To form an opinion about what Locke would do in the case of the 80-year-old man accused of war crimes he genuinely doesn't remember, it is necessary to analyze the complex definitions related to identities. This essay will examine Locke's thoughts and theories and, through a process of elimination, speculate on how Locke would have evaluated the claim. Why the need to fully analyze the definition of identity? Locke believed that the identity of things is not always as easily distinguishable as what appears at first glance and consequently began to define the identity of all things starting from physical objects, the identity of living beings and, finally, the identity of man and the identity of living beings. person. Locke considered the identity of physical objects to be based on the “perfect continuous existence of the material body” (Emerson, 1997: 1). An object will remain the same object if it has all the same physical components. The arrangement of physical particles is irrelevant. Locke used the example of simple and compound substances, involving atoms (Wanderer, 2005: 59). However, a simpler example would be a book on a shelf. If the book remained intact forever, its identity would remain unchanged. But if the pages were torn from the book, Locke's view would be that it would no longer be the same book – there is no longer a perfect and continuous existence of the material body (Emerson, 1997:1). Locke saw the identity of living things in a different light. Previously, mass change constituted a change in identity. But in living things a change in mass does not affect the identity of the object. Locke uses the example of the oak tree. It starts as a small tree and grows into a huge oak tree, with a huge change in mass. That oak may be subject to the cutting of its branches and the winter fall of its leaves, however it is still an oak because it continues the life of a tree. It maintains the same functional arrangements of the components (Blackburn, 1999: 125-126). An interesting example is raised by Blackburn in evaluating “how much change to tolerate while considering it as the same 'thing'” (Blackburn, 1999:127). The word "ship of Theseus" is used to illustrate this concept. The ship undertakes a long voyage and requires constant repairs and maintenance. At the end of the voyage, all components of the ship were changed.