Theo Todman's Web Page - Notes Pages
Personal Identity
Animalism - Objections
(Text as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12)
Plug Note1
- Thesis Text:
- A convenient starting-point for reviewing objections to Animalism is in "Olson (Eric), Etc. - Abstracta Special Issue on 'The Human Animal'", reviewed in this Note2.
- The most obvious objection is to the initial implausibility of Animalism’s basic contention that – because I was once a fetus3 and may one day be a vegetable4 – psychological continuity5 or connectedness6 can have nothing to do with my persistence criteria7. Animalists can be accused of not taking persons sufficiently seriously8.
- Additionally, Animalists are said to have a “corpse problem9”. Because I am co-located with my “corpse-to-be”, the Animalist is hoist by his own petard, in that he has the analogue of the “fetus problem10” he alleges against the Constitution View11.
- A spin-off from the alleged irrelevancy of psychology for human identity is the need to deny the Brain Transplant12 intuition – that “I go where my brain goes”. The Transplant Intuition has been defended from an animalist perspective in "Madden (Rory) - Human Persistence".
- In "Olson (Eric) - Human Atoms", Olson mentions four “favourite objections”, though these strike me as being rather feeble, and I suspect them of being straw men:-
- If you were an animal, you would be identical with your body (or at any rate with some human body). But no human body can think or feel or act, as you can.
- Persons and animals have different persistence conditions: the organism that is your body could outlive you (if you lapsed into a persistent vegetative state), or you could outlive it (if your brain were transplanted and the rest of you destroyed). But a thing cannot outlive itself.
- Persons and animals have different criteria of synchronic identity: any human animal could be associated with two different persons at once (as cases of split personality). Thus, no person is an animal.
- These experiences – the ones I am having now – are essentially mine. But they are only contingently associated with any particular animal. Hence, I have a property that no animal has.
- The above paper is intended, however, to rebut the argument against animalism in "Lowe (E.J.) - Subjects of Experience", which have the unlikely consequence that we are “mereological atoms”.
- "Hudson (Hud) - I am Not an Animal!" argues against animalism via the “Elimination Argument”, which I’m yet to investigate and understand. "Bailey (Andrew M.) - The Elimination Argument" seeks to rebuff it.
- Elselijn Kingma has accused animalists of not taking Pregnancy13 as an important issue for Animalism. She thinks that the Fetus14 is a part of the mother. My view is that animals can share parts, as seems to be necessary for Conjoined Twins15, which are another supposed objection to animalism if it could be successfully argued that there is only one animal in these cases.
References
- Relevant Works cited above:
- "Bailey (Andrew M.) - The Elimination Argument", 2014, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 67%
- "Hudson (Hud) - I am Not an Animal!", 2007, Read = 11%
- "Lowe (E.J.) - Subjects of Experience", 1996, Book, Read = 3%
- "Madden (Rory) - Human Persistence", 2016, Internal PDF Link, Read
- "Olson (Eric) - Human Atoms", 1998, Annotations, Internal PDF Link, Read = 33%
- "Olson (Eric), Etc. - Abstracta Special Issue on 'The Human Animal'", 2008, Book, Read
- Works on this topic that I’ve actually read16, include the following:-
- Dicephalus & Conjoined Twins17:
- "Buchanan (Rachael) - The battle to separate Safa and Marwa", 2019, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Wikipedia - Craniopagus Twins", 2017, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- General:
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Big-Tent Metaphysics", 2008, Write-Up Note18, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Response to Eric Olson", 2008, Write-Up Note19, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Review of 'What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology' by Eric T. Olson", 2008, Write-Up Note20, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - When Do Persons Begin and End?", 2005, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Belshaw (Christopher) - My Beginnings", 2006, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Blatti (Stephan) - Animalism (SEP)", 2014, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Blatti (Stephan) - Animalism, Dicephalus, and Borderline Cases", 2007, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Blatti (Stephan), Ed. - The Lives of Human Animals", 2014, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Campbell (Scott) - Can You Survive a Brain-Zap", 2004, Annotations
- "Carter (William) - Death and Bodily Transfiguration", 1984, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Francescotti (Robert) - Fetuses, corpses and the psychological approach to personal identity", 2005, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Garrett (Brian) - Animalism and Reductionism", 1998, Annotations
- "Garrett (Brian) - Some Thoughts on Animalism", 2003, Annotations
