Objective:
The purpose of this assignment is to assess your understanding of theories of personal identity and to develop the following skills. This assignment assumes you have a good mastery of structure, signposting, citation and bibliography.
Skills:
o Understanding Memory, Soul, and Animalist theories of personal identity
o Applying theories of personal identity to a novel case study (the Garrett case)
o Developing writing skills
Resources (found in Modules: Personal Identity, Overview).
Refer to Stich and Donaldson book, Chapter 11.
Do NOT use the internet as a source. Use the Stich and Donaldson textbook only. Use of the internet may result in your having to redo the assignment.
Task:
Write 4 paragraphs (approximately 500 words) about the following case:
Suppose that Garrett, a 35-year-old man, robs a bank and kills one of the bank guards. While driving away from the scene of the crime, Garrett loses control of his car and crashes into a brick wall. He is not wearing a seat belt, and he sustains a serious head injury which results in a total and permanent loss of memory of everything that has happened for the last 3 years. There is no chance he will ever regain his memory of these 3 years. A year after the robbery, Garrett is brought to trial.
Question: What would a memory theorist say about this case? Is the man on trial numerically identical with the man who robbed the bank? Is the man on trial morally responsible for the bank robbery and the murder? What would a soul theorist say?
Include the following:
1. Define and explain ONE of the Memory Theories of Personal Identity (version 1, version 2, or version 3 from Stich and Donaldson Ch. 11). Definitions should be in quotation marks, word-for-word, followed by a citation. Briefly explain this Memory Theory of personal identity.
2. Explain what a Memory Theorist of personal identity would say about the Garrett case. What would their position be, and why?
3. Explain what a Soul Theorist of personal identity would say about the Garrett case. What would their position be, and why?
4. Explain why the Soul Theorist and Memory Theorist might disagree about the Garrett case.
*Include MLA in-text citations (author page number). Include bibliography at the end.
