Our identity through time certainly requires as one of its conditions one body
rather than two. My clone is not me. However, the notion of our persistence in
spite of physical change poses difficulties. One solution is essentialism, a
doctrine that once again originates in classical Greek philosophy. To Aristotle,
the essence of human beings was rationality, much like the essence of the Grand
Shrine is an ideal form associated with certain ideas, rather than material
constancy. Descartes harked back to antiquity, taking the position that our
identity rests in an immutable essence, the soul. ‘Whereas the human body can
easily perish’, he thought to have proven, ‘the soul is immortal by its very
nature’. To him the soul is an unextended substance that retains its identity over
time.
But where is it? The essence of the Grand Shrine survives periodic
dismantlement, but it does not exist without an embodiment. Scientific
advancement since the Enlightenment has motivated many philosophers to
accept that this is also true for us humans. The most radical and at the same time
most consistent view in defiance of Cartesian dualism posits the identity of brain
and mind. Which, however, brings us to an important difference between us and
the Grand Shrine. Unlike its attic, ours is not rebuilt every twenty years. The
regeneration of human brain cells, regrettably, is severely limited.
Neurophysiologists consider this the main reason why we become more forgetful
with advancing age.
If memory is like a slowly corroding microchip, Locke’s idea that memory
constitutes self-identity comes under pressure. When we forget irreversibly, we
change. This is undeniably what many people experience. Are they still
themselves? Many would reject the idea that just because she forgot a name she
is no longer herself. After all, she is still her students’ professor, her children’s
mother, her friends’ friend, etc. Actually, this is a feature we share with the
Grand Shrine. It is what it is by virtue of what people make of it and attribute to
it. It is the home of the Sun Goddess and situated in a cedar wood animated by
any number of spirits. Our personal identity, too, is to a considerable degree
moulded by the people we interact with, who tell us what we are or should be,
whom we admire or despise.
Recognizing the social (nurture) influence on individual identity of course does
not imply a rejection of biology (nature) as a determinant. Personal identity is
not just a convention, something agreed upon by others. Nor do social theories