Reasons and Persons (Oxford Paperbacks) by Parfit Derek

Author:Parfit, Derek [Parfit, Derek]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1984-04-12T05:00:00+00:00

92. WITTGENSTEIN AND BUDDHA

Wittgenstein would have rejected the Reductionist View. He believed that our concepts depend on the holding of certain facts, and that we should not consider imaginary cases where these facts no longer hold. The arguments for the Reductionist View appeal to such cases.

This disagreement is only partial. Most people have beliefs about these imaginary cases. As I have argued, these beliefs imply that we are separately existing entities, distinct from our brains and bodies, and entities whose existence must be all-or-nothing. A Reductionist’s main claim is that we should reject these beliefs. Wittgenstein would have agreed. Given this agreement about this claim, I need not discuss Wittgenstein’s view, or some other similar views, such as that advanced by Wiggins.53

With two exceptions that I shall soon mention, I believe that I have now considered those views that, in this debate, need to be considered. I may be unaware of some other published view. And I have not considered views held in different ages, or civilizations. This fact suggests a disturbing possibility. I believe that my claims apply to all people, at all times. It would be disturbing to discover that they are merely part of one line of thought, in the culture of Modern Europe and America.

Fortunately, this is not true. I claim that, when we ask what persons are, and how they continue to exist, the fundamental question is a choice between two views. On one view, we are separately existing entities, distinct from our brain and bodies and our experiences, and entities whose existence must be all-or-nothing. The other view is the Reductionist View. And I claim that, of these, the second view is true. As Appendix J shows, Buddha would have agreed. The Reductionist View is not merely part of one cultural tradition. It may be, as I have claimed, the true view about all people at all times.

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