u/SegaGenesisMetalHead

Hard to explain.

Something like…

Chugga-chug-chug-chug-chugga-chug-chug-chug

Or something of that nature…

So maybe this comes from a weird place.

In Final Fantasy XIV, in the post-expansion of Stormblood, there is an evil, genocidal tyrant who has amnesia. She has no memory of who she was, has reverted to a childlike state of mind, is now an overall benevolent person, and is mystified by people’s aversion to her.

The question arises among the heroes what to do with her. Maybe the story becomes a bit naive in that some of the villagers who she oppressed end up taking pity on her. But ultimately the choice is made that as long as her memories are gone, she can live as a normal citizen in this society. I don’t recall if they outright say it, but the logic seems to be “Well, the person who did these things is no longer here.”

It got me thinking. As outlandish as it would be: If Hitler, after millions had died because of him, had suffered a total loss of memory, and a complete shift towards being a benevolent force, should he be subject to punishment?

Is the “self” which caused the death of millions contiguous with the “self” that now would fight against that?

This happens as part of the main storyline of Final Fantasy XIV. At one point there is an evil, genocidal character who loses their memory of it all. Their personality has no comparison to what it was before, they adopt an almost childlike view of the world, and are mystified by everyone’s horrified reaction to them.

The question is raised among the heroes what to do with this person. Ultimately they decide that as long as their memories or gone, they will incur no punishment, and can live as an ordinary citizen.

This had me wondering about how this might work in the real world. If a Hitler or a Stalin were to - as outlandish as it would be - completely forget who they are, and with that lack of memory adopt a benevolent mindset, how are they to be dealt with?

In the game it seems they determine that this evil character, so long as their memories are absent, no longer exists in any practical way. So who is there to punish?

If this amnesiac Hitler should **NOT** be punished, how can we know that the “self” which committed these atrocities is no more?

If this amnesiac Hitler **SHOULD** be punished, how do we prove that what may seem to be two separate “selfs” are contiguous?

I’m really trying to tackle some more challenging works. I tried getting through Schopenhauers “On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason”.

Schopenhauer immediately references these ideas from Kant (who I haven’t read). I stopped after getting close to the halfway point, and started over, taking it much slower. I’m trying to absorb it as best as I can as I go along. I have looked up these two ideas, and they *sort of* make sense to me. But I’m unclear on why this is an important idea for Kant, and what Schopenhauer is trying to do with them.