# Amnesia, Moral Responsibility, and the Self



## Confessor (Feb 23, 2009)

A few weeks ago in my philosophy class we discussed whether or not amnesiacs or chronically forgetful criminals should be punished for their actions, even though they do not remember them at all. I wrote down a few questions pertaining to Christianity and I just looked over them now. I thought to myself, I would much rather ask these on the Puritan Board than study for my philosophy final in about 2 hours , so here I am.

As a precursor, one thought that came to mind which I did not possess earlier was from Jonathan Edwards's defense of the doctrine of original sin. He says that the self is really a bundle of perceptions which God has decreed to connect and hold as morally responsible (thus we cannot object that we are held responsible for our federal head's actions). Having this in mind, the questions became a lot easier to swallow. Anyway, here they are:

-What does repentance entail and signify for an amnesiac? Is it possible for them to do so? How can we truly repent of a sin which we do not remember doing?

-What happens to the "debt" of sin? God was still infinitely offended by a sin, yet who receives the due wrath for it? What if the amnesiac is a reprobate?


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## PresbyDane (Feb 23, 2009)

Would not your moral responsibilty be to study?


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## Confessor (Feb 23, 2009)

Martin Marsh said:


> Would not your moral responsibilty be to study?



Never!

But seriously, the class is pretty easy. It honestly won't take more than thirty minutes of half-hearted studying, praise God.


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## larryjf (Feb 23, 2009)

This kind of philosophical question only appears to be interesting when it stays in the realm of theoretical.

I would never judge an amnesiac unless i was first able to speak with them.

-----Added 2/23/2009 at 03:46:11 EST-----

There's a lot of wisdom in Lev 4 and Num 15


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