Page "Derek Parfit" Paragraph 11

Parfit uses many examples seemingly inspired by Star Trek and other science fiction, such as the teletransporter, to explore our intuitions about our identity.

He is a reductionist, believing that since there is no adequate criterion of personal identity, people do not exist apart from their components.

Parfit argues that reality can be fully described impersonally: there need not be a determinate answer to the question " Will I continue to exist?

" We could know all the facts about a person's continued existence and not be able to say whether the person has survived.

He concludes that we are mistaken in assuming that personal identity is what matters ; what matters is rather Relation R: psychological connectedness ( namely, of memory and character ) and continuity ( overlapping chains of strong connectedness ).