Скачать или смотреть Locke: The Memory Theory of Identity

In the 17th century, the British philosopher John Locke argued that you are what you remember. He thought that your personal identity consisted in how far your memory goes back. So I, I'm the same person as my schoolboy days, because I can remember putting on my school uniform, my history lessons with Mr. Brown, and discussing computer games with Alex Hammond.

Locke's theory is quite intuitive because our memories are structural to who we are. They define our personality and they motivate our future behaviour. It's sometimes said of dementia that there are two deaths: the death of someone's memories and the death of their body. It's thought that somebody's memories make them who they are.

But there are problems with this. Because if we tie our self-identity to recollection, what about all of the great foggy blob that makes up most of our memories? Our memories are highly selective, hugely changeable, and will have huge gaps in between. As Thomas Reid argued, as we move through life, there are huge parts of our life we just don't remember. For example, it might be that a retired general can remember his basic training, but doesn't remember his boyhood self playing with toy soldiers.

So the question is, is the retired general the same as the young boy? It might be that we agree with Locke in saying that memory is important to who we are, but it is not the only thing. So what role do you think memory plays in who you are today?