What is bernard williams' argument about exchanging bodies?

Question: What is bernard williams' argument about exchanging bodies!?

and what does he think about locke's theory of personal identity!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

It's a long time since I read The Self and the Future, which is presumably what you're referring to!. The point of the essay, as I remember it, was to point out that whilst we might be happy to use character and memory to determine the personal identity of others, we aren't happy to use it as the only determinant in our own case!. 'Someone else' gaining character and memories similar to oneself is of no comfort if 'you' are getting your mind scrambled!.

Locke claimed personal identity centred on the mind, especially memory
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Personal_id!.!.!.
So Williams's essay might reasonably be seen as a challenge!.

Personally, I think Williams's point is worth considering from the perspective of evolutionary psychology!. We are happy to think of others as their personalities and memories, but our genes have been selected for to give us brains which look after our genes (and hence bodies), not personalities!. Of course, you may not think genes have that kind of control over brain development!.Www@QuestionHome@Com