- This pseudo-Paper is intended as the mechanism to record time spent on the Note 'Physical Continuity1' during my Thesis research, as from 2011.
- For the actual time recorded, click on "Paper Summary" above.
Write-up2 (as at 05/02/2018 20:02:24): Physical Continuity
Plug Note3- In addition to considering just what contiguity and causal4 conditions a physical object needs to satisfy in order to persist, I need to consider a couple of related issues:
- Intermittent Objects5: can things go in and out of existence? Does the disassembled bicycle still exist in a dispersed state?
- Mereology6: is the content of any region of spacetime – whether spatially or temporally contiguous or disconnected – or a thing?
- What do decisions here have to say about the possibility of resurrection7 or reincarnation8? Is a physicalist able, even in principle, to allow the possibility of disembodied9 survival, resurrection or reincarnation, given the need for a continuing physical substance to which the individual is identical? Some Christians are physicalists10, and Peter Van Inwagen has (as a wild speculation - see "Van Inwagen (Peter) - The Possibility of Resurrection") God miraculously swapping out and preserving our corpses so he can resurrect the same individuals in due course.
- I need to consider (but expect to reject) such suggestions.
- Works on this topic that I’ve actually read11, include12 the following:-
- A reading list (where not covered elsewhere) might start with:-
- This is mostly a place-holder13. Currently, just see the categorised reading-list.
In-Page Footnotes
Footnote 2: - This is the write-up as it was when this Abstract was last output, with text as at the timestamp indicated (05/02/2018 20:02:24).
- Link to Latest Write-Up Note.
Footnote 3: - A number of my philosophical Notes are “promissory notes” currently only listing the books and papers (if any) I possess on the topic concerned.
- I’ve decided to add some text – whether by way of motivation, or something more substantive – for all these identified topics related to my Thesis.
- As I want to do this fairly quickly, the text may be confused or show surprising ignorance.
- The reader (if such exists) will have to bear with me, and display the principle of charity while this footnote exists.
Footnote 11: - Frequently I’ll have made copious marginal annotations, and sometimes have written up a review-note.
- In the former case, I intend to transfer the annotations into electronic form as soon as I can find the time.
- In the latter case, I will have remarked on the fact against the citation, and will integrate the comments into this Note in due course.
- My intention is to incorporate into these Notes comments on material I’ve already read rather than engage with unread material at this stage.
Footnote 12: - I may have read others in between updates of this Note – in which case they will be marked as such in the “References and Reading List” below.
- Papers or Books partially read have a rough %age based on the time spent versus the time expected.
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2018