An Argument For Animalism Analysis

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In “An Argument for Animalism”, Olson argues that each of us are numerically identical with a living human animal. Perhaps the strongest argument that Olson gives for this claim relies on the claim that you are the human animal that is sitting in your chair right now. In this paper, I will argue that this argument succeeds because you can exist without being a person. I state this, because embryos, which are not a person yet, develop important organisms before becoming a human. In “An Argument for Animalism” Olson argues that a human animal is “a certain human organism, and that organism is you. You and it are one and the same. (Olson 1)” A human animal has the ability to think, sit, and act. Olson starts his argument by stating a human animal …show more content…
We’ve just seen how Olson’s says that no mental continuity is necessary for an animal to persist and that if my brain were to be placed in another person’ body I would go with it. Now, I will argue for the view that Olson’s makes about human animals do not need to have human continuity. There are three reasons to believe Olson. Firstly, an embryo, who is not a human being yet, can exist without being a person. Secondly, in the first month the embryo’s heart, stomach, lungs, eyes, nose, and hands start forming but they are not technically a person yet. Even though they are not a person they are still considered to be human animal, because mental continuity is not necessary to be a human animal. If we look at the argument that was given earlier on in this paper, we see Olson thinks that if a brain were to be transferred to another person we would go with that body. A memory theorist, such as Locke, would go against Olson’s argument he because he believes that psychological continuity is necessary for personal
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