Summary of Jay L. Garfield's Losing Ourselves

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The self is the target of any critique of the idea of the self. We have an innate tendency to think of ourselves as selves, and it is difficult to respond to the philosophical unease arising from the self idea by rejecting some other position.

#2 The Indian classic Bhagavad Gītā describes the relation between the self and the body as similar to that between you and your wardrobe. You are not identical to your wardrobe, but you are the same individual who wears different clothes every day. The self is necessary to explain sensory integration and memory, as well as moral desert.

#3 The Buddhist position on the existence of the self is that it is against the existence of this ātman that Candrakīrti’s arguments are directed. The Christian version of the ātman is the soul, and it is held to be distinct from and the possessor of the mind and body.

#4 The debate over the existence of the self can be pursued in a secular setting as well. For example, the fact that the idea that our existence involves the reality of a self emerges in diverse traditions is evidence for its correctness.

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E-bog: 14. juni 2022