Theo Todman's Web Page - Paper Abstracts

Philosophers Index Abstract

• An Experimentalist looks at Identity' examines two questions:
  1. Whether the philosophical notion of 'necessary' identity has any purchase in the material world; and
  2. Whether the concept of 'personal identity' can be sustained by thought experiments¹ involving the bi-section, replication² and transplantation of brains³.
• With respect to 1), the conclusion is reached that 'necessary' identity is a logical construct limited to formal systems with no application in the real world.
• With respect to 2), the conclusion is reached that thought experiments⁴ involving manipulation of the brain are based on misapprehension of clinical reality and cannot provide a workable definition of personal identity.