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Angela Simmons
Dr.Cox
Philosophy 100
9 December 2012
Essay 3
John Lockes memory theory is an effective explanation to the philosophical dilemma of
personal identity. Locke argues that the soul is not a rational definition of personal identity, but
instead that personal identity is the sameness of a rational being, or the consciousness
reflecting on past actions i.e. memory. Throughout Personal Identity and the Survival of Death
Locke describes the memories roll in the creation of personal identity.
Locke begins by explaining that before defining personal identity, one must define what
person stands for. He explains that a person seems to be an intelligent and thinking being that is
able to consider itself as such. He goes on to state that a person must have reason and reflection
and is able to identify his/her self as the same person throughout different spaces in time or
location, and that the person is able to recognize that he/she perceives. This, Locke says is what
distinguishes each individual from others. He explains that the sameness of rational being is
what personal identity consists of. Locke states and as far as this consciousness can be extended
backwards to any past action or thought, so far reaches the identity of that person. Locke is
explaining that memories make up the personal identity of each individual, and without that,
there would be no distinction between beings, no personal identity.

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Next, Locke details that one doesnt need to maintain consciousness to maintain personal
identity. He relates this idea to the changing of ones clothes form one day to the next; this does
not alter who the person is. This means that changing ones consciousness does not change the
self, it merely adds to the existing personal identity. Locke adds to this idea by stating that the
physical perceptions do not affect personal identity, because even if one were to lose a limb, it
would merely change the way the individual perceives the world, but would not affect the
identity, it would instead add to the existing personal identity.
After setting up his stance, Locke proceeds by giving the example of the prince and the
cobbler. In this example there is a prince who has princely thoughts and memories, and he
happens to wake up in the body of a cobbler. Locke goes on to describe that even though the
prince is now a different man, he is still the same person. This explains that even through the
extreme circumstances of switching physical identities, it would not affect the overall personal
identity of the prince, because he would have all of the same thoughts and memories of the
prince, even though physically he is the cobbler.
Locke makes solid arguments which are able to stand up under objections the theory.
Thomas Reid objects to Lockes theory basically saying that his theory violates the law of
transitivity. Reid means that if there is a person at three points in time, point A, point B, and
Point C, that each point must equal one another in order to be the same. If the person at point A
has a memory or mental state, and person at point B remembers the memory or mental state of
point A, then the person at point C must remember the state of point B which entails the memory
of point A, in order to be the same person. Although, if the person at point C does not remember

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the memory or mental state of person at point A, then Lockes theory violates the law of
transitivity (A=B, B=C, and A=C). Because point C does not resemble Point A, Reid says that
there is no proof through Lockes theory that the person at point A is the same (or have the same
personal identity) as the person at point C. Even though this seems like a firm argument against
theory, it doesnt destroy Lockes idea of personal identity through memory. In order to combat
Reid, Locke would simply have to say that the memories and mental states of point A help cause
the memories and mental states of point B, which in turn affect the memory and mental state of
point C. Even though the person at point C does not recall the memories of point A, there was
still an effect that point A had on point C. Therefore, not every memory has to be completely
remembered in order to affect personal identity as a whole.
Another objection that Thomas Reid has toward Lockes memory theory is that one does
not have the same conscious state from one moment to the next, that a persons conscious state is
always changing and that no two moments in a persons life are made up of the same mental
states. I dont believe that this objection is a threat to the memory theory because even though
the consciousness might not resemble itself from one state to the next, I dont believe that this in
any way affects the sameness of rational being. Perceived memories and the state of
consciousness may be connected, but dont seem to be the same thing. Even though state
consciousness may change from one moment to the next, this does not prove that memory is not
causal and that conscious state is not affected by past memories and mental states.
Lastly Reid objects to Lockes theory by stating that even though there is one mental state
that may resemble another mental state, that it is actually only a token of the same mental

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state. Because the state of happiness in two different people can similar but are never exactly the
same from one person to the next. Reid explains that because our conscious states differ from
one moment to the next, that there is no way that even in the same person the two mental states
are exactly the same. Locke can combat this objection by stating that even though two mental
states (happiness, sadness, excitement, anger, etc.) in the same person are not identical and are
only tokens of the same state, they most closely resemble the states within the same person,
because two different beings would certainly have much more diverse mental states then they
would within ones self.
All in all, I believe that John Lockes theory for personal identity is a strong theory,
which uses perception to form memories that develop an individuals identity through time. The
different memories and consciousnesss of each particular person creates a totally diverse and
unique being with his/her own personal identity.