Theo Todman's Web Page - Notes Pages
Personal Identity
Nihilism
(Text as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12)
Plug Note1
Eric Olson:
"Olson (Eric) - What Are We? Nihilism" (2007) considers the matter (but rejects the thesis).
Olson accepts some of the arguments that lead to nihilism. See:-
→ "Olson (Eric) - Why I Have No Hands" (1995), as sensationalised in …
→ "Marshall (Richard) & Olson (Eric) - Eric T. Olson: The Philosopher with No Hands" (2012).
Peter Van Inwagen: thinks that all that exists are organisms and simples. See:-
→ "Van Inwagen (Peter) - Extreme Answers to the Special Composition Question: Nihilism and Universalism" (1990)
This is no threat to the elimination of persons, of course.
"Merricks (Trenton) - Objects and Persons" (2001); in particular:-
→ "Merricks (Trenton) - Surviving Eliminativism", and
→ "Merricks (Trenton) - Considerations in Favour of Eliminating Us?"
Merricks thinks that we – and other organisms – exist, but that statues don’t. Again, this is no threat to the existence of persons.
One reason for considering this topic is that lots of the arguments – sorites-style3, or “too many occupants” – occur throughout the topic of personal identity. If they are unsound here, they may be so elsewhere.
In particular, it’ll be interesting to compare Olson’s argument that he has no hands with his “thinking animal4” argument. He seems committed to both.
Further Remarks:
- Note that nihilism is also used in many other contexts. Obviously, I ignore the ethical / political sense. But there is also the mereological5 sense, which is more relevant to my concerns. Mereological nihilism is the doctrine that things don’t have proper parts.
References
- Relevant Works cited above:
- "Marshall (Richard) & Olson (Eric) - Eric T. Olson: The Philosopher with No Hands", 2014, External Link, Read
- "Merricks (Trenton) - Considerations in Favour of Eliminating Us?", 2001, Read = 6%
- "Merricks (Trenton) - Objects and Persons", 2001, Book, Read = 7%
- "Merricks (Trenton) - Surviving Eliminativism", 2001, Read = 4%
- "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? Nihilism", 2007, Internal PDF Link, Read = 29%
- "Olson (Eric) - Why I Have No Hands", 1995, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read
- "Unger (Peter) - I Do Not Exist", 1979, Read
- "Unger (Peter) - There are no Ordinary Things", 1979
- "Unger (Peter) - Why There Are No People", 1979, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 5%
- "Van Inwagen (Peter) - Extreme Answers to the Special Composition Question: Nihilism and Universalism", 1990, No Abstract
- For a Page of Links6 to this Note, Click here. I’ve added “Eliminitivism” and “No People” as cognates.
- Works on this topic that I’ve actually read7, include the following:-
- Aeon:
- "Gertz (Nolen) - Nihilism", 2020, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- General:
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Review of 'What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology' by Eric T. Olson", 2008, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Kurtz (Roxanne) - Introduction to Persistence: What’s the Problem?", 2006, Write-Up Note8, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Marshall (Richard) & Olson (Eric) - Eric T. Olson: The Philosopher with No Hands", 2014, External Link
- "Olson (Eric) - Why I Have No Hands", 1995, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Unger (Peter) - I Do Not Exist", 1979
- "Van Inwagen (Peter) - Précis of Material Beings", 1993, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- A further reading list might start with:-
- General:
- "Liggins (David) - Nihilism without Self-Contradiction", 2008, Internal PDF Link, Read = 11%
- "Merricks (Trenton) - Considerations in Favour of Eliminating Us?", 2001, Read = 6%
- "Merricks (Trenton) - Considerations in Favour of Eliminativism", 2001, Read = 5%
- "Merricks (Trenton) - Epiphenomenalism and Eliminativism", 2001, Read = 8%
- "Merricks (Trenton) - Objects and Persons", 2001, Book, Read = 7%
- "Merricks (Trenton) - Surviving Eliminativism", 2001, Read = 4%
- "Midgley (Mary) - How Real Are You", 2002, Internal PDF Link
- "Miller (Kristie) - 'Personal identity' minus the persons", 2013, Internal PDF Link, Read = 6%
- "Morton (Adam) - Why There Is No Concept of a Person", 1990, Annotations, No Abstract, Read = 44%
- "O'Leary-Hawthorne (John) & Cortens (Andrew) - Towards Ontological Nihilism", 1995, Internal PDF Link, Read = 10%
- "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? Nihilism", 2007, Internal PDF Link, Read = 29%
