Derek Parfit on Personal Identity

Does personal identity matter?

Introduction

Chapters 10 and 11 of Derek Parfit’s Reasons and Person’s is quite capacious. This is to such an extent that, in talking about these sections, it is quite difficult to compartmentalize exactly what one ought to talk about. This is due fundamentally to the fact that Parfit’s capaciousness is filled with interesting substantial thought. He rarely wastes a word. As David Chalmers wrote of the whole book, “I loved [it] and [it] gave me a sense of how powerful analytic philosophy can be when done clearly and accessibly.” Hence, in this sheet, I will prioritize the most of these sections (some are omitted, simply due to the fact that some of what is written is simply explanations of differing perspectives on the matter).

In large part, much of what Parfit does in these chapters is to analyze a substantial variety of opposing views on the following twofold question: what is personal identity, and what is its significance? In analyzing a multiplicity of views, Parfit intends to give his own answer to this question. Preliminarily, Parfit’s answer to this question has the consequences of radically questioning our ordinary conceptions of personal identity and its significance. Namely, (1) conventional views are quite wrong about what personal identity is, and (2) overvalue…