Core Theme: Being Human (compulsory)
What this domain tests
The core theme is compulsory and is examined in Paper 1. Questions ask you to analyse concepts of the self, mind, embodiment and freedom, and to evaluate competing accounts rather than merely describe them. A strong answer defines its terms, argues with examples and reaches a defended judgement.
Core distinctions
- Numerical identity (remaining the same entity over time) versus qualitative identity (sharing properties).
- Substance dualism (Descartes: mind and body are distinct substances) versus physicalism and property dualism.
- Criteria of personal identity: Locke's continuity of consciousness and memory; the biological/organism view; Hume's bundle theory; the Buddhist doctrine of anatta (no fixed self); Sartre's 'existence precedes essence'.
- Freedom and responsibility: hard determinism, compatibilism and libertarianism.
Worked example
Question: 'If a person loses all memories, is it the same person?' Locke ties personal identity to continuity of consciousness, so irreversible total amnesia breaks person-identity, although the same human being remains. A biological criterion would say identity follows the living organism. Evaluate: the case tests whether 'person' is a forensic and moral term or a biological one; Parfit's reductionism suggests psychological connectedness may matter more than identity itself. End with a reasoned verdict.
Traps
- Treating 'same body' and 'same person' as synonyms.
- Describing dualism and physicalism without assessing their arguments.
- Ignoring the command word ('to what extent', 'critically evaluate').
- Using neuroscience as if it settled a conceptual question.