Short Paper onAristotle
David Hume said that the “self” isan illusion created by closeness and proximity (much like our erroneous believein “cause and effect”). A modern example of Hume’s ideas about the “self” mightbe to look at movie film. At 30 frames a second, the individual pictures comeso quickly that it looks like continuous movement instead of thousands ofindividual pictures. And the changes between each successive picture is soslight that we would hardly notice if we examined successive pictures oneframe at a time. Since we have not been watching our “self movie” whilesleeping, in the morning the projector is still running, and our minds simplyfill in the blanks for the frames we missed, falsely giving us a notion that weare still same “self” from yesterday.
Fortunately, not all philosophersare as radical as Hume in denying that there is a continuous self. But, eventhose who admit there is a “self” do not agree as to what it is, how it isformed, and whether or not it changes.
In Week 8, we’ll be re-addressingthe “essential self” as necessary in order to experience freedom and to makemoral decisions that are truly freely made. So, the whether or not a continous“essential self” actally exists is an important philosophical concept.
For this week’s assignment:
1Describe your “essential self”—thatis, the set of characteristics that defines what makes you a particular person.If you do not believe an essensial self exists, explain why not.
2Explain why you think the essentialself can or cannot change during a person’s lifetime.
3Since the essential self will(supposedly) actively resists anything that is not in our genuine bestinterest, how could self-sacrifice and martyrdom be regarded evidence of aperson who lacked an essential self? Alternately, would voluntarily subjectingoneself to those things be a true indicator of an essential self? Explain youranswers.
Please ensure that your essayaddresses each component of the assigned questions and that your answer iswell-organized, uses excellent, college-level prose, and makes judicious use oftextual evidence. Your essay must follow APA formatting and should be 500-750words long.
If you quote, paraphrase, orsummarize from the textbook or any other source, you must include in-text citationsand a References page.
Grading Criteria Assignments
Maximum Points
Meets or exceeds establishedassignment criteria
40
Demonstrates an understanding oflesson concepts
20
Clearly presents well-reasonedideas and concepts
30
Mechanics, punctuation, sentencestructure, spelling, APA formatting.
10
Total
100