- "Hershenov (David) - Do Dead Bodies Pose a Problem for Biological Approaches to Personal Identity", 2005, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Lockwood (Michael) - When Does a Life Begin?", 1987, Annotations
- "Mackie (David) - Going Topless", 1998, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Mackie (David) - Personal Identity and Dead People", 1999, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Madden (Rory) - Human Persistence", 2016, Internal PDF Link
- "Markosian (Ned) - Three Problems for Olson's Account of Personal Identity", 2008, Write-Up Note21, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Marshall (Richard) & Olson (Eric) - Eric T. Olson: The Philosopher with No Hands", 2014, External Link
- "Noonan (Harold) - Animalism Versus Lockeanism: A Current Controversy", 1998, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Noonan (Harold) - Animalism versus Lockeanism: Reply to Mackie", 2001, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Noonan (Harold) - Arguments Against Animalism: Comments on L.R.Baker 'Persons & Bodies'", 2001, Write-Up Note22, Annotations
- "Olson (Eric) - Animalism and the Corpse Problem", 2004, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Olson (Eric) - Animalism and the Remnant-Person Problem", 2015, Internal PDF Link
- "Olson (Eric) - On Parfit's View That We Are Not Human Beings", 2015, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Olson (Eric) - Replies to Baker, Markosian & Zimmerman", 2008, Write-Up Note23, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Olson (Eric) - The Person and the Corpse", 2015, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? Animals", 2007, Write-Up Note24, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? Brains", 2007, Write-Up Note25, Internal PDF Link
- "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? What Now?", 2007, Write-Up Note26, Internal PDF Link
- "Olson (Eric), Etc. - Abstracta Special Issue on 'The Human Animal'", 2008, Book
- "Shoemaker (Sydney) - Self, Body, and Coincidence", 1999, Annotations
- "Snowdon (Paul) - Personal Identity and Brain Transplants", 1991, Annotations
- "Snowdon (Paul) - Persons, Animals, and Bodies", 1995, Annotations
- "Snowdon (Paul) - Some Objections to Animalism", 2003
- "Snowdon (Paul) - The Self and Personal Identity", 2009, Write-Up Note27
- "Steinhart (Eric) - Persons Versus Brains: Biological Intelligence in Human Organisms", 2001, Annotations
- "Unger (Peter) - The Survival of the Sentient", 2000, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Zimmerman (Dean) - Problems for Animalism", 2008, Write-Up Note28, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- Pregnancy29:
- "Finn (Suki) - Bun or bump?", 2017, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Kingma (Elselijn) - Lady Parts: The Metaphysics of Pregnancy", 2018, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Kingma (Elselijn) - Were You Part of Your Mother?", 2019, Annotations
- A further reading list might start with:-
- Dicephalus & Conjoined Twins30:
- "Campbell (Tim) & McMahan (Jeff) - Animalism and the Varieties of Conjoined Twinning", 2016, Read = 40%
- "Olson (Eric) - The Metaphysical Implications of Conjoined Twining", 2014, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 17%
- "Stone (James L.) & Goodrich (James T.) - The craniopagus malformation: classification and implications for surgical separation", 2006, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 42%
- General:
- "Ayer (A.J.) - The Meaning of Life", 1991, No Abstract
- "Bailey (Andrew M.) - The Elimination Argument", 2014, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 67%
- "Berglund (Stefan) - Animalism", 1995
- "Blatti (Stephan) & Snowdon (Paul), Eds. - Animalism: Introduction", 2016, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 58%
- "Braine (David) - The Human Person: Animal and Spirit", 1993, Book, Read = 1%
- "Ferner (Adam) - Metaphysics and biology: a critique of David Wiggins’ account of personal identity", 2014, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 1%
- "Hershenov (David) - Olson's Embryo Problem", 2002, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Hershenov (David) - The Death of a Person", 2006, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Hershenov (David) - The Problematic Role of ‘Irreversibility’ in the Definition of Death", 2003, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Hudson (Hud) - I am Not an Animal!", 2007, Read = 11%
- "Lowe (E.J.) - Subjects of Experience", 1996, Book, Read = 3%
- "Madden (Rory) - Thinking Parts", 2016, Internal PDF Link, Read = 18%
- "Moran (Alexander P.) - Animalism and the Thinking Parts Problem", 2016, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 17%
- "Noller (Jorg) - Beyond Animalism and Constitutionalism: The Person as A Form of Life", Undated, Internal PDF Link, Read = 17%
- "Olson (Eric) - Human Atoms", 1998, Annotations, Internal PDF Link, Read = 33%
- "Olson (Eric) - The Remnant-Person Problem", 2016, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 33%
- "Olson (Eric) - The Role of the Brainstem in Personal Identity", 2016, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 22%
- "Parfit (Derek) - We Are Not Human Beings", 2016, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 38%
