Exam #2 Study Questions

Basic Concepts in Personal Identity
What does it mean for things to be qualitatively identical? Quantitatively identical? Illustrate the difference between the two kinds of identity with an example. Why is it important to have some criterion of personal identity in place? What exactly does it mean to say that surviving the death of my body is "logically possible"? We are looking here for a criterion of personal identity. Distinguish between the two senses of "criterion," and explain which sense we have in mind here.

The Soul Criterion
What is the fact that Weirob thinks stands in the way of her being able to anticipate immortality (at the beginning of the First Night)? What is the general challenge she is presenting to her dialogue participants? What precisely is the Soul Criterion of personal identity? How does The Simpson's segment shown in class constitute a possible objection to this view? Explain Weirob's reductio argument against Miller's Soul Criterion. Miller responds to this reductio by claiming that having the same body implies having the same soul. How does Weirob respond? Explain her candy example. Miller responds by claiming that, because there's a one-to-one correspondence between his body and soul, he can infer that there's such a one-to-one correspondence for everyone. Why is this a problematic argument? Explain the relation between mind, body, and soul that Miller proposes towards the end of the First Night, as well as the way in which Weirob responds.

The Memory Criteria
Miller comes in during the Second Night of the dialogue and claims he's found a reason why there's no substance underlying personal identity (neither souls nor bodies). Why does he think this? Explain the analogy he discusses of the baseball doubleheader. What is a "person stage"? What is Memory Criterion #1? Explain why reference to an overlapping chain of memories is needed here. What is the main problem with M.C.#1, according to Weirob? Miller responds to this problem in a way that Weirob claims is circular. Explain his response and Weirob's objection. What is Memory Criterion #2 (proposed by Cohen), and how does it resolve Weirob's circularity objection? Explain in detail the main problem with this criterion (as it has been filled in by Miller), making reference to the Star Trek episode shown in class. Memory Criterion #3 is offered in response to this problem. What exactly is this final memory criterion, and why does Weirob think it's absurd?

The Body Criterion
What is Weirob's Body Criterion of personal identity? Explain the scenario of Who is Julia? and discuss the dialogue participants' reaction to it. How does Weirob's aspirin example support her claim that appealing to convention to decide the issue here is preposterous? At this point in the dialogue, Cohen and Miller retreat to a specific version of Memory Criterion #2, which they hadn't really discussed in detail earlier. What is it? What dilemma is created for this position by the possibility of "Brain Rejuvenation"? What are some implications of Weirob's Body Criterion for things like immortality and moral responsibility?

Beyond the Dialogue
Explain how the case of the conjoined twins might pose a problem for Weirob's Body Criterion. Explain how the case of the Physical Spectrum poses problems for Weirob's Body Criterion. Explain how the cases of the Combined Spectrum and Fission pose problems for every criterion of personal identity discussed. What does the Combined Spectrum Case imply about the determinacy of personal identity, according to Shoemaker? What does the Fission Case imply about the importance of identity, according to Shoemaker? Explain how even if I cannot survive the death of my body, it may be possible to anticipate immortality of some kind. Do you still think you can survive the death of your body? Why or why not? How do you think the Yacht Puzzle should be resolved?

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