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Gretchen introduces the ‘One Body/Many Souls’ hypothesis in order to disprove the claim that a person is one body and one soul. The situation seems plausible, and in fact seems, at first to support the claim. Sam only observes the surface characteristics of the water and is oblivious to the changing water. Sam’s failure to see the water as different illustrates her theory that she could be a series of souls passing through one body. Her analogy, however, is faulty in that she attempts to compare the material qualities of the water to the immaterial qualities of the soul. Gretchen’s reasoning behind her theory is that Sam did not see the water in the river as different because it still possessed some of the same qualities on the surface. Therefore, just as he had no way of knowing that the water was any different, he also had no way of knowing whether she was the same soul as the day before because her physical appearance was still the same. However, Gretchen does not explain how she came to the conclusion that the water was in fact different. Clearly she must have some way of knowing that the water underneath was not the same, otherwise she would have no basis for her theory. Common sense would argue that scientists have tested the water and measured the flow of the water, thereby concluding that the water is different. There are many different methods of testing the water that scientists have employed, such as taking samples of the water and testing the different substances in the water. If in fact, she did gather her information from scientific data or the common knowledge, it invalidates her claim because the data originally stems from the testing of the water. If the water can be tested, then there is a way that Sam could know the water was different and thus, her analogy does not support her idea that there is no way he can recognize her soul.
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