of. In his essay, derek parfit explains a scenario where a brain is divided into two pieces. Derek parfits concept of personal identity and its. The neokantian against derek parfits personal identity reductionism david rattray i. The repugnant conclusion stanford encyclopedia of philosophy.
Reasons and persons challenges, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity. Derek parfit seven years until a us supreme court ruling granted her parents. In identity and spatiotemporal continuity oxford, 1967, p. Challenging, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity, parfit claims that we have. His views on personal identity transformed how it is understood and used in philosophy, especially ethics. To help explain, the reader quotes the philosopher derek parfit. Pdf derek parfit reasons and persons juliana chumak. Derek parfit 1 proposes that we separate the notions of identity and survival. This essay will analyze derek parfits personal identity. His on what matters was the most eagerly awaited book in philosophy for many years. 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. Among the selfregarding concerns for which personal identity. 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.
Western philosophy, especially systematic ethics, will not be the same again. Reasons and persons is a philosophical work by derek parfit, first published in 1984. 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. 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. 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. Wachsberg,williamewald,galenstrawson,gordoncornwall,richardsikora,parthadasgupta,dr.
Proceedings of the 1967 oberlin colloquium in philosophy, ed. 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. Part two discusses the relations between what a single person can rationally want or do. Bernard williams personal identity lrb 7 june 1984. We include here a partial list of the tributes to derek that have appeared in the days since his death. 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. Pdf this paper reevaluates derek parfits attack on the commonly held view that personal identity is necessarily determinate and that it is what. Mostly an ethicist, but also dabbles in metaphysics. And reids objection in particular anticipates derek parfits extreme claim, to be discussed later. 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. Personal identity and applied ethics andrea sauchelli.
Pdf commentary about derek parfits book reasons and. Concerning theories of personal identity usf scholar commons. P39 1984 170 83159 isbn 9780198249085 pbk to my parents. It is the longawaited followup to derek parfit s 1984 book reasons and persons, one of the landmarks of twentiethcentury philosophy. Derek parfit takes the central principle of his discussions of personal identity to be reductionism. Analyze derek parfits personal identity essay example. Leiter reports notice with video of parfit discussing personal identity vox article on parfit s importance. Such theories give us certain aims, but also tell us to act in ways that frustrate these aims. According to lockes theory of personal identity, jay and bob are both identical to brian. Personal identity does not matter for survival, memory, or moral responsibility. 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. It makes people assume that the principle of selfinterest is.
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 bartleby. A key feature of the book is that it discusses a range of different approaches to personal identity. This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the graduate. The belief that questions about identity must have a true answer. Derek parfit discussing personal identity in the documentary brainspotting duration. Rationality and reasons derek parfit when ingmar and i discuss metaphysics or morality, our views are seldom far apart. The belief that, unless questions about identity have an answer, we cannot answer certain important questions about matters such as survival, memory and responsibility. Not many books reset the philosophical agenda in the way that his one does. We are not human beings1 derek parfit 1 we can start with some science fiction. Personal identity and ethics stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. When i believed that personal identity is what matters, i seemed imprisoned in myself. If these theories are revised, these objections can be partly met. 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. Download reasons and persons pdf ebook reasons and persons reasons and persons ebook author by robert e. When i changed my view, the walls of my glass tunnel disappeared. Removing identity from persons derek parfit humanities. At last the horizon appears free to us again, evengranted that it is not. A number of striking claims, including the famous unimportance of identity, are. Derek parfit personal identity and rationality there are two main views about the nature of personal identity. 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. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential moral philosophers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It is divided into four parts, dedicated to selfdefeating theories, rationality and time, personal identity and responsibility toward future generations.
This book challenges, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity. In a fission scenario, both jay and bob have the same quality of autobiographical memory. This first beliefin the special nature of personal identityhas. Reasons and persons kindle edition by parfit, derek. The two pieces of brain are then housed in two different bodies. It focuses on ethics, rationality and personal identity. Derek parfit, personal identity, and death reason and. Pdf this paper reevaluates derek parfit s attack on the commonly held view that personal identity is necessarily determinate and that it is what.
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