Abstract

This paper focuses on the convergences and divergences between Spinoza’s and Locke’s theories of identity. I begin by noticing that some passages in Locke’s Essay about the relationship between amnesia and identity crisis seem to echo Spinoza’s remarks in the Ethics on the “deathµ of the Spanish poet. In this vein, I first focus on the “biologicalµ dimension of identity, then on its “practicalµ dimension, and finally on the relationship between identity, memory, and amnesia. In the course of the discussion, I touch on some of the major problems raised by the philosophies of Spinoza and Locke, particularly those of consciousness and freedom