Personality Identity And Disappearing Self Essays Examples

David Hume was a great Scottish philosopher who argued that there is no substance as the self. He believed that there is nothing such a soul. All this, he argued, was an illusion created by people's trust in the cause and effect theory. He attacks this belief in cause and effect by claiming that what people do is induce. Induction is drawing conclusions from previous experiences. He argues what people use to justify their belief in cause and effect theory owing to inadequate or lack of knowledge of the connection between nature and events.
Hume argues against the existence of self by asserting that we are just a bundle of perceptions. He further illustrates that in deep sleep with no dreams, our knowledge of self-ceases to exist. This evidences that if we remove all our opinions, then nothing is left, there is no self. However, it is a function of his empiricism because he has had to conduct various tests or experiments to proof that the Self does not exist. For instance, he uses the analogy of the brain as a ship. He argues that this ship has been changed by various circumstances, yet it is still considered the same. Without memory of past cause-effect relationships we would not have the conclusion of a self hence there is no consistent changing self.
We know we exist through our conscience. Or brain is like one massive machine which enables us to perceive time matter and colour. The fact that we get hungry and can understand the environment around us is enough proof that we exist. What gives us our identity is the perceptions we have in our brains upon which we act. The logic that we apply when making inductions defines who we.