- "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? What Now?", 2007, Internal PDF Link, Read = 57%
- "Rodriguez-Pereyra (Gonzalo) - Modal Realism and Metaphysical Nihilism", 2004, Internal PDF Link
- "Sider (Ted) - Against Parthood", 2013, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 4%
- "Sides (Carl Brock) - Mereological Nihilism and the Limits of Paraphrase", 1997, Internal PDF Link
- "Sosa (Ernest) - Existential Relativity", 1999, Internal PDF Link, Read = 25%
- "Stone (Jim) - Parfit and the Buddha: Why There Are No People", 1988, Internal PDF Link
- "Unger (Peter) - Skepticism and Nihilism", 1980, Internal PDF Link
- "Unger (Peter) - The Mental Problems of the Many", 2004, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 8%
- "Unger (Peter) - There are no Ordinary Things", 1979
- "Unger (Peter) - Why There Are No People", 1979, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 5%
- "Van Inwagen (Peter) - Extreme Answers to the Special Composition Question: Nihilism and Universalism", 1990, No Abstract
- "Van Inwagen (Peter) - Material Beings", 1995, Book, Read = 27%
- "Weatherson (Brian) - The Problem of the Many", 2003-14, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 4%
- "Williamson (Timothy) - Nihilism", 1994
- "Zuboff (Arnold) - Moment Universals and Personal Identity", 1978
- 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:-
- Read: No items to list.
- Further Reading: No items to list.
- This is mostly a place-holder9.
In-Page Footnotes:
Footnote 2: See the introduction to "Unger (Peter) - The Mental Problems of the Many" (2004) for a recantation.
Table of the Previous 9 Versions of this Note:
Note last updated |
Reading List for this Topic |
Parent Topic |
06/07/2023 00:43:12 |
Nihilism |
Person |
Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note
To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.
Summary of Notes Citing This Note
Aeon Papers |
Artifacts |
Baker - Personal Identity Over Time |
Baker - Review - Olson - What Are We? |
Existence |
Individual |
Johnston - Human Beings |
Olson - What Are We? The Question |
Ontology |
Perdurantism |
PID Note, Book & Paper Usage, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
Sorites |
Statue and the Clay |
Thesis - Chapter 02 (What are We?), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues), 2, 3, 4 |
Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It) |
Thesis - Chapter 07 (The Constitution View and Arguments for It) |
Thesis - Current Stance |
Thinking Animal Argument |
Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
What are We? |
|
|
|
|
To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.
Authors, Books & Papers Citing this Note
Author |
Title |
Medium |
Extra Links |
Read? |
Baker (Lynne Rudder) |
Personal Identity Over Time |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Baker (Lynne Rudder) |
Review of 'What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology' by Eric T. Olson |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Catterson (Troy) |
Introduction to Synthese Special Issue on Personal Identity |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Dennett (Daniel) |
Elbow Room - The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting |
Book  |
|
|
Gertz (Nolen) |
Nihilism |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Goodman (Charles) |
Vaibhāṣika Metaphoricalism |
Paper  |
|
|
Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul) |
Aeon: 2019+ |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Heller (Mark) |
Conventional Objects |
Paper  |
|
|
Johnston (Mark) |
Human Beings |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Kreplin (Ute) |
Meditation under the microscope |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Kurtz (Roxanne) |
Introduction to Persistence: What’s the Problem? |
Paper  |
2 |
Yes |
Liggins (David) |
Nihilism without Self-Contradiction |
Paper  |
2 |
|
Martin (Raymond) |
Review: Mark Siderits: Personal Identity and Buddhist Philosophy: Empty Persons |
Paper  |
|
|
Miller (Kristie) |
'Personal identity' minus the persons |
Paper  |
|
|
O'Leary-Hawthorne (John) & Cortens (Andrew) |
Towards Ontological Nihilism |
Paper  |
|
|
Olson (Eric) |
Is Psychology Relevant To Personal Identity? |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Olson (Eric) |
Persistence |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Olson (Eric) |
The Human Animal: Introduction |
Paper  |
2 |
Yes |
Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? Nihilism |
Paper  |
2, 3, 4, 5 |
