We Are All Loose and Popular. An Argument in Support of Loose and Popular Identity

Abstract

Joseph Butler stated that identity can be seen in two ways: a loose and popular one, and a strict and philosophical one. In this paper I will argue that every identity must be seen in the former since it is impossible to have identity in a strict and philosophical sense. I aim to show this by looking at the persistence question arguing that since it is designed to establish identity without accepting change, it fails to give us a useful account of personal identity. I therefore hope to establish what I believe to be a much more useful question, namely that of existence, not persistence.

Keywords

• personal identity
• persistence
• self
• joseph butler
• loose and popular identity
• david hume
• spatiotemporal continuity theory
• animalism
• psychological continuity theory