John Locke's Of Identity and Diversity

Locke spends what seems like an inordinate amount of time dealing with the identity of vegetables and animals, considering that all he is saying is that the identity of these entities is determined by material continuity (35-36). Moving to human beings, Locke writes that the question of personal identity is more complex:

. . . The identity of the same man consists . . . in nothing but a participation of the same continued life, by constantly fleeting particles of matter, in succession vitally united to the same organized body (36-37).

The complexity is introduced in the consideration of what it is that constitutes human life. A carrot or a rabbit is differentiated from a human being by its consciousness, says Locke. The human being has a soul which the carrot and rabbit do not have (although Locke leaves open the possibility of soul transmigration and thus the possibility of souls-in-animals). However, the soul is nothing without the personal consciousness which functions along with it. It might be pointed out here that Locke assume

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Approximate Word count = 1100
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page)

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