Three central facts about ourselves

These are the three central facts about ourselves that we have to accept, if we believe that the Ego Trick has done its job and created unified individuals out of a bundle of mental, neural and physical activity. First, the unity of the self is psychological. Second, we are no more than, but more than just, matter. And third, our identity is not what matters. Familiarity with this view has removed pretty much all the strangeness it might have had for me in the past. Oddly, however, the main question that remains is one posed by both critics and some supporters: if this is what the self is, then isn’t the self an illusion?

Saved 23 April 2015

#self #psychological-continuity #materialism #illusion