Let the 'self' lie where it has fallen

 

The Contrarian says of

the no-self theory,  "lets the self lie where it has fallen". This is because the no-self theory rejects all theories of the self, even the bundle theory. On Giles' reading, Hume is actually a no-self theorist and it is a mistake to attribute to him a reductionist view like the bundle theory. Hume's assertion that personal identity is a fiction supports this reading, according to Giles.

The Buddhist view of personal identity is also a no-self theory rather than a reductionist theory, because the Buddha rejects attempts to reconstructions in terms of consciousness, feelings, or the body in notions of an eternal/permanent, unchanging Self^[51] since our thoughts, personalities and bodies are never the same from moment to moment.^[52]

According to this line of criticism, the sense of self is an evolutionary artifact,^{[note 21]} which saves time in the circumstances it evolved for. But sense of self breaks down when considering some events such as memory loss,^{[note 22]} split personality disorder, brain damage, brainwashing, and various thought experiments.^[53] When presented with imperfections in the intuitive sense of self and the consequences to this concept which rely on the strict concept of self, a tendency to mend the concept occurs, possibly because of cognitive dissonance.^{[note 23]}