Hume Personal Identity Theory

Although there is considerable disagreement on the criterion of personal identity, most theories of personal identity agree to the view that we can be aware of something invariable and uninterrupted throughout a whole life, which we call "self". As an empiricist, David Hume disputes this view. In Book I of A Treatise of Human Nature, Hume argues that there is no such thing as personal identity, and the "self" is nothing but a bundle of perceptions. According to Hume, the idea of personal identity is a fiction of the imagination. But Hume's theory of personal identity is not only that. In Book II of A Treatise of Human Nature, Hume discusses the issue of personal identity to another level when he discussed human emotion. In the appendix of the book, Hume retracts his account of personal identity. But he doesn't give any explanation. This paper attempts to examine Hume's theory of personal identity and analyzes his basic ideas and the difficulties in his theory systematically. Furthermore, by investigating Kemp Smith,David Pears and Barry Stroud's well-known interpretations of Hume's dissatisfies with his account of personal identity, I try to explain the problem that Hume has been aware of here.