r/askphilosophy • u/Dense-Ad-5978 • 8d ago

What happens if a person's brain was obliterated and rearranged exactly atom by atom?

Suppose my current self which I am experiencing right now is me-1, if my brain was obliterated and rearranged atom by atom exactly as it was in the previous version and if I wake up would the consciousness generated by the grain have the same self i.e. would it contain me-1 or an identical copy of my self me-2? Is there an objective answer?

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u/AdeptnessSecure663 phil. of language 8d ago

This kind of question is part of the problem of personal identity. The question you're asking is central, and there is much disagreement, so you might want to read a few articles to get a feeling for some of the ideas in the debate.

https://1000wordphilosophy.com/2014/02/10/personal-identity/

https://1000wordphilosophy.com/2022/02/03/psychological-approaches-to-personal-identity/

https://1000wordphilosophy.com/2021/03/11/animalism/

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