10. Personal identity, Part I: Identity across space and time and the soul theory
Death (PHIL 176)
The lecture focuses on the question of the metaphysical key to personal identity. What does it mean for a person that presently exists to be the very same person in the future? The first approach to answering this question is the "soul theory," that is, the key to being the same person is having the same soul. Difficulties with that approach are then discussed, independent of the question whether souls exist or not.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction
01:39 - Chapter 2. What Does It Mean to Survive? The Train Metaphor
14:04 - Chapter 3. The Aging of a Car and Space-Time Worms
30:30 - Chapter 4. Will I Survive My Death? The Dualist's Soul as the Metaphysical Glue
46:28 - Chapter 5. Is the Soul Truly the Key to Personal Identity?
Complete course materials are available at the Yale Online website: online.yale.edu
This course was recorded in Spring 2007.