Reference no: EM133357670
Assignment:
Imagine the sweetest, kindest, older person you've ever known: maybe a parent, grandparent, uncle or aunt, etc...
Now imagine that at the age of 88, with memory fading, the cops have suddenly come to arrest this person for a murder they may have committed at age 18.
This person confesses to having a vague memory of having committed a murder, but also explains that since the age of 19 they had suffered amnesia which blocked out all memory of their life between the age of 17 and 19.
However, this person does remember waking up one day at the age of 70 having a clear memory of a murder they had committed, and due to their moral compass went straight to the cops asking to be arrested.
Unfortunately, the police had no proof at the time, and the family was able to convince this person that it was a delusion (because this person was too sweet to have committed such a gruesome crime).
But now a photo of the murderer at the murder scene has been found. And it is undeniable that the photo of the murderer looks like a younger version of your loved one. He/she even says "what I am I doing there with a bloody axe in my hand?"
Explain how the body theory can be used to argue that your loved one is numerically identical to the person that committed murder 70 years earlier.
Then describe why there are issues with this argument.
1. Explain how the memory theory can be used to argue that your loved one is numerically identical to the person that committed murder 70 years earlier. Then describe why there are issues with this argument.
2. Explain how the psychological continuity theory can be used to argue that your loved one is numerically identical to the person who committed the murder. Based on his analogy of giving a disproportionate amount of money to different relatives, what might Parfit say about this case?