- "Petrus (Klaus), Ed. - On Human Persons", 2003, Book, Read = 73%
- "Puhl (Klaus) - Review of Klaus Petrus's 'On Human Persons'", 2004, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 33%
- "Reid (Mark D.) - A Case in Which Two Persons Exist in One Animal", 2016, Read = 42%
- "Shoemaker (David) - The Stony Metaphysical Heart of Animalism", 2016, Internal PDF Link, Read = 24%
- "Snowdon (Paul) - Animalism and the Unity of Consciousness", 2014, Read = 7%
- "Snowdon (Paul) - Multiple Personality Disorder", 2014, Read = 33%
- "Toner (Patrick) - Hylemorphic animalism", 2011, Internal PDF Link, Read = 13%
- "Tzinman (Rina) - Memory, Organisms and the Circle of Life", 2018, Internal PDF Link, Read = 8%
- Pregnancy31:
- "Damschen (Gregor), Gomez-Lobo (Alfonso) & Schonecker (Dieter) - Sixteen Days? A Reply to B. Smith and B. Brogaard on the Beginning of Human Individuals", 2006, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 22%
- "Gomez-Lobo (Alfonso) - Sortals and Human Beginnings", 2004, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 5%
- "Oderberg (David) - The Metaphysical Status of the Embryo: Some Arguments Revisited", 2008, Internal PDF Link, Read = 8%
- "Smith (Barry) & Brogaard (Berit) - Sixteen Days", 2003, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 7%
- 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-holder32.
Table of the Previous 12 Versions of this Note: (of 13)
| Note last updated |
Reading List for this Topic |
Parent Topic |
| 06/07/2023 00:43:12 |
None available |
Animalism |
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
| Animalism, 2, 3 |
Animalists |
Bodily Continuity |
Body Criterion |
Cartesian Ego |
| Commissurotomy, 2 |
Constitution View - Objections |
Corpses |
Death, 2 |
Dicephalus |
| Fetuses |
Matter |
Methuselah |
Olson - What Are We? Animals, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
Olson - What Are We? The Question |
| PID Note, Book & Paper Usage, 2, 3, 4 |
Psychological View |
Snowdon - The Self and Personal Identity |
Supervenience |
Thesis - Chapter 01 (Introduction) |
| Thesis - Chapter 02 (What are We?), 2, 3, 4 |
Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues) |
Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It), 2 |
Thesis - Chapter 08 (Arguments against Animalism), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
Thesis - Chapter 09 (Arguments against the Constitution View) |
| Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments), 2 |
Thesis - Chapter 11 (Resurrection), 2, 3 |
Thesis - Current Stance |
Thesis - Personal Identity, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 |
Thinking Animal Argument |
| Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
|
|
|
|
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? |
| Bailey (Andrew M.) |
The Elimination Argument |
Paper  |
2, 3, 4 |
|
| Baker (Lynne Rudder) |
When Do Persons Begin and End? |
Paper  |
2 |
Yes |
| Blatti (Stephan) |
Animalism (SEP) |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Blatti (Stephan) & Snowdon (Paul), Eds. |
Animalism: Introduction |
Paper |
|
|
| Blatti (Stephan), Ed. |
The Lives of Human Animals |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Duncan (Matt) |
I Think, Therefore I Persist |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Garrett (Brian) |
Animalism and Reductionism |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Madden (Rory) |
Thinking Parts |
Paper |
|
|
| Marshall (Richard) & Olson (Eric) |
Eric T. Olson: The Philosopher with No Hands |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Moran (Alexander P.) |
Animalism and the Thinking Parts Problem |
Paper  |
2 |
|
| Olson (Eric) |
Animalism and the Remnant-Person Problem |
Paper |
2 |
Yes |
| Olson (Eric) |
The Remnant-Person Problem |
Paper |
2 |
|
| Olson (Eric) |
Thinking Animals and the Constitution View |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? Animals |
Paper |
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
Yes |
| Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? The Question |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? What Now? |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Petrus (Klaus), Ed. |
On Human Persons |
Book |
2, 3, 4 |
|
| Puhl (Klaus) |
Review of Klaus Petrus's 'On Human Persons' |
Paper |
2 |
|
| Reid (Mark D.) |
A Case in Which Two Persons Exist in One Animal |
Paper |
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
|
| Shoemaker (David) |
The Stony Metaphysical Heart of Animalism |
Paper |
2, 3 |
|
| Snowdon (Paul) |
Animalism and the Unity of Consciousness |
Paper |
2, 3 |
|
| Snowdon (Paul) |
Some Objections to Animalism |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Snowdon (Paul) |
The Self and Personal Identity |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Animalism |
Paper |
2, 3 |
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Animalists |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Bodily Continuity |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Body Criterion |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Cartesian Ego |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 01 (Introduction) |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 02 (What Are We?) |
Paper |
2, 3, 4 |
