Deck 4: The Problem of Personal Identity

Question 1

Is having the same body sufficient for personal identity? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Not Answer.

Question 2

Is having the same soul sufficient for personal identity? Why or why not?

Answer 2

Not Answer.

Question 3

Is psychological continuity sufficient for personal identity? Why or why not?

Answer 3

Not Answer.

Question 4

Lock claims that if you have no memory of doing something, you shouldn't be held responsible for it? Is this plausible? Why or why not?

Question 5

If someone offered you a billion dollars on the condition that all of your memories would be erased, would you take it? Why or why not?

Question 6

If transferring your thoughts, feelings, and desires from your brain to a robot were the only way to avoid certain death, would you do it? Why or why not?

Question 7

According to St. Paul, a resurrected body in the afterlife will have all of the following qualities except:

A) spiritual.
B) imperishable.
C) powerful.
D) glorious.
E) transparent.

Question 8

If two things are numerically identical, then they

A) have the same number of parts.
B) are one and the same thing.
C) are immutable.
D) must have different qualities.
E) are similar, but unrelated.

Question 9

Which of the following is an accidental property of a textbook?

A) red cover
B) pages
C) words
D) binding
E) none of these

Question 10

______ conditions are those conditions that must be met in order for something to retain its numerical identity over time.

A) Identity
B) Quantitative
C) Mathematical
D) Relational
E) Fixed

Question 11

Properties: Enclosed plane geometric figure, Three exterior sides, and Interior angles add up to 180 degrees. All of these are ______ properties of a triangle.

A) accidental
B) essential

Question 12

An essential property of a bicycle is

A) horn.
B) red paint.
C) reflectors.
D) two wheels.
E) banana seat.

Question 13

According to Locke, what is essential for living organisms, such as oak trees, to retain their identity over time is their:

A) functional organization.
B) soul.
C) atoms.
D) cells.

Question 14

Locke argued that answering the problem of personal identity is important for ____.

A) moral responsibility
B) psycho-therapy
C) evolution
D) salvation
E) physics

Question 15

The problem of personal identity is a species of the problem of _____.

A) change
B) relativism
C) naturalism
D) evolution
E) creationism

Question 16

The question of personal identity is a(n) _____ question.

A) metaphysical
B) epistemological
C) aesthetic
D) theological
E) axiological

Question 17

Locke's Tale of the Prince and the Cobbler thought experiment shows that:

A) persons are not identical to their bodies because of the possibility of body switches.
B) the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
C) corruption occurs on all levels of society.
D) personal identity is irrelevant to moral responsibility.
E) a person is identical to his or her own body.

Question 18

According to soul theory, souls arenot:

A) located in space
B) material
C) perceivable
D) linked to any observable characteristics
E) all of these

Question 19

According to Hume's theory of meaning, a term is meaningful only if the ideas it stands for are derived from:

A) sensations
B) the Bible
C) theorems
D) physics
E) pre-cognition

Question 20

Leibniz's King of China thought experiment shows that

A) having the same body is a necessary condition for being the same person.
B) having the same soul is not a sufficient condition for personal identity.
C) money and power do not buy immortality.
D) resurrection requires that the physical body not be cremated.
E) the body can be sold, but the soul belongs to God.

Question 21

Transubstantiation is the process of:

A) transporting yourself to another location in space by disassembling and reassembling every atom in your body.
B) uploading your memories into another brain.
C) cryogenically freezing your brain and body.
D) having an out-of-body experience.
E) none of these

Question 22

Remembering your high school graduation is an example of a ____ memory.

A) experiential
B) factual
C) vague
D) ambiguous
E) retrieved

Question 23

According to Locke, when we are born our minds are

A) blank slates.
B) filled with innate ideas.
C) not prone to err.
D) in possession of memories of past lives.
E) none of these.

Question 24

Which of the following is consistent with memory theory?

A) resurrection
B) reincarnation
C) switching physical bodies
D) all of these

Question 25

In his study of multiple-personality disorder, Dr. Putnam has discovered that different personalities ____.

A) change voices
B) have different brain waves
C) "lose time" during periods when other personalities take over
D) all of these

Question 26

Reid's Brave Office and Senile General thought experiment shows that Locke's theory of personal identity violates the principle of ______.

