possibility of psychological continuity after death

• there are 2 key thinkers for possibility of psychological continuity after death:

  • Parfit - Bundle theory
  • Dennett - survival by uploading brain information to a different platform
• Bundle theory, created by Parfit, sees continuity after death in terms of psychological connectedness

  • there is not such thing as a self, individuals are bundles of ever-changing states of being
• Dennett claimed that the human brain's computer program consists of experiences, memories + personality that form the narrative self

  • these could survive the death of the individual, through being stored on another platform e.g. a computer
• evaluation of Parfit's + Dennett's theories

  • Parfit: how can thoughts exist without the thinker? it is the self that holds together an individuals life + forms the connected narrative
  • both theories dismiss the idea of consciousness as subjective experience of individuals
  • Dennett: reductionist