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This 5 page paper focuses on Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders and looks at the issue of identity. The ideas of Hume and Locke are discussed. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA206idy.rtf
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individuals. People carry identity in the form of a driver license for example so that they can prove just who they are. In the realm of philosophy, identity is a
concept that goes rather deep. Leibnizs thesis for example says that no two things can be exactly alike in every way (Honderich 390) . That is an interesting idea. Identical
twins always possess some differences and their personalities are often different as a rule. Even on an assembly line, each product has its unique identity. No two objects are ever
exactly the same. Identity as used in the novel is somewhat different and for example, Daniel Defoe in writing Moll Flanders makes use of the concept throughout the work. The
narrator for example, spends most of her first two paragraphs telling people why she would not give the reader her real name (Butler 377). The emphasis for Molls need for
anonymity insists that she as a narrator use another way to refer to people that conceals their true identities, while keeping them distinct in the mind of the reader (377).
Her method of identification is through their family roles, occupations, social statuses and so forth (377). Butler believes that there is continuity through time in terms
of personal identity and her doubt about her own continuing identity is contradicted by the autobiographical form of the narrative (377). Butler goes on to question Defoe and
criticize his problem with identify but then notes: "Since questions about personal identity and about the significance of proper names are as puzzling today as they were in the eighteenth
century, Defoes exploration in fiction of these problems should hardly be criticized for failing to arrive at a solution" (377). He also goes on to explain that because many
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