March 07, 2023
Raneem Samman
Identity and Parkinson’s disease: Exploring personal identity though the theories of Locke and Parfit in neurodegeneration
Introduction
This research paper explores personal identity in relation to Parkinson’s disease. I define personal identity as a singular yet changeable set of characteristics that one relates to, which tends to prevail over a set period. Some of those characteristics which are key to our identity, such as our skin color, race, and ethnicity are usually unchangeable. However, other characteristics, such as our favorite color, political beliefs, and religious ideologies, may change over time. The majority of the scientific literature argues that changes in personal identity are due to the moral faculty as well as the loss of memories. However, I argue that personal identity is not only determined by those two factors (moral faculty and memories) but one can also undergo changes in their personal identity by the alteration of motor functions; more specifically, the dysfunction of motor abilities as in the case of Parkinson Disease. In this paper, I will be using Parfit theory of personal identity as well as relevant scientific literature, which I will be exploring shortly, to support my argument and explain how believing that memories are the sole driver of change in personal identity, which is supported by John Locke’s perspective on personal identity, is not enough to cover the complexity of identity. To avoid confusion, throughout this paper I will be using the word “identity” interchangeably with the term “personal identity” to avoid repetitions and overstatements.