On 2/24/2003 2:59:17 PM, Lauren Libbert
wrote:

>Describe the argument that
>reincarnation doesn't
>provide true life after death
>because it does not
>preserve personal identity: I
>think the answer is
>that reincarnation doesn't
>provide life after death
>because the soul does not
>contain the "self".

To quote from the last sentence of
"Reincarnation: A Conceptual Objection":

"Rather than saying that one person is
being reborn time after time, it is more
proper to say that there are many distrinct
persons being born who are united by the
same spiritual substance."

In other words, since each time around
there are new memories, new personality
traits, new behaviors and so on, and the
old ones only come to conscious
awareness on rare occasions, it's hard to
see how the same "person" is there
each time around.

If by "the soul does not contain the self"
you meant "same soul (spiritual
substance) doesn't necessarily imply
same self (person)" then you were
correct.

>Also, a question about Freud's
>argument for
>determinism. Is it that we
>have already developed
>our personalities by the age
>of five and our
>actions are therefore
>determined by whatever
>unconscious motivations we
>have in our five-year
>old psyches? Also, what are
>some specific
>criticisms of Freud?

Three are listed in the Determinism
Handout (determinism.htm) at the endof
the section on Freud (arg #3 in favor of
determinism)

Prof. Borrowdale
borrowdalej@lanecc.edu