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Personal Identity

Clinical Observations

(Work In Progress: output at 18/01/2026 18:46:05)

Plug Note¹

• Thesis Text:
  1. Clinical observations may be a better guides than Thought Experiments² (TEs) as test cases for our theories of personal identity, because at least we know they represent a real possibility.
     • One of the main objections to TEs is that they are underspecified and confused.
     • However, even with actual clinical observation, we still have the trouble of the correct interpretation of the clinical data, which affects the conclusions we can draw from it.
     • See "Wegner (Daniel) - The Illusion of Conscious Will" for the sort of controversy that arises in these circumstances. Briefly, B. Libet’s experiments supposedly revealing that we act before the experience of willing the action can be variously interpreted.
  2. Examples of relevant clinical cases are
     1. Commissurotomy patients³ and
     2. Those with Multiple Personality Disorder⁴ (MPD).
        
     Is a commissurotomy or MPD patient “home to” one or two Persons⁵?
  3. I will argue elsewhere that PATIENT₆ – like PERSON⁷ – is a Phase Sortal⁸ of the Ultimate Sortal⁹ HUMAN BEING¹⁰.
     • One Human Being¹¹ can simultaneously be multiple patients (dental and chiropody, for instance), or a multiply-enrolled student.
     • Does this situation mirror those of our more seriously damaged human beings?
  4. One thing can’t be two things (in the sense of “be identical to”), even if the two things are of a different kind¹² to the one thing.
     • The logic of identity¹³ would force the “two” things to be identical.
     • But the Phase Sortal¹⁴ approach doesn’t force this violation of logic, so could a human being with split personality literally be the home of two, or three, or seven different thinking beings? (Wilkes, presumably in "Wilkes (Kathleen) - Real People: Personal Identity Without Thought Experiments").
     • I’m inclined to say “yes”, but what impact does that have on Animalism¹⁵?

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  Further Remarks:
  1. This topic (and its reading list) overlaps with several others, some of which have already been mentioned:-
     • Commissurotomy¹⁶,
     • Dicephalus¹⁷,
     • Multiple Personality Disorder¹⁸,
     • Psychopathology¹⁹,
     • Thought Experiments²⁰.
  2. Currently, there is no categorised reading-list for this topic. A reading list would be mostly covered by the above Notes. But, in conformity with the standard format of these Notes …

References

• Relevant Works cited above:
  1. "Wegner (Daniel) - The Illusion of Conscious Will", 2002, Book
  2. "Wilkes (Kathleen) - Real People: Personal Identity Without Thought Experiments", 2003, Book, Read
• For a diminutive Page of Links²¹ to this Note, Click here.
• Works on this topic that I’ve actually read²², include the following:-
  • General:
    1. "Wilkes (Kathleen) - Real People: Personal Identity Without Thought Experiments", 2003, Book
• A further reading list might start with:-
  • General:
    1. "Harris (Henry) - An Experimentalist Looks at Identity", 1995, Read = 3%
    2. "Wegner (Daniel) - The Illusion of Conscious Will", 2002, Book

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• For a list of Works that have been considered, but have missed the cut for inclusion in this Section of my Thesis, see the following:-
  1. Read: No items to list.
  2. Further Reading: No items to list.
     
• This is mostly a place-holder²³.

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In-Page Footnotes:

Footnote 6:

1. This seems confused. A patient with MPD is still one patient, though may be multiple personalities, or even Persons.

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Table of the Previous 10 Versions of this Note:

Date	Length	Title
06/07/2023 00:43:12	3593	Clinical Observations
20/09/2022 11:24:00	3349	Clinical Observations
15/05/2022 13:19:12	2968	Clinical Observations
09/02/2021 00:40:19	2719	Clinical Observations
13/09/2020 23:52:48	2380	Clinical Observations
10/04/2017 23:38:24	2783	Clinical Observations
18/08/2009 21:11:31	1644	Clinical Observations
18/08/2009 20:39:50	1389	Clinical Observations
26/11/2007 23:25:26	1389	Clinical Observations
12/08/2007 10:17:46	991	Clinical Observations

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Note last updated	Reading List for this Topic	Parent Topic
02/08/2026 00:26:54	Clinical Observations	Thought Experiments

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Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note

Animalism	Awaiting Attention (Personal Identity)	Commissurotomy	Dicephalus	Human Beings
Kinds	Logic of Identity	Multiple Personality Disorder	Note Links Explanation	Person
Personality	Phase Sortals	Plug Note Apologia	Psychopathology	Sortals
Thought Experiments	Works Read - Explanation

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

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Summary of Notes Citing This Note

Multiple Personality Disorder	PID Note, Book & Paper Usage, 2, 3	Psychopathology	Research - Proposal	Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Thesis - Chapter 12 (Conclusion)	Thesis - Current Stance	Thesis - Method & Form	Thesis - Personal Identity, 2, 3, 4	Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

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Authors, Books & Papers Citing this Note

Author	Title	Medium	Extra Links	Read?
Dennett (Daniel)	The Mind's I - Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul: Introduction	Paper		Yes
Sperry (Roger W.)	Hemisphere Deconnection and the Unity in Conscious Awareness	Paper
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments)	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 12 (Conclusion)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Current Position	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Multiple Personality Disorder	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Personal Identity	Paper	2, 3, 4	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Psychopathology	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - The Form of the Argument	Paper		Yes

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References & Reading List

Author	Title	Medium	Source	Read?
Harris (Henry)	An Experimentalist Looks at Identity	Paper - Cited	Harris - Identity - Essays Based on Herbert Spencer Lectures Given in the University of Oxford	3%
Harris (Henry)	Identity - Essays Based on Herbert Spencer Lectures Given in the University of Oxford	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	4%
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Clinical Observations	Paper - By Subtopic		Yes
Wegner (Daniel)	The Illusion of Conscious Will	Book - Cited	Wegner (Daniel) - The Illusion of Conscious Will	No
Wilkes (Kathleen)	Real People: Personal Identity Without Thought Experiments	Book - Cited	Wilkes (Kathleen) - Real People: Personal Identity Without Thought Experiments	Yes

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Text Colour Conventions

1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2026

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