|
Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? The Question |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? What Now? |
Paper  |
|
|
Parfit (Derek) |
On What Matters: Volume Two - Part 6: Normativity |
Paper  |
|
|
Rodriguez-Pereyra (Gonzalo) |
Modal Realism and Metaphysical Nihilism |
Paper  |
2, 3 |
|
Sider (Ted) |
Against Parthood |
Paper  |
2, 3 |
|
Sider (Ted) |
Monism and Statespace Structure |
Paper  |
|
|
Sides (Carl Brock) |
Mereological Nihilism and the Limits of Paraphrase |
Paper  |
|
|
Sosa (Ernest) |
Existential Relativity |
Paper  |
|
|
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Artifacts |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 02 (What Are We?) |
Paper  |
2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues) |
Paper  |
2, 3, 4 |
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It) |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 07 (The Constitution View and Arguments for It) |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Current Position |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Existence |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Individual |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Ontology |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Perdurantism |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Sorites |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Statue and the Clay |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Thinking Animal Argument |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - What Are We? |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
Unger (Peter) |
Skepticism and Nihilism |
Paper  |
2 |
|
Van Inwagen (Peter) |
Material Beings |
Book  |
|
|
Van Inwagen (Peter) |
Précis of Material Beings |
Paper  |
2, 3, 4 |
Yes |
Weatherson (Brian) |
The Problem of the Many |
Paper  |
|
|
Williamson (Timothy) |
Nihilism |
Paper  |
2, 3 |
|
Williamson (Timothy) |
Vagueness |
Book  |
2, 3, 4 |
|
Williamson (Timothy) |
Vagueness: Preface + Introduction |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
References & Reading List
Author |
Title |
Medium |
Source |
Read? |
Baker (Lynne Rudder) |
Review of 'What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology' by Eric T. Olson |
Paper - Cited |
Mind, 117:1120-1122, 2008 |
Yes |
Baker (Lynne Rudder) |
Review of 'What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology' by Eric T. Olson |
Paper - Referencing |
Mind, 117:1120-1122, 2008 |
Yes |
Foster (John) |
Nihilism and Analytical Behaviorism |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Foster (John) - The Immaterial Self: Defence of the Cartesian Dualist Conception of the Mind, 1991, Chapter 2 |
No |
Foster (John) |
The Immaterial Self: Defence of the Cartesian Dualist Conception of the Mind |
Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)  |
Foster (John) - The Immaterial Self: Defence of the Cartesian Dualist Conception of the Mind |
0% |
French (Peter), Uehling (Theodore) & Wettstein (Howard) |
Midwest Studies in Philosophy (Vol IV, 1979) - Metaphysics |
Book - Cited (via Paper Cited) |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
1% |
Gertz (Nolen) |
Nihilism |
Paper - Cited  |
Aeon, 27 February 2020 |
Yes |
Goodman (Charles) |
Vaibhāṣika Metaphoricalism |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Philosophy East and West, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Jul., 2005), pp. 377-393 |
8% |
Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul) |
Aeon: 2019+ |
Paper - Referencing |
Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul) - Aeon |
Yes |
Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul) |
Aeon: A-B (& General) |
Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing)  |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
100% |
Liggins (David) |
Nihilism without Self-Contradiction |
Paper - Cited  |
Philosophy 83 supplement 62 (2008), 177-196 (special issue on Being: Developments in Contemporary Metaphysics) |
11% |
MacDonald (Graham) |
Perception & Identity - Essays Presented to A J Ayer with His Replies |
Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)  |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
1% |
Marshall (Richard) |
Philosophy at 3:AM: Questions and Answers with 25 Top Philosophers |
Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)  |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
37% |
Marshall (Richard) & Olson (Eric) |
Eric T. Olson: The Philosopher with No Hands |
Paper - Cited  |
