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Philosophy & Science

DNA & The Identity Crisis

Raymond Keogh has a science-based take on personal identity.

Is it possible to bring science into philosophy? There is one outstanding example in which the answer is without doubt yes. It relates to notions of personal identity.

When philosophers grapple with the issue of what constitutes personal identity that endures through time they generally rely on description rather than definition. In fact, the humanities have failed to define ‘identity’ concisely. The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘identity’ to mean: “The sameness of a person or thing at all times or in all circumstances; the condition or fact that a person or thing is itself and not something else.

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