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues) |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It) |
Paper |
2 |
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 08 (Arguments against Animalism) |
Paper |
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 09 (Arguments against the Constitution View) |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments) |
Paper |
2 |
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 11 (Resurrection) |
Paper |
2, 3 |
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Commissurotomy |
Paper |
2 |
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Constitution View - Objections |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Corpses |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Current Position |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Death |
Paper |
2 |
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Dicephalus |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Fetuses |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Matter |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Methuselah |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Personal Identity |
Paper |
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 |
|
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Psychological View |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Supervenience |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Thinking Animal Argument |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Toner (Patrick) |
Hylemorphic animalism |
Paper |
|
|
| Wilson (Jack) |
Beyond Horses and Oak Trees: A New Theory of Individuation for Living Entities |
Paper |
|
Yes |
References & Reading List
| Author |
Title |
Medium |
Source |
Read? |
| Bailey (Andrew M.) |
The Elimination Argument |
Paper - Cited |
Philosophical Studies 168 (2014): 475-482 |
56% |
| Bailey (Andrew M.) |
The Elimination Argument |
Paper - Referencing |
Philosophical Studies 168 (2014): 475-482 |
56% |
| Baker (Lynne Rudder) |
When Do Persons Begin and End? |
Paper - Referencing |
Distinguished Faculty Lecture, December 5, 2005 |
Yes |
| Blatti (Stephan) & Snowdon (Paul), Eds. |
Animalism: New Essays on Persons, Animals, and Identity |
Book - Cited (via Paper Cited) |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
22% |
| Blatti (Stephan), Ed. |
The Lives of Human Animals |
Paper - Referencing |
The Southern Journal of Philosophy Volume 52, Spindel Supplement, 2014 |
Yes |
| Braine (David) |
The Human Person: Animal and Spirit |
Book - Cited |
Braine (David) - The Human Person: Animal and Spirit |
1% |
| Buchanan (Rachael) |
The battle to separate Safa and Marwa |
Paper - Cited |
BBC Website, July 2019 |
Yes |
| Campbell (Tim) & McMahan (Jeff) |
Animalism and the Varieties of Conjoined Twinning |
Paper - Cited |
Blatti & Snowdon - Animalism: New Essays on Persons, Animals, and Identity, 2016: Part III, Chapter 11, pp. 229-252 |
40% |
| Hudson (Hud) |
I am Not an Animal! |
Paper - Cited |
Van Inwagen (Peter) & Zimmerman (Dean) - Persons: Human and Divine |
11% |
| Lowe (E.J.) |
Subjects of Experience |
Book - Cited |
Lowe (E.J.) - Subjects of Experience |
3% |
| Madden (Rory) |
Human Persistence |
Paper - Cited |
Philosophers’ Imprint, Vol. 16, No. 17, September 2016 |
Yes |
| Olson (Eric) |
Human Atoms |
Paper - Cited |
Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 76, No 3, pp. 396-406; September 1998 |
33% |
| 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 - Referencing (via Paper Referencing) |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
Yes |
| Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? Animals |
Paper - Referencing |
What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 2 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.) |
Yes |
| 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), Etc. |
Abstracta Special Issue on 'The Human Animal' |
Book - Cited |
Olson (Eric), Etc. - Abstracta Special Issue on 'The Human Animal' |
Yes |
| Petrus (Klaus), Ed. |
On Human Persons |
Book - Cited |
Petrus (Klaus), Ed. - On Human Persons |
73% |
| Puhl (Klaus) |
Review of Klaus Petrus's 'On Human Persons' |
Paper - Referencing |
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2004 |
33% |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments) |
Paper - Referencing |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Commissurotomy |
Paper - Referencing |
|
Yes |
| Van Inwagen (Peter) & Zimmerman (Dean) |
Persons: Human and Divine |
Book - Cited (via Paper Cited) |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
3% |
| Wikipedia |
Craniopagus Twins |
Paper - Cited |
Wikipedia; Extract taken 18 July 2017 |
Yes |
| Wilson (Jack) |
Beyond Horses and Oak Trees: A New Theory of Individuation for Living Entities |
Paper - Referencing |
Wilson, Jack - Biological Individuality: The identity and Persistence of Living Entities; 1999, Chap. 1, pp. 1-21 |
Yes |
| Wilson (Jack) |
Biological Individuality - The identity and Persistence of Living Entities |
Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing) |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
Yes |
Text Colour Conventions
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025
- Mauve: Text by correspondent(s) or other author(s); © the author(s)