180041 KU Person, Self and Identity (2021S)

The concepts *person*, *identity* and *self* are closely related and they pose a number of difficult, existentially intriguing questions: What is a person? What makes me the person I am? Is there something like a self, and what is this self? We also need these concepts when we ask ourselves: Who am I? Am I my body? My mind? Am I now the same person as the child on the photo I’m holding in my hands? When did I begin? And what will happen to me when I die?

In this course we will investigate how one might answer these and other questions pertaining to the notions of person, identity, and self. We will start with a central problem in the history of philosophy, the problem of personal identity: What is it to be the same person today as one was in the part, or will be in the future? Next, we will inquire what we would need a concept of self or of person for: Why does it matter how we answer the question(s) of personal identity? What is its practical significance for our lives?

We will focus on two philosophical positions, according to which there is no such thing as a person, or a self, that endures someone’s lifetime (and beyond). In the first half of the course, we will read the western, 20th century theory by Derek Parfit in his book “Reasons and Persons” (1984). In the second half, we will engage with the Buddhist theory of non-self and will compare it with Parfit’s position. We will read excerpts from Mark Siderits’ book “Personal Identity and Buddhist Philosophy.”

Goals: Investigation of said questions, their presuppositions, and the consequences different answers to these questions have, by means of a close reading of the literature. Critical engagement with different answers and their comparison.

Method: Readings in preparation of sessions, in-class discussion online on Moodle.