A) transitivity
B) excluded middle
C) parsimony
D) uncertainty
E) relativity

Question 27

A memory that you can consciously recall is called ____ memory.

A) direct
B) indirect
C) evidential
D) veridical
E) non-veridical

Question 28

A memory of an event that either didn't happen or that was not caused by the event it records is a ____ memory.

A) real
B) apparent
C) imposter
D) virtual
E) echo

Question 29

Sydney Shoemaker tries to escape the circularity objection to memory theory by utilizing the concept of ____-memories.

A) quasi
B) pseudo
C) semi
D) linear
E) foundational

Question 30

The desire for the Astros to win the World Series is called a ____ desire.

A) communal
B) social
C) personal
D) impersonal
E) relative

Question 31

According to the insufficiency objection to memory theory, our personal identity is determined by our memories and our ____.

A) souls
B) bodies
C) brains
D) desires
E) all of these

Question 32

Patients who have undergone split brain surgery:

A) develop two separate spheres of consciousness.
B) rarely live longer than a week.
C) are unable to look into a mirror.
D) lose their emotions.
E) have vivid and uncontrollable dreams.

Question 33

Which theory of personal identity rules out any sort of splitting?

A) nonbranching
B) closest continuer
C) impressible
D) singular
E) thread

Question 34

The numerical identity of a thing cannot depend on facts about other things. This is known as the ______ principle.

A) only X and Y
B) noncontradiction
C) excluded middle
D) uncertainty
E) parsimony

Question 35

The Vegetable Case thought experiment is intended to show that

A) you can exist without a body.
B) you are your mind.
C) what makes you you is your body, not your mind.
D) animalism is unfounded.

Question 36

Benjamin's Questionable Cure thought experiment is intended to show that

A) mind and body are the same thing.
B) whatever the word "I" refers to, it doesn't refer to the body.
C) the mind can exist without the body.
D) the word "I" refers to the body.

Question 37

Locke's Prince and the Cobbler thought experiment is intended to show that

A) "body switches" are impossible.
B) "body switches" are technically feasible.
C) persons are identical to their bodies.
D) persons are not identical to their bodies.

Question 38

Olson's Transplant Case thought experiment is intended to show that

A) body switches are logically possible.
B) animalists believe body switches are possible.
C) you can't exist in anything other than your own body.
D) you are your brain.

Question 39

Unger's Great Pain thought experiment is intended to show that

A) animalism is true.
B) body switches are technically feasible.
C) animalism is FALSE.
D) individuals are identical to their bodies.

Question 40

The King of China thought experiment is intended to show that

A) who we are seems intimately connected to our bodies.
B) who we are seems intimately connected to our memories.
C) who we are does not seem to be connected to our memories.
D) if your memories disappeared, you would still be you.

Question 41

The Nestor and Thersites thought experiment is intended to show that

A) souls are not distinct from the thoughts they have.
B) being the same person does not require having the same soul.
C) being the same person requires having the same soul.
D) souls are identical to thoughts.

Question 42

Kant's Soul Switch thought experiment is intended to show that

A) a person is identical to his or her soul.
B) each soul is unique.
C) being the same person does not require having the same soul.
D) two persons cannot reside in the same soul.

Question 43

The Brave Officer and Senile General thought experiment is intended to show that

A) memories have nothing to do with personal identity.
B) there is no contradiction in Locke's theory of personal identity.
C) TRUE memories can never be lost.
D) Locke's theory of personal identity leads to a contradiction.

Question 44

Williams's Reincarnation of Guy Fawkes thought experiment is intended to

A) support the psychological continuity theory.
B) raise questions about the psychological continuity theory.
C) question historical facts about Guy Fawkes.
D) prove the reality of reincarnation.

Question 45

Williams's Reduplication Argument thought experiment is intended to show that

A) psychological continuity is a sufficient condition for personal identity.
B) psychological continuity is not a sufficient condition for personal identity.
C) psychological continuity is too strong to constitute personal identity.
D) personal identity is a one-to-many relation.

Question 46

Parfit's Transporter Tale thought experiment is intended to show that

A) teletransporters will never be technically possible.
B) psychological continuity is sufficient for personal identity.
C) the replicate Parfits are numerically identical to Parfit.
D) psychological continuity is not enough for personal identity.

