Theories of the Self

Overview:

The reading this week concerns the nature of personal identity and the self. The main question to think about when reading Perry's dialogue is: what are the necessary and sufficient conditions for selfhood? Or, to put it another way - what essentially makes you who you are? The answers to these questions are possible solutions to the problem of personal identity, that is, the problem of knowing what makes me identical to myself.

Objectives:

After this module, you should be able to:

• Explain the problem of personal identity.
• Analyze the arguments put forth by Perry.
• Debate the ideas presented by Perry.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the theories of the self.
• Communicate ideas in the video and reading to your classmates.