Identity and Resurrection

The problem of identity touches upon many issues within the life-after-death debate. Fundamentally, the problem consists in how we may identify an individual who no longer possesses a body.

The first aspect of this problem concerns the sort of existence a disembodied spirit might face. If, for instance, I were to die and ascend to heaven, how would others there recognise me? If I met my grandfather, how would he know me from the boy he left behind? What if I die when I am older than he was when he died? Furthermore, how would he look to his grandfather at the same time?

Apart from issues like this, the main problem lies in the suggestion that an individual is defined by a body and the relationships maintained whilst inhabiting one. If an individual were to continue existence in a disembodied state, how would we know it was the same person? This viewpoint argues that all our memories which make us a single individual are held together by a single point of reference: our body. Divorced from this, where is our “I”?

The last main issue concerns the Christian doctrine of bodily ressurection. If, as it is believed, our bodies are raised out of the grave on Judgement Day and made anew, how can we call such a body the same person? If someone were to rebuild the Titanic, for instance, we would not call it the same ship. So, wouldn’t this body be no more than a replica or copy?

from http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/pages/life.htm#