Change is more solid than the soul: Uncovering the relationship between identity and philosophy of mind.
Identity may be one of the most uncomfortable issues we face with ourselves. We are constantly striving to be a better person, but fail hypocritically and fall back into our bad habits, to strive to be better once again. It can be difficult to understand who we are, and it can be difficult to come to terms with.
Identity is defined as who a person is. The philosophy of mind seeks to understand whether that 'who' is a physical entity or something different, something beyond the physical realm. The philosophy of mind attempts to bridge the gap between who we are and what we are; are we our mind or are we our body? Or are they ultimately the same thing? And to what extent do the intellectual and physical worlds depend on each other?
Within the philosophy of mind there are three main different perspectives: physicalism, dualism and functionalism. Physicalists hold that the mind can be explained strictly by the physical makeup of the brain, while dualists argue the mind and body are completely different substances or properties. Functionalists move from trying to explain what the mind is to define the mind simply by what it does. Still, there is no definitive answer to the existence of the mind, and these differing positions may be the only clue into knowing that the mind is ultimately subjective.
I interviewed a philosophy professor and one of his students to understand the influence philosophy of mind has on one's own sense of self. Does studying the mind allow for a stronger standing of who one is, or does it allow for the existential dread to take over?
Philosophy student Rosie Pike said identity gives them “clarity and acceptance over existence”. When I asked whether studying the philosophy of mind has impacted their sense of self, Rosie said: “It definitely has…I really like how it’s impacted my life because it’s just made me a more inquisitive person, like I’m constantly thinking of different possibilities.” They said knowing different things means they can question different things, which really shows how philosophy can open people’s understanding by thinking innovatively and taking different perspectives.
Similarly, Dr Bill Cooke, currently a philosophy and religious studies teacher at Priestley College, expressed that the philosophy of mind, “clarified for me this distinction between what is unchangeable – my genetic disposition that I can’t do anything about – and the bits that I can do something about.” Bill referenced Daniel Dennett and his “wonderful” book ‘Consciousness Explained’, which explains the distinction between our determined physiological make-up and our ability to make changing decisions, then how they work together. Dennett, as a compatibilist, gave Bill the, “perspective that I needed and was looking for…you’ve got to make that area for your autonomy in the full knowledge that one is not entirely autonomous.”
In the same way, Rosie said philosophy makes them feel independent rather than uncertain about themselves. With regard to the mind, Rosie said: “You can have so many different people thinking so many different things, and you never know one of them could be true, you don’t know, and that’s quite cool.” To know they have their own belief and autonomy among millions of others’ autonomous beliefs gives Rosie a sense of self-confidence. Yet, Bill recognises the danger of becoming too fixated on identity and said: “there’s a difference between taking ownership of it and just having the confidence just to let it flow and see where it goes, and to be confident that that’s going to be a path you can live with.”
Bill believes that we are “working on a misunderstanding of identity being more solid than it actually is.” As someone who has largely studied world religions in his career, Bill has adopted the Buddhist idea of identity as anatta, meaning ‘no-self’. He describes identity as “a moveable feast, and so just allow it to grow, allow it to develop and move, but don’t get too fixated about it, just go with the flow.” In the west, Bill expressed that we still have an idea of an unchanging self that is the “secular legacy of the soul.” He said identity is a vital issue for young people because it has become so tied-up with the perception of our peers that we hand over the “power to one’s own destiny to others…once we start fearing whether people are going to say nasty and horrible things to us, we’re relinquishing authority, we’re relinquishing power and we’re empowering other people to put us down and behave in a way that’s deleterious to us.”
When it comes to individuals’ personal choice of identity – whether that be gender identity, cultural identity or sexual identity – some people can be callous and disapproving. I asked Rosie whether they think learning about the mind will help people to be more understanding towards others, and they said: “It might make people kinder, it might make people more understanding of different situations and events and mental health. It might help stuff like that because people don’t know experiences therefore they can’t comment. So I think it will help identity in such a huge way.…going to like qualia, no two people have the same qualia, and I love that.” Qualia, in the metaphysics of mind, are the subjective phenomenal properties of the mind that distinguish our conscious experiences from other people’s experiences. Philosopher Thomas Nagel demonstrated this in his book ‘What is it like to be a bat?’, in which he claims that we can never know what it is like to be a bat because all we can ever know are our own qualitative experiences.
Philosophy of mind has also helped Bill as a teacher and said it is “very relevant” for education. Understanding how the mind works is important for teachers because “the teaching situation, the learning situation, is in that constant flux of changing which is different for every single student,” and so the teachers’ job is to recognise in young, developing students the “dynamic continuity or lack of continuity between that which they can and that which they can’t change.” In this way, the concept and philosophy of change seems to be at the core of learning, and of accepting who we are.
In a world of rapidly developing technology, identity is both lost in a myriad of content and found in mutual communities. The interconnection that social media brings between people across different cultures has brought vast benefits and new, innovative experiences for everyone across generations. However, we can often get overwhelmed by the amount of mindless jargon that circulates the internet and invades our feeds. Bill recognises that philosophy of mind is the “area of the future”, but worries that technological developments such as artificial intelligence are moving so quickly that we are falling into a sense of “dependence and passivity and inactivity.” We have devices that cater to us almost everywhere, “but these labour-saving devices also become thought-saving devices.”
With regard to learning through new experiences, Rosie acknowledged the significance of the mind for controlling ourselves, but more important are “your experiences that kind of mould a thing around it [your mind] that makes you.” Rosie thought about who they would be if they didn’t have their life experiences, sheltered by parents or shut off from the outside world, and said: “I don’t think I’d be as much of a free thinker.” So, we shouldn’t lose the value of our day to day ordeals or limit ourselves to a static sense of self, because change is constant and we are always learning something new. Bill describes it as a “constant swirl”; identity is “a dynamic, constantly changing and evolving process that’s slightly more scary [than a solid soul] but a damn sight more interesting.”
Ultimately, we need to stop getting too anxious about identity, who we are and how we may appear. Letting go of our sense of self being something that defines us and stays the same forever is the first step to truly accepting ourselves. Bill says we need “a sense of being so comfortable with who you are you don’t need to be a who anymore.” And only then, will we find solace.
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