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Philosophy, Phenomenology, Sciences pp 333–361Cite as

Towards a Phenomenological Account of Personal Identity

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Part of the book series: Phaenomenologica ((PHAE,volume 200))

Abstract

Most contemporary philosophical discussions of personal identity still refer to or even engage with John Locke’s account of personal identity in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. For Locke, the question of personal identity is essentially a question of what it means to experience oneself as a person and, more precisely, to experience oneself as the same person at different times.

The conviction which every man has of his identity, as far back as his memory reaches, needs no aid of philosophy to strengthen it, and no philosophy can weaken it, without first producing some degree of insanity. The Philosopher, however, may very properly consider this conviction as a phaenomenon of human nature worthy of his attention.1

Thomas Reid

*I would like to thank the director of the Husserl-Archives in Leuven, Prof. Dr. Ullrich Melle, for his kind permission to quote in the following from Husserl’s unpublished manuscripts.

1Reid (2002), 262.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophy Department, Loyola University Chicago, 1032 West Sheridan Road, 60660, Chicago, IL, USA

    Dr. Hanne Jacobs*

Authors
  1. Dr. Hanne Jacobs*
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Correspondence to Hanne Jacobs* .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Husserl-Archief te Leuven, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kardinaal Mercierplein 2, Leuven, 3000, Belgium

    Filip Mattens

  2. Philosophy Department, Loyola University Chicago, West Sheridan Road 1032, Chicago, 60660, Illinois, USA

    Hanne Jacobs

  3. , Institute of Philosophy, Catholic University of Leuven, Kardinaal Mercierplein 2, Leuven, 3000, Belgium

    Carlo Ierna

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Jacobs*, H. (2010). Towards a Phenomenological Account of Personal Identity. In: Mattens, F., Jacobs, H., Ierna, C. (eds) Philosophy, Phenomenology, Sciences. Phaenomenologica, vol 200. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0071-0_13

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