ANDRESSA APARECIDA OLIVEIRA DUARTE

On “an essay on human understanding”, in chapter XXVII, we come across Locke's discussion of the concept of person and personal identity. As a prominent discussion, some philosophers have proposed investigating Locke's theory of identity. At first sight, Locke's moral concern in defining the concept of person as a legal and moral agent already stands out, as well as his moral considerations in the identity of persons. Philosophers raised objections against the theory, such as the argument of the transitivity. Others suggested interpretations that freed Locke from objections. Our main objective is the discovery of the moral consequences of Locke's theory. For that, we will analyze commentators, mainly in the moral scope, considering the concept of person, moral laws, duty, punishment, reward, and Locke's examples. Having interpreted the examples, we will build new ones appealing to more natural situations. Understanding the moral consequences of the theory, we will make a non-transitive defense that is faithful to its theory and free to accept the logic of transitivity.