Question 47

Shoemaker's Brain Transplant thought experiment is intended to show that

A) brain transplants are technologically possible.
B) brains have nothing to do with minds.
C) the brain theory is implausible.
D) the brain theory is plausible.

Question 48

Parfit's Division thought experiment is intended to show that

A) the brain theory is probably true.
B) split brains cannot occur.
C) brains can never be physically continuous.
D) the brain theory must be mistaken.

Question 49

Parfit's Reformed Nobelist thought experiment is intended to show that

A) we should hold someone responsible for a crime only if she is numerically identical to the person who committed the crime.
B) if your character changes over time, perhaps you should not be held fully responsible for what you did in the past.
C) numerical identity is necessary for moral responsibility.
D) numerical identity is sufficient for moral responsibility.

Question 50

According to Locke, Personal identity consists in

A) having the same identical substance.
B) having the same body.
C) having the same brain.
D) having the same consciousness (memories).

Question 51

Having the same soul is

A) necessary for personal identity.
B) sufficient for personal identity.
C) necessary and sufficient for personal identity.
D) neither necessary nor sufficient for personal identity.

Question 52

Having the same body is

A) necessary for personal identity.
B) sufficient for personal identity.
C) necessary and sufficient for personal identity.
D) neither necessary nor sufficient for personal identity.

Question 53

In philosophy, the problem of personal identity is the problem of trying to explain

A) where someone's personality comes from.
B) where someone's character comes from.
C) how a person can change and yet remain the same person.
D) how a person's personality and character change over time.

Question 54

A quasi-memory is

A) an apparent memory.
B) a fuzzy real memory.
C) an apparent memory that's caused in the right way by a real event.
D) a real memory that you've forgotten.

Question 55

According to Parfit, numerical identity is important for survival.

Question 56

Buddhists believe that the self is a permanent substance.

Question 57

The brain theory requires that a person's entire brain be intact in order to preserve personal identity.

Question 58

Parfit's Transporter Tale thought experiment shows that psychological continuity guarantees numerical identity.

Question 59

Locke maintains that you shouldn't be held responsible for something you don't remember doing.

Question 60

Scientistscannot explain why near-death experiences have caused some people to have the sensation of leaving their bodies.

Question 61

According to animalism, a person who has undergone split brain surgery is still the same person as before.

Question 62

Our bodies may contain atoms that once belonged to another human being.

Question 63

Resurrection is theoretically possible according to animalism.

Question 64

According to animalism, animals can't be persons.

Question 65

According to Locke, the identity conditions for persons are the same as for any mass of matter.

Question 66

Qualitative identity is a sufficient condition for numerical identity.

Question 67

The Vegetable Case thought experiment is intended to show that you are what you eat.

Question 68

Benjamin's Questionable Cure thought experiment is intended to show that mind and body are the same thing.

Question 69

Locke's Prince and the Cobbler thought experiment is intended to show that persons are identical to their bodies.

Question 70

Olson's Transplant Case thought experiment is intended to show that your identity resides in your brain.

Question 71

Unger's Great Pain thought experiment is intended to show that animalism is FALSE.

Question 72

The Nestor and Thersites thought experiment is intended to show that being the same person doesn't require having the same soul.

Question 73

The King of China thought experiment is intended to show that who we are seems intimately connected to our bodies.

Question 74

Kant's Soul Switch thought experiment is intended to show that a person is identical to his or her soul.

Question 75

The Brave Officer and Senile General thought experiment is intended to show that there is no contradiction in Locke's theory of personal identity.

Question 76

Williams's Reincarnation of Guy Fawkes thought experiment is intended to raise questions about the psychological continuity theory.

Question 77

Williams's Reduplication Argument thought experiment is intended to show that psychological continuity is not a sufficient condition for personal identity.

Question 78

Parfit's Transporter Tale thought experiment is intended to show that psychological continuity is sufficient for personal identity.

Question 79

Shoemaker's Brain Transplant thought experiment is intended to show that the brain theory is incoherent.

Question 80

Parfit's Division thought experiment is intended to show that the brain theory is probably true.