PHILOSOPHY - Mind: Personal Identity (The Essential Moral Self) [HD]

Using the method of experimental philosophy, Nina Strohminger (Yale University) and Shaun Nichols (University of Arizona) compare philosophical and everyday answers to the question "Which aspect of the self is most essential for personal identity?"

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[HxHDRA]

"The calamaties that happen in the world, the sufferings and fears, many as they are, all result from clinging to the notion of self. So what good is this clinging of mind? If one does not let go of self, one cannot let go of suffering. As one who does not let go of fire cannot let go of burning."- The Bodhicaryāvatāra by Śāntideva
Great summary!

[marcpadilla]

Identity is a construct. The chip. Why is it necessary to identify with it, hence,the conscious relationship between subjects and objects and a drive towards uniformity and hierarchy. Like a tree with a trunk and branches that assist in the absorption and distribution of life ensuring nutrients throughout the whole. That is, as long as nutrients are in abundance to maintain its size and vitality, otherwise scarcity tends to favor the trunk and the most hearty of limbs.Diversity is the branche that springs from the natural hiarchy in life. Life and death is also a construct in enduring life and progress as a continuing cycle. Acuna mattata !

[Gutoviski]

Well, a problem that I see is that with experimental philosophy we can only get information about what people generally think. And it's not seems to be the kind of relevant information to respond a philosophical problem.
Even if we find a great consesus in a question, we still with the problem that all people can be just wrong. And, looking for history, it's seems to be generally the case

[cklmxio]

I've gotta say, for a video done by (or for or with or ...) a philosopher, it's extremely well done. And I don't just mean the pithiness, I mean the visuals, too. "Literally" a sight for sore eyes.

For those with questions about the operationalization of, e.g. "moral capacities", or what this study supposed to show exactly, a more detailed look can be found in Nichols' actual papers that go through the studies and analyze them. If you're interested, he has collaborated on numerous empirical studies on intuitions about personal identity, and not just when tied to morality. See his various co-authored pieces with others such as Bartels, Rips, Bruno, and Tierney.

[ninjah]

MIND according to Bob Marley And The Wailers :

- You can't tell the woman from the man
'Cause they're dressed in the same pollution
Their mind is confused with confusion
With their problems since they've no solution
(MIDNIGHT RAVERS, 1973)

- Life is one big road with lots of signs
So when you're riding through the ruts
Don't you complicate your mind
Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy
Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality
All together now
Wake up and live, Wake up and live
Wake up and wake up and live
Rise.. ye mighty people -
There's work to be done
So let's do it-a little by little
Rise.. from your sleepless slumber !
(WAKE UP AND LIVE, 1979)

- Don't let them fool ya
Or even try to school ya, oh no!
We've got a mind of our own
So go to hell if what you're thinkin' isn't right
Love would never leave us alone
A-in the darkness there must come out to light
(COULD YOU BE LOVED AND BE LOVE, 1980)

- Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
'Cause none a them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets?
While we stand aside and look,
Some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfil the book
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever had
Redemption songs
(REDEMPTION SONG, 1980)

[Churches]

What is not clear in this study is what "loss of moral faculties" and the aspects of "conscience and moral action" are meant to signify, so that when the chip activates:

1) One becomes a psychopath - a person who does not see a difference between norm breaches (going to a café in your pyjamas) and moral breaches (violent assault); or

2) One finds that their moral convictions all mixed up eg. changing from pro-life to pro-choice, from Greenie to pro-coal-oil-gas, from married to poly-amorous, from meat eater to vegan, from democrat to republican.

I think both 1 and 2 are important to explore, but 1 invokes a threat of potential violence which all the other chip-effects do not. This may make it more salient and threatening as a variable to change. So - this study may accidentally be asking -  "which aspect of the self is most essential to maintain to ensure a person does not become a violent perpetrator"

[neoepicurean]

I think memory is by far the most important. If people think they can lose their memories and still be them, well the good news is they can just program their personality into a computer and let a robot take over from them when they die. I think most people would think that the robot wouldn't be them.

[kerrimcmahon]

I would definitely say I constitute my personal identity in my distinctive interests and preferences, not on my moral compass. I agree with Locke's Memory Criterion in terms of what makes person A the same as person B at a later stage, through common memories. I have a philosophy exam tomorrow, can you tell?

[XyntXII]

but if i lose my memory i also lose what makes my morality. because i lose the memory of the logical arguements as well as the memory of the emotions that led me to that specific morality.

[krnflks]

I used to put energy into being "me", but then I stopped believing that person exists. I've become so many other things since then.

[daltontonga]

Well, if David Hume was right, and our moral sense is rooted psychologically in our passions, then a change in morality and a change in personal desires/interests due to the implant would be rather similar in nature.
Any thoughts

[yinYangMountain]

1. How is person A's 'opinion' about person B's 'Personal Identity" relevant?

2. Isn't it true that: It's now understood by psychologists and behavioral economists that when person A says they would be devastated if they lost X, Y, or Z in the future, people who actually lose X, Y, or Z are not devastated?

3. Isn't it true that: There is a drug being used to remove targeted memories from patients suffering from various mental trauma. They seem to show relief and less anxiety after treatment. Are they no-longer the same 'person' after being restored back to a better state of mental health?

4. Congratulations, you've attempted to incorporate science/psychology and philosophy. But, did you actually test the theory on patients suffering amnesia or other various brain issues?

[Swiitchs]

I was like WHAT A EBEAUTIFUL HANDWRITING! Untill I realized i´ts just a font. Oh well.

[williamstanley]

A lot of confusion in this area comes from poorly defined terms. The brain and the mind are not the same thing. Damage to a brain has literally zero effect on the mind. The mind is still fully capable of thinking, feeling, and deciding (thought, emotion, and the will are the three components of the mind) even if the brain is severely damaged.

Knowing WHAT we actually are, and WHY we actually are, really helps in all the real sciences! I love it!

[ObservantDog]

If two people knew everything there was to know.

Would there be a difference in those two people?

[dingsda]

identity as usually perceived is an evolutionarily beneficial concept that doesnt map reality. When asking which organism, data, or psychological continuum represents *you*, then the answer is simply a matter of arbitrary definition.

[domm]

Isn’t moral identity borne out of cultural identity?

[joshpattison]

Are the results different outside of Puritanical America? What do non-WEIRD test subjects say?

[Xgy]

Doesn’t this video presuppose that morals are subjective?

[lailaelkhodar]

can someone please translat this video to arabic please ^^