A Hybrid View of Personal Identity
Hodson (Sommer)
Source: PhD Thesis, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, 2013
Paper - Abstract

Paper StatisticsBooks / Papers Citing this PaperNotes Citing this PaperColour-ConventionsDisclaimer


Author’s Abstract

  1. Personal identity is unlike many other metaphysical issues in that it is something that ordinary people understand and have rational beliefs about, but most leading accounts of personal identity ignore our pre-philosophical beliefs, as evidenced by the highly counterintuitive results they yield. I argue that the conflict between these accounts and our pre-philosophical beliefs should not be taken as evidence that our ordinary beliefs are incorrect, but that the accounts which contradict our existing beliefs fail to capture the thing we are actually concerned with when it comes to our own existence through time. After defending this central role for our beliefs, I survey several representative accounts of personal identity, arguing that each clashes irreconcilably with reasonable and deeply-held beliefs about our own existence through time.
  2. My positive claim is that a successful account incorporates elements from both of the two major types of personal identity account, psychological continuity and physical continuity. I argue that a hybrid view, according to which a person continues to exist so long as she has the same psychology in virtue of having the same physical brain, is the best fit for our actual pre-philosophical understanding of our own existence through time. The hybrid view yields the expected results in typical situations and provides more plausible results in hypothetical scenarios than its competitors, while withstanding objections as well as its competitors.
  3. Finally, I discuss consequences that acceptance of the hybrid view may have for related questions. I argue that the hybrid view does not require acceptance of any particular theory concerning related metaphysical questions and can thus be accepted without committing to a position on other matters. I also discuss the ethical implications of the hybrid view, with particular emphasis on how the hybrid view relates to moral responsibility.

References
  1. "Bennett (Karen) - Spatio-Temporal Coincidence and the Grounding Problem", 2004.
  2. "Blustein (Jeffrey) - Choosing for others as continuing a life story: The problem of personal identity revisited", 1999.
  3. Breslin, J. (1977, January 18, 1977). Utah Stuffs Its Dilemma Into a Body Bag, Los Angeles Times, p. d5. (Link is to the author’s University Website & requires Login).
  4. "Butler (Joseph) - Of Personal Identity".
  5. "Campbell (Scott) - Can You Survive a Brain-Zap", 2004.
  6. Cracked.com. (2007). 5 Awesome Sci-Fi Inventions (That Would Actually Suck). from Cracked - Rerun: 5 Awesome Sci-Fi Inventions (That Would Totally Suck)
  7. "DeGrazia (David) - Human Identity and Bioethics", 2005.
  8. "deRosset (Louis) - What is the Grounding Problem?", 2011. Not Cited by Me.
  9. Dresser, R., & Robertson, J. (1989). Quality of Life and Non-Treatment Decisions for Incompetent Patients: A Critique of the Orthodox Approach. Law, Medicine and Healthcare, 17, 234-244. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-720X.1989.tb01101.x
  10. "Gibbard (Allan) - Contingent Identity", 1975.
  11. "Glannon (Walter) - Moral Responsibility and Personal Identity", 1998. Not Cited by Me.
  12. "Green (Michael) & Wikler (Daniel) - Brain Death and Personal Identity", 1980.
  13. "Hershenov (David) - Countering the Appeal of the Psychological Approach to Personal Identity", 2004.
  14. "Johansson (Jens) - What is Animalism?", 2007.
  15. Johnston, D. (1977, January 18, 1977). Gilmore Executed After He Tells Warden 'Let's Do It', Los Angeles Times, p. 1. (Link is to the author’s University Website & requires Login).
  16. "Kim (Jaegwon) - Philosophy of Mind", 2006, 2nd ed.
  17. "Knobe (Joshua) - Intentional Action and Side Effects in Ordinary Language", 2003. Not Cited by Me.
  18. Lambert, K., & Kinsley, C. (2005). Clinical Neuroscience. Retrieved from Google Books database
  19. "Lewis (David) - Many, But Almost One", 1999.
  20. "Locke (John) - Of Identity and Diversity".
  21. "McMahan (Jeff) - The Ethics of Killing: Problems at the Margins of Life", 2002
  22. "Merricks (Trenton) - There Are No Criteria For Identity Over Time", 1998.
  23. "Merricks (Trenton) - Endurance, Psychological Continuity, and the Importance of Personal Identity", 1999.
  24. National Organization for Disorders of the Corpus Callosum. (2013). Corpus Callosum Disorders: Characteristics. 2013, from Behavioral Characteristics Related to disorders of the corpus callosum (link repaired to contemporary page).
  25. "Nichols (Shaun) & Stich (Stephen) - How to Read Your Own Mind: A Cognitive Theory of Self-Consciousness", 2010.
  26. Nolan, C. (Writer). (2006). The Prestige: Touchstone Pictures.
  27. "Olson (Eric) - The Human Animal - Personal Identity Without Psychology", 1997.
  28. "Olson (Eric) - Material Coincidence and the Indiscernibility Problem", 2001
  29. "Olson (Eric) - What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology", 2007.
  30. "Parfit (Derek) - Reasons and Persons", 1986.
  31. "Parfit (Derek) - Personal Identity", 2008.
  32. "Perry (John) - Can the Self Divide?", 1972.
  33. "Perry (John) - The Problem of Personal Identity", 2008a.
  34. "Pink (Thomas) - Reply to Goetz (on Reasons for Forming an Intention)", 2008b.
  35. "Pruss (Alexander R.) - I Was Once a Fetus: That Is Why Abortion is Wrong", 2013. Not Cited by Me.
  36. "Quinton (Anthony) - The Soul", 2008.
  37. "Reid (Thomas) - Of Mr. Locke's Account of Our Personal Identity", 2008.
  38. "Russell (Bertrand) - The Problems of Philosophy", 2004
  39. "Schechtman (Marya) - The Constitution of Selves", 1996.
  40. "Schlossberger (Eugene) - Moral Responsibility and Persons", 1992. Not Cited by Me.
  41. "Shoemaker (David) - Personal Identity and Practical Concerns", 2007.
  42. "Shoemaker (Sydney) - Self-Knowledge and Self-Identity", 1963.
  43. "Shoemaker (Sydney) - Personal Identity: a Materialist Account", 1984
  44. "Sider (Ted) - Four-dimensionalism: An Ontology of Persistence and Time", 2001.
  45. "Sider (Ted) - Yet Another Paper on the Supervenience Argument", 2008.
  46. "Snowdon (Paul) - Persons, Animals, and Ourselves", 1990.
  47. "Sosa (Ernest) - Subjects Among Other Things", 1987.
  48. "Thomson (Judith Jarvis) - People and Their Bodies", 2008.
  49. TVTropes.org. (2013). Brain in a Jar. from tvtropes: Brain in a Jar
  50. "Unger (Peter) - Identity, Consciousness and Value", 1990.
  51. "Van Inwagen (Peter) - Material Beings", 1990.
  52. "Wiggins (David) - Identity & Spatio-temporal Continuity", 1967.
  53. "Williams (Bernard) - Personal Identity and Individuation", 1957.
  54. "Williams (Bernard) - The Self and the Future", 2008.
  55. "Zimmerman (Dean) - Theories of Masses and Problems of Constitution", 1995.

Comment:

Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)

  1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2023
  2. Mauve: Text by correspondent(s) or other author(s); © the author(s)



© Theo Todman, June 2007 - Sept 2023. Please address any comments on this page to theo@theotodman.com. File output:
Website Maintenance Dashboard
Return to Top of this Page Return to Theo Todman's Philosophy Page Return to Theo Todman's Home Page