Personal Identity 1 - Psychological Continuity

In this series I will examine various theories of personal identity, starting with the theory that personal identity is secured by psychological continuity. When I look at an old school photo, I can point to one of the children and say “that’s me.“ But I am very different in many ways from the child in that photo. So what is it that makes me the same person as that child? The psychological continuity theory points to the fact that I psychologically evolved out of that child. I will outline the basic claims of this theory and then consider three objections: the circularity objection; the objection from the possibility of sudden psychological change; and the fission/fusion objection.