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Reasons and Persons is a 1984 book by the philosopher Derek Parfit, in which the author discusses ethics, rationality and personal identity.. It is divided into four parts, dedicated to self-defeating theories, rationality and time, personal identity and responsibility toward future generations.
Derek Antony Parfit FBA (/ ˈ p ɑːr f ɪ t /; 11 December 1942 – 2 January 2017 [3] [4]) was a British philosopher who specialised in personal identity, rationality, and ethics. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential moral philosophers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
According to Parfit, it is rational for people who perceive very little connectedness with their future self to act in ways that neglect the future self (e.g., by smoking). The psychological work that followed did not similarly argue for Parfit's normative view but has instead attempted to test the descriptive validity of Parfit's theory. [6]
Parfit's conclusion is similar to David Hume's view and also to the view of the self in some forms of Buddhism, though it does not restrict itself to a mere reformulation of them. For besides being reductive, Parfit's view is also deflationary: in the end, "what matters" is not personal identity, but rather mental continuity and connectedness.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday praised Pope Francis for his work on LGBTQI issues after meeting the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church and other senior ...
The thought experiment was formulated by Derek Parfit in his 1984 book Reasons and Persons. [38] Derek Parfit and others consider a hypothetical "teletransporter", a machine that puts you to sleep, records your molecular composition, breaking you down into atoms, and relaying its recording to Mars at the speed of light.
Obese dogs have a life expectancy that’s one-third shorter than dogs at a reasonable weight due to all the health concerns. A dog like Frannie, whose weight was so extreme that it kept her from ...
(The Center Square) – The Georgia Court of Appeals removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the election interference case against Donald J. Trump and others. The ...