Marshall (Richard) - Philosophy at 3:AM: Questions and Answers with 25 Top Philosophers |
Yes |
Merricks (Trenton) |
Considerations in Favour of Eliminating Us? |
Paper - Cited  |
Merricks - Objects and Persons, 2001, Chapter 5 |
6% |
Merricks (Trenton) |
Considerations in Favour of Eliminativism |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Merricks - Objects and Persons, 2001, Chapter 2 |
5% |
Merricks (Trenton) |
Epiphenomenalism and Eliminativism |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Merricks - Objects and Persons, 2001, Chapter 3 |
8% |
Merricks (Trenton) |
Objects and Persons |
Book - Cited  |
Merricks (Trenton) - Objects and Persons |
7% |
Merricks (Trenton) |
Surviving Eliminativism |
Paper - Cited  |
Merricks - Objects and Persons, 2001, Chapter 4 |
4% |
Metzinger (Thomas) |
Being No One: The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity |
Book - By Subtopic  |
Metzinger (Thomas) - Being No One: The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity |
1% |
Metzinger (Thomas) |
The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self |
Book - By Subtopic  |
Metzinger (Thomas) - The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self |
1% |
Miller (Kristie) |
'Personal identity' minus the persons |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Philosophical Studies: Vol. 166, Supplement 1 (December 2013), pp. S91-S109 |
6% |
Morton (Adam) |
Why There Is No Concept of a Person |
Paper - By Subtopic |
|
44% |
Olson (Eric) |
Papers on Identity Boxes: Vol 13 (Olson) |
Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)  |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
16% |
Olson (Eric) |
What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology |
Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)  |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
99% |
Olson (Eric) |
What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology |
Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing)  |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
99% |
Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? Nihilism |
Paper - Cited  |
What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 8 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.) |
46% |
Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? The Question |
Paper - Referencing  |
What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 1 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.) |
Yes |
Olson (Eric) |
Why I Have No Hands |
Paper - Cited  |
Theoria 61 (1995): 182-197 |
Yes |
Stone (Jim) |
Parfit and the Buddha: Why There Are No People |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 48 (1988) pp. 519-532 |
No |
Thomasson (Amie L.) |
Metaphysical Arguments against Ordinary Objects |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Philosophical Quarterly (1950-), Vol. 56, No. 224 (Jul., 2006), pp. 340-359 |
6% |
Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Nihilism |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
|
Yes |
Unger (Peter) |
I Do Not Exist |
Paper - Cited  |
MacDonald - Perception & Identity - Essays Presented to A J Ayer with His Replies, 1979 |
Yes |
Unger (Peter) |
The Mental Problems of the Many |
Paper - Cited  |
Oxford Studies in Metaphysics, Vol.1 (2004): 195-222 |
8% |
Unger (Peter) |
The Problem of the Many |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Midwest Studies in Philosophy V, 1980, pp. 411-67 |
6% |
Unger (Peter) |
There are no Ordinary Things |
Paper - Cited  |
Synthese 71, 1979, pp. 117-154 |
No |
Unger (Peter) |
Why There Are No People |
Paper - Cited  |
Midwest Studies in Philosophy (Vol IV) - Metaphysics, 1979 |
5% |
Van Inwagen (Peter) |
Extreme Answers to the Special Composition Question: Nihilism and Universalism |
Paper - Cited |
Van Inwagen - Material Beings; 1990; Ch. 8 |
No |
Van Inwagen (Peter) |
Material Beings |
Book - Cited  |
Van Inwagen (Peter) - Material Beings |
27% |
Weatherson (Brian) |
The Problem of the Many |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, 2003-14 |
4% |
Williamson (Timothy) |
Nihilism |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Williamson (Timothy) - Vagueness, Chapter 6 |
No |
Williamson (Timothy) |
Vagueness |
Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)  |
Williamson (Timothy) - Vagueness |
4% |
Zuboff (Arnold) |
Moment Universals and Personal Identity |
Paper - By Subtopic  |
Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 52, 1978, 141-55 |
No |
Text Colour Conventions
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2023