FREE ESSAY ON DOUG QUAIL OF DAVID HUME

DOUG QUAIL OF DAVID HUME

Who is Doug Quail?
Doug Quail changes his personal characteristics, but his perceptions and mental ideas
make him the same person. A person's identity is based on the way in which he or she
perceives self- impressions or encounters certain experiences. For example, a person
might interpret an impression of something completely different from someone else. David
Hume believes that nobody has a personal identity. Instead, he believes that each person
is made up of his or her own self-impressions. Hume believes a person's self-impression
is acquired either by someone else or by that person's own idea of his or herself. If you
were to ask a random person who he or she is, you would most likely get an answer that
would involve some kind of impression or idea that the person has grown up hearing or
believing. Furthermore, it is the way that a certain person perceives these
self-inflicted impressions that makes him who he or she is. It is these perceptions and
mental thought processes that make Doug Quail the same person he was in the beginning of
the story.
The main character of the story, Doug Quail, starts out in life as a secret
agent/assassin who works undercover for the government on Mars. After he has completed
his mission and carried out the duty of killing some person on Mars, Doug 
Quail returns home to Earth and has his memory erased so that no information of his
mission can be released. After his mind has been cleared, and he no longer has the
memories of Mars, the government replaces his thoughts and, subsequently, Quail becomes
an office worker. Married to his wife and working at his boring desk job, Quail begins to
desire and dream of going to Mars. However, he has no idea that he has ever been there
before. Because Doug Quail is poor, in order for him to obtain his desire to go to Mars
he must undergo a form of futuristic surgery. When the surgery is completed it will make
him honestly believe he traveled to Mars. It is not until after the surgery that Doug
Quail begins to vaguely remember his past experience on Mars. The idea of erasing a
person's memory for security reasons and having that certain person live a different
lifestyle from what he or she was accustomed to living raises a philosophical problem. 
Doug Quail seems to be a completely different person because he is no longer the exciting
secret agent/assassin that he once was. Therefore, Hume's reasoning which states, a
persons idea of something or oneself is merely a copy of an impression he or she once
had, would make it seemingly obvious that Doug Quail is no longer the person he once was.
However, it is not the impressions that make Doug Quail who he is, but it is the way in
which he perceives his impressions that make him the same person he was in the beginning.
Doug Quail's desire and dream of going to Mars was what lay deep within him and how he
perceived himself. The government tried to erase Doug Quail's memories but was
unsuccessful because he still desired and dreamed of traveling to Mars. For example, if
Doug Quail had not continued to desire to travel to 
Mars after he had his memory erased, yet he desired to be the best office worker he could
be, then his identity would have been changed. However, the fascination Doug Quail had
with traveling to Mars staid with him long after his memory had been erased. This proves
a person's perception of his/herself makes up his or her identity. Hume is correct in
saying a person's idea of himself/herself is related to the impressions he or she has of
his self or herself. However, a person's real identity lies within the way a person
perceives the impressions and not the impression alone.
One might ask, how you perceive an impression? Hume claims that no one has a personal
identity unless you are able to see yourself as an abstract object. Further more, Hume
believes that all ideas come from impressions, and a person has no ideas unless that
person has an impression. He believes that once you have impressions of yourself you no
longer have a personal identity but rather an idea of yourself based on your impression.
Hume believes you see yourself as doing something or you see yourself as a referent. For
example, you see yourself playing sports or being a good student. Hume believes it is
these impressions or ideas that change each time you experience something new. However,
people perceive things completely different from one another, and it is the way a person
perceives these impressions and experiences, which causes that person's identity and
individuality.
Hume's account that all ideas come from impressions and unless you have an impression you
have no idea seems quite true. Most ideas a person has of something comes from some type
of impression it had on that person. However, personal identity is the way in which a
person perceives these impressions. It is your way of thinking, analyzing, and desiring
that makes up your own personal identity. In Doug Quail's case it was his desires and his
own perceived impressions that made him the same person he was in the beginning.