Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Derek Parfit was one of the greatest philosophers of recent decades, and yet most people have never heard of him. His remarkable views on personal identity explicitly followed those of the Buddha. I'll look at Parfit's life as well as some similarities and differences between his world-view and the Buddha's.
🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: patreon.com/dougsseculardharma
🧡 You can also make donations through: paypal.me/dougsdharma
📙 Check out my book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org.
🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: digginthedharma.com
✅ Books mentioned:
Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons — amzn.to/3S0V5in
Derek Parfit, On What Matters (Vol. 1) — amzn.to/3Hpc2xY
David Edmonds, Parfit: A Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality — amzn.to/3HlqtD8
Steven Collins, Selfless Persons — amzn.to/48VEvHE
✅ Videos mentioned:
Derek Parfit on Personal Identity: youtube.com/watch?v=d7asDhjj7Xk
Daniel Dennett - What is the Nature of Personal Identity? — youtu.be/IE6CNETNJvk?si=04lz14in-jEAK5Te
Did the Buddha Only Teach Suffering and Its Cessation? — youtu.be/RqkEeVaH_ZA
Self and Non-Self in Buddhism — youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0akoU_OszRjA9n0-U24ZCpfEQVFxeGz2
Buddhism, Science, and the Surprising Vagueness of the Self — youtu.be/PFmF9zuRp2A
✅ Sutta mentioned:
suttacentral.net/dn1/en/bodhi
Webpage: dougsdharma.com
Facebook: facebook.com/onlinedharmainstitute
Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma
Instagram: instagram.com/dougsdharma
Threads: threads.net/@dougsdharma
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dougsdharma.bsky.social
❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons:
Anonymous (3)
John Oborne
DunJing
Jimmy Maa
Debbie Mattison
Steve H.
Ron Peat
Michael S. Kearns
Matthew Smith
Shantha Wengappuli
Karma_CAC
Jorge Seguel
Christopher Apostolof
GailJM
David Bell
T Pham
VCR
Upayadhi
Andi and Erik
ATGuerrero686
Michael Scherrer
khobe schofield
Alex Perdomo
Benji Forsyth
Blaze Way
Sonny Flink
Steve Marlor
Joy L Lee
Andrew Tom
Anthony Tucker
Karlee R
Ethan M
Billy in Singapore
Olivia Otter
Carl Lennartson
xiao mao
Jeff Harvey
Andrew Ingrouille
Kenneth Grandchamp
Rene Gariepy
Russell Needham
Smoggyrob
Mac Roja
Bernardo
Clémence Ortega Douville
Kwan Alex
Scott Johnston
Richard J Beninger
Nathanael O. Arnquist
SaturnianMandala
Trin P
Letesa Isler
Dorien Izel
Robert Paterson
Jake Tobiason
Louvenia Ortega
Steve S.
Richard Rappuhn
Sarah Kress
John Aaron
Paul Niklewski
Kong Ing Kai
Dave Gorman
rhys reed
Osanda Wijeratne
Scarlett Farrow
BJ - RetreaTours™
Michael Lefsky
Matthieu Tregnier
Roland Harris
00:00 Intro
00:39 Derek Parfit’s life
03:13 Parfit’s similarities to the Buddha
04:52 Parfit on personal identity
10:37 Buddha and Parfit’s key motivation
11:37 Parfit’s differences from the Buddha
16:54 Lessons from Parfit and the Buddha
Note: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!
Derek Parfit was one of the greatest philosophers of recent decades, and yet most people have never heard of him. His remarkable views on personal identity explicitly followed those of the Buddha. I'll look at Parfit's life as well as some similarities and differences between his world-view and the Buddha's.
🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: patreon.com/dougsseculardharma
🧡 You can also make donations through: paypal.me/dougsdharma
📙 Check out my book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org.
🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: digginthedharma.com
✅ Books mentioned:
Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons — amzn.to/3S0V5in
Derek Parfit, On What Matters (Vol. 1) — amzn.to/3Hpc2xY
David Edmonds, Parfit: A Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality — amzn.to/3HlqtD8
Steven Collins, Selfless Persons — amzn.to/48VEvHE
✅ Videos mentioned:
Derek Parfit on Personal Identity: youtube.com/watch?v=d7asDhjj7Xk
Daniel Dennett - What is the Nature of Personal Identity? — youtu.be/IE6CNETNJvk?si=04lz14in-jEAK5Te
Did the Buddha Only Teach Suffering and Its Cessation? — youtu.be/RqkEeVaH_ZA
Self and Non-Self in Buddhism — youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0akoU_OszRjA9n0-U24ZCpfEQVFxeGz2
Buddhism, Science, and the Surprising Vagueness of the Self — youtu.be/PFmF9zuRp2A
✅ Sutta mentioned:
suttacentral.net/dn1/en/bodhi
Webpage: dougsdharma.com
Facebook: facebook.com/onlinedharmainstitute
Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma
Instagram: instagram.com/dougsdharma
Threads: threads.net/@dougsdharma
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dougsdharma.bsky.social
❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons:
Anonymous (3)
John Oborne
DunJing
Jimmy Maa
Debbie Mattison
Steve H.
Ron Peat
Michael S. Kearns
Matthew Smith
Shantha Wengappuli
Karma_CAC
Jorge Seguel
Christopher Apostolof
GailJM
David Bell
T Pham
VCR
Upayadhi
Andi and Erik
ATGuerrero686
Michael Scherrer
khobe schofield
Alex Perdomo
Benji Forsyth
Blaze Way
Sonny Flink
Steve Marlor
Joy L Lee
Andrew Tom
Anthony Tucker
Karlee R
Ethan M
Billy in Singapore
Olivia Otter
Carl Lennartson
xiao mao
Jeff Harvey
Andrew Ingrouille
Kenneth Grandchamp
Rene Gariepy
Russell Needham
Smoggyrob
Mac Roja
Bernardo
Clémence Ortega Douville
Kwan Alex
Scott Johnston
Richard J Beninger
Nathanael O. Arnquist
SaturnianMandala
Trin P
Letesa Isler
Dorien Izel
Robert Paterson
Jake Tobiason
Louvenia Ortega
Steve S.
Richard Rappuhn
Sarah Kress
John Aaron
Paul Niklewski
Kong Ing Kai
Dave Gorman
rhys reed
Osanda Wijeratne
Scarlett Farrow
BJ - RetreaTours™
Michael Lefsky
Matthieu Tregnier
Roland Harris
00:00 Intro
00:39 Derek Parfit’s life
03:13 Parfit’s similarities to the Buddha
04:52 Parfit on personal identity
10:37 Buddha and Parfit’s key motivation
11:37 Parfit’s differences from the Buddha
16:54 Lessons from Parfit and the Buddha
Note: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!
