Personal Identity

I. Goals A. Discussion

1. Engage in a discussion about the essential properties of an object / being

2. Can an object can withstand change overtime? Would it still be considered the same object?

3. What is sufficient to change someone or something?

4. Bring awareness to the idea that certain problems persist overtime

5. questions of identity, notions of objects that are convenient fiction vs. reality, pushing boundaries of what we think of this as being the same object and understanding the infinite series of components

6. Transition from concrete to abstract understanding of personal identity

B. Skills

1. Unpacking and applying definitions of essential and accidental properties

2. Introducing the use of counterexamples to challenge student reasoning

3. cultivate ability to voice thoughts and engage with different perspectives

II. Materials A. Paper B. Markers

C. Legos

III. Definitions

1. Essential property→ the necessary qualities that make a being itself; a property that an object or person must have to be itself

2. Accidental property→ a property an object or being happens to have but that is not necessary and could be lost/taken away

3. Metaphysics→ a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of existence

4. Object→ collection of properties (Descartes...object is something beyond, a substance that the properties are founded in)

5. Inanimate objects vs. Self→ self is more complex

DISCUSSION: The Tower of Medford High

A man owns a ship called Theseus. As a product of overuse, some of the wooden boards begin to rot. The man replaces the boards. A few years later the ship needs a new sail, then a new steering wheel, then a new deck... [continue until the original wood is entirely replaced]

1. Discussion Questions

   1. Is it the same ship? What is the most important part of the ship?

   2. What is the intuition that you think most people share? How much change can the object withstand and still be itself?

   3. At what point during the repairs does it lose its essential property/ies?

2. Intuitions

   1. Function→ boat vs. holding place

   2. Ownership/Labeling→ ship A vs. Theseus

3. Application: Build a tower of blue legos...slowly replace each block with a red lego until the entire tower is red

   1. At what point can we no longer call the tower blue?

ACTIVITY: Personal Identity in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

1. Instructions:

   1. Start by passing out a piece of paper to each student

   2. Ask students to write down 5 attributes that are essential to their identity (without which they would not be themselves)

   3. Slowly push students to eliminate an attribute, one by one, and see if they can narrow their list down to one essential property

2. Ways to Challenge If they say _____ is essential to their identity, we could challenge them by saying _____. Being a soccer player ---> what if you broke your foot and could no longer play? Being the youngest child ---> would you no longer be you if your parents had another child tomorrow? Being a good friend ---> If you made a mistake and hurt your friend, are you not the same person?

3. Discussion Questions:

   1. Guide student thought process about what qualities or properties are essential to their identity

   2. Do they know? Is their opinion different than that of their family/friends?

   3. How is identity expressed? (language, naming, outward vs. inward identifiers)

   4. What role do these identifiers play in defining who we are or who others presume us to be

   5. Where can we identify struggles over personal identity in everyday life, past, how may these challenges change or remain the same over time?

End A. Gather student feedback

What they liked/disliked?

Questions/comments/suggestions for next time?