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Personal Identity

Problem of the Many

(Text as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12)

Plug Note¹

• Thesis Text:
  1. This problem is to do with objects – whether clouds or human beings – that have vague boundaries. What is wrong with saying that instead of just one object there are many overlapping ones; or, if we hate this idea, what’s the solution so that we only have one (as we first thought)?
  2. Clearly, this topic overlaps considerably with that on Vagueness², but is a particular symptom thereof.
  3. There are also connections to:-
     1. Dion and Theon³, and
     2. Tib and Tibbles⁴
        
  4. Whereas these are rather “The Problem of the Few”, some of the same issues arise. However, it’s easier to come to a principled decision as to which is the “real” person (or cat) in these cases.
  5. The problem doesn’t just arise with living⁵ things, so can’t be solved (I don’t think) by moving from a substance⁶ to a process⁷ metaphysics, though it’s worth investigation.

References

• Relevant Works cited above: No items to list.
• For a Page of Links⁸ to this Note, Click here.
• Works on this topic that I’ve actually read⁹, include the following:-
  • General:
    1. "Carter (William) - 'Partist' Resistance to the Many: Review of 'A Materialist Metaphysics of the Human Person' by Hud Hudson", 2004, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
    2. "Lowe (E.J.) - Review of Peter Unger's - 'All the Power in the World'", 2008, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
    3. "Marshall (Richard) & Olson (Eric) - Eric T. Olson: The Philosopher with No Hands", 2014, External Link
    4. "Van Inwagen (Peter) - Précis of Material Beings", 1993, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
• A further reading list might start with:-
  • General:
    1. "Armstrong (David) - Reply to David Lewis's 'Many, but Almost One'", 1993, No Abstract
    2. "Bennett (Karen) - Composition, Colocation, and Metaontology", 2007, Internal PDF Link, Read = 9%
    3. "Blatti (Stephan) - Material Constitution", 2012, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 28%
    4. "Doyle (Robert O.) - The Problem of the Many