Ensouled Identity: Deconditioning Philosophy and Unconditioned Theology

Personal identity is fundamentally theological, grounded in the existence of a soul. Philosophical arguments from the analytic tradition, particularly those concerning phenomenal consciousness, suggest that persons are essentially conscious substances. Theological reflection on human origins and the end of life, including case studies of dementia, provides additional insight beyond philosophy or science alone. Building on Priest's work, the argument moves from a 'conditioned' mode of understanding to an 'unconditioned' theological mode, presenting personal identity as ensouled identity.

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Abstract

The nature of personal identity is ultimately theological in nature. Through a survey of some of the recent philosophical evidence for the soul (in the analytic philosophical tradition), the following lays out reasons for why personal identity is accounted for by a soul because of the nature of phenomenal consciousness as essentially descriptive of persons. Yet, this conclusion is buttressed by theological reflection on personal origins and the end of life. Through a guided reflection on the origins of persons and the end of life (through the lens of dementia case studies), further suggested information about the person as a substance of consciousness reveals more than what is uncovered through philosophical or scientific analysis alone. In this way, and building on Priest’s recents work, the following is a sketch of personal identity as ensouled identity that moves beyond what Priest calls the ‘conditioned’ mode to the ‘unconditioned’ mode of theology.