X-Message-Number: 3626
From: Peter Merel <>
Subject: CRYONICS identity
Date: Sat, 7 Jan 1995 21:28:29 +1100 (EST)

Bruce Zimov writes,

>The world and the way sound like what Kant called the phenomena
>and the noumena. 

I'm afraid my Kant isn't what it might be, but a quick look at my Boy's
Bumper Book Of Philosophy suggests that they're not much alike. I'd
class Kant's noumena as abstractions within the Taoist "world", along
with the phenomena; the Taoist "way", being beneath abstraction, is not
an aspect of things as such, nor even "things in themselves"; it is more
a limit on apprehension itself than a thing or things unapprehended. But 
read Lao Tse for a good definition (I'd suggest Robert Henricks' recent 
translation of the Ma Wang-Tui text)

>That aside, preserving the pattern ensures 
>you can upload by copying, preserving qualitative identity, but
>not numerical identity. 

I'm not certain exactly what you mean with qualitative and numerical.

>There is no extra-corporeal self. 

I guess I'm suggesting that 'the self' is simply a useful abstraction of
"the world", in the same way that 'the wind' is a useful approximation to 
the complex motion of the air. 'The self' has that 100% concrete feeling of
reality within 'the world', because all of the elements of 'the world'
are likewise abstract. 

>Rejecting dualism does not solve the identity problem. 

I don't believe there can be a solution that does not require a leap of faith.
That leap is exactly your statement above - "There is no extra-corporeal
self". Accepting this, what problem is there? Not accepting this, what
solution can there be?

As to rejecting dualism, again I'm not certain what you mean.

>See Parfit, 
>Reasons and Persons Part III.  Parfit's view is that identity
>is not what matters in uploading. I disagree with that.

I'm afraid I don't have Parfit handy, nor is he in my Boy's Bumper Book.
Why does he suggest that identity is not important, and why do you disagree?

--

Internet:           |         Accept Everything.            |

http://www.usyd.edu.au/~pete           |         Reject Nothing.               |

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