Suppose there is a machine that can analyse a human body at the subatomic(the lowest possible) level and there is another machine that can assemble the same configuration from a basket of particles. Assume I create a copy of Mr. A using these machines. Lets call this copy Mr. B. Mr B will be a living human since he is an exact replica of Mr. A. Now the question is do Mr. A and Mr. B have the same identity?
2007-12-20 14:13:25 · 6 answers · asked by liberating spirit 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Let me add some details.
Suppose Mr. A has a girlfriend. Mr. A was taken behind closed doors to create his replica. After a few minutes Mr. A and Mr. B comes out. Who will the girlfriend pick?
2007-12-21 05:19:33 · update #1
They both have the same looking bodies but Mr. Be is the true Identity or spirit. Being the machine is just a body made of elements it has no soul.
2007-12-20 14:25:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Identity and difference, unless the two of the same configuration occupied the same space and time they could not possibly have the same identity. Mr. B would be nothing but a copy of Mr. A, no matter how exact a replica. B has an independent identity. They might share an identity crisis, but A is still A as B is B.
2007-12-21 00:28:55 · answer #2 · answered by Fr. Al 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If nothing at all is left in your machine of Mr. A, not one atom with which to recreate Mr A while Mr. B survives, then they are one and the same. If one atom of Mr A is missing from Mr B, they cannot, by definition be identical.
2007-12-21 10:59:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Identity are the actions, events, and memories that define your being. If we were all the same, we would have no identity. A name is not an identity but the meaning attached to a name, or a physical being. Picture two people who are identical twins with identical voices in every aspects behind a wall and you can only talk to them. If you knew them previously, you could tell who was who because of their minds. That is identity to me. But, this is a very subjective matter- search for yourself what identity really is.
2007-12-20 22:27:45 · answer #4 · answered by Drillprp 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is only a problem for people who assume identity to be absolute. They are neither the same nor are they different.
2007-12-20 22:32:07 · answer #5 · answered by Sophrosyne 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a=a
2007-12-20 22:41:26 · answer #6 · answered by Tacit Hue 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