'The Secrets of All Hearts': Locke on Personal Identity1. (7th July 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Strawson, Galen
• Is Part Of: Royal Institute of Philosophy supplement. Volume 76(2015)
• Page Start: 111
• Page End: 141
• Publication Date: 2015-07-07
• Subjects: Philosophy -- Periodicals; 100
• DOI: 10.1017/S1358246115000144
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1358-2461

Abstract

Abstract: Many think John Locke's account of personal identity is inconsistent and circular. It's neither of these things. The root causes of the misreading are [i] the mistake of thinking that Locke uses 'consciousness' to mean memory, [ii] failure to appreciate the importance of the 'concernment' that always accompanies 'consciousness', on Locke's view, [iii] a tendency to take the term person, in Locke's text, as if it were (only) some kind of fundamental sortal term like 'human being' or 'thinking thing', and to fail to take proper account of Locke's use of it as a 'forensic' term (§26). It's well known that Locke uses person as a forensic term, but the consequences of this have still not been fully worked out.