Identity: Brain or Body?

The question of identity and “what makes a person” is one that will be and has been argued, but never answered. Daniel Dennett takes a unique approach to this dilemma in “Where Am I?”, presenting an interesting and conceivable, yet impossible, scenario. In the situation that he presents, his brain is taken out of his body so that his body can travel one state over, independent of his brain. He is hired to retrieve a Supersonic Tunneling Underground Device that was lodged under the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. In order for him to perform this task, his brain is removed and kept in a vat in Houston, where it still has control over his body. When he wakes up from the operation, he inquires about which part of Dennett is actually Dennett.

When he first regains consciousness, he thinks and sees from his body. He asks to see his brain and is led to where it is floating in liquid and covered in patches and clips. He portrays himself as the body instead of the brain, which is what threw me off when I first read the article. Initially I assumed that because the brain is where sights, scents, and sounds are processed, that is where “Dennett” should be. However, though we see with our eyes and smell with our noses and hear with our ears, is the brain what makes sense of it all. So is it fair to say that because the brain processes what our body parts sense, it is the brain that should be labeled the person? Or is it the body that is labeled as the person because it is what made the sensation possible? Dennett addresses this question by assuming the same, but then stating, “Here I am”, and decided that he, Dennett, was standing outside of the vat staring in at his own brain.

Attempting to sort out his new identity, he names his brain “Yorick” and his body “Hamlet”. His first option that he thought up was, “Where Hamlet goes, there goes Dennett”. This was the most appealing to him, as he could only identify himself as being “here” (in front of the vat). His second option was, “Where Zorick goes, there goes Dennett”, which was much less appealing because he was so obviously looking into the vat instead of looking out at his body. The final option he came up with was, “Dennett is wherever he thinks he is”. With this one, he introduces the role of “point of view”, saying that the “location of the point of view is also the location of the person”. Literally though, this must only be possible where Dennett has access to eyes. So when Hamlet is underground and is virtually destroyed, “Dennett” seems to be floating without much of a point of view. When he regains his senses, he calls his new body “Fortinbras”, and still the question of “where am I?” is unanswered.

Personally, it seems that one is not possible without the other. There would be no senses without a body to take in the sights, scents, sounds, etc. However, there would be no interpretation of these experiences without the brain. So I conclude with, of course, no answer to the query of where identity stands- only more questions.