Final answer:
The memory chain proposal for personal identity argues that an individual's identity is maintained through a chain of overlapping memories. Reid's Brave Officer objection challenges this concept by presenting a scenario where a continuous memory chain does not exist. The proposal responds by highlighting the significance of overlapping memories rather than direct recall.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Memory Chain Proposal for Personal Identity, The memory chain proposal is a philosophical concept concerning personal identity over time. It suggests that personal identity is maintained through a chain of memories, where each memory is linked to a prior one, stretching back to the original experience or event.
According to this theory, as long as the chain remains intact, the same person persists over time Reid's Brave Officer Objection, Thomas Reid presented a famous objection to this theory, known as the Brave Officer objection.
This objection posits a scenario in which a young boy commits a theft, then later becomes a brave officer who remembers the theft, and then an old general who remembers being the brave officer but not the theft.
According to the memory chain theory, the general is the same person as the brave officer but not the same person as the boy, which seems contradictory. The memory chain proposal deals with Reid's objection by emphasizing the importance of overlapping chains of memory, rather than requiring a direct recall of all past experiences.