Two alternative descriptions of person

Abstract

The main concern of this thesis is to explore the possibility of discovering an alternative approach to the understanding of person-hood, an approach which is not dominated either by severe empiricism on the one hand or extreme dualism on the other, but one which finds a new way of unravelling the mystery of what it is to be a person. Chapter one is an introduction to the thesis as a whole. Chapter Two is an exposition of the dualist position and particularly that of Professor H. D. Lewis. Chapter Three is offered as a possible way forward towards an alternative model of personhood. Chapter Four deals largely with the theological implications of the preceeding two chapters, and Chapter Five is a brief conclusion of the discussion. There has been a deliberate attempt throughout the thesis to aim at breadth and a broad based examination of the criteria of personhood and perhaps the thesis will stand or fall by its success or otherwise in doing this.