# Problem with Identity



## T.A.G. (Dec 21, 2009)

Ok guys almost done with my Philosophy and my Ethics class (these are quick winter terms) So the crazy amount of threads will come down drastically, though I really am appreciating this forum because I am learning sooooo much.

So the question now is the problem with Identity. It goes through a couple of different theories such as the Soul Theory, Bundle Theory etc.

It basically states that the soul theory can not be right because of "Split Brains"
There are two parts to the brain, the left and the right part. Both of these sides do and function for different things. Both these sides work together, however what happens when it does not communicate together or communicate together...you get the example of a male reaching into a big, being asked to identify the pencil but only being able to do it with his right hand and not his left. 
I also got this example
When the words "Give me the pencil" are shown to the left side of her visual field, she will insist that she can not see anything. At the same time, her left hand will be picking out a pencil from a collection of objects and offering it to you.
This seems as if the brain has split into two or one individual is having two consciousness. Thus destroys the soul theory. 

How would you respond?
Does anyone else no other problems with Identity that I am not aware of on either side?


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## T.A.G. (Dec 21, 2009)

someone told me that J.P. Moreland has a book that really dealt with this issue, anyone know about it?


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Dec 21, 2009)

T.A.G. said:


> Ok guys almost done with my Philosophy and my Ethics class (these are quick winter terms) So the crazy amount of threads will come down drastically, though I really am appreciating this forum because I am learning sooooo much.


I will be glad when you have completed this course. 



> This seems as if the brain has split into two or one individual is having two consciousness. Thus destroys the soul theory.


Sound like the Parfit argument against Platonic dualism which assumes streams of consciousness equates to "soul".

From Genesis 2:7 we see man _became_ a _living soul_. He did not _receive_ a soul and thus became a man, for the living soul is man. The creative act was a single act, not a two-part process. The result was a unity, a living soul. The material and the immaterial combined to create a single entity. The body is not the prison of the soul. The soul is _man himself_ in which his personality and identity dwell. A person does not _have_ a body and a soul, but _is_ a body and a soul, neither of which alone make up the whole _person_.

I won't do your homework for you, but I will point you to some useful search terms for your own research:

- "dichotomy versus trichotomy views of man"
- Split Brains and The Godhead
- Berkhof's _Systematic Theology_, *The Constitutional Nature of Man*, beginning on page 191
- "split brain soul theory"



AMR


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## T.A.G. (Dec 21, 2009)

Ask Mr. Religion said:


> T.A.G. said:
> 
> 
> > Ok guys almost done with my Philosophy and my Ethics class (these are quick winter terms) So the crazy amount of threads will come down drastically, though I really am appreciating this forum because I am learning sooooo much.
> ...



Thanks a lot! and believe me your not! I have been studying all day!


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## Zenas (Dec 21, 2009)

I don't understand why cognitive function has anything to do with the existence of a soul.


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## Claudiu (Dec 23, 2009)

Zenas said:


> I don't understand why cognitive function has anything to do with the existence of a soul.



My friend brought this question up not too long ago (he's taking philosophy). I think its another way that secular Philosophers are trying to create something out of nothing to try and disprove God, the Bible, etc.

-----Added 12/22/2009 at 11:15:58 EST-----



Ask Mr. Religion said:


> T.A.G. said:
> 
> 
> > Ok guys almost done with my Philosophy and my Ethics class (these are quick winter terms) So the crazy amount of threads will come down drastically, though I really am appreciating this forum because I am learning sooooo much.
> ...





But what's is the difference between the soul and the spirit? 

There's the physical body. Then, the soul is the nonmaterial part. And the spirit is more of character, emotions, and attitude of the person?


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Dec 23, 2009)

cecat90 said:


> But what's is the difference between the soul and the spirit?


Soul and spirit are synonymous.

The Hebrew and Greek word for soul and spirit are used uniformly in Scripture and are constantly interchanged. The one can and is substituted for the other in Scripture, and what can be predicted of the one, is predicted of the other. The Hebrew and Greek words for soul mean breath, life, the living principle; that in which life and the whole life of the subject spoken of resides. The same is true for the Hebrew and Greek words for spirit. They also mean breath, life, the living principle. Therefore the Scriptures speak of spirit and soul not only of that which lives or is the principle of life to the body, but as that which thinks, feels, and which may be saved or lost, which survives the body and is immortal. 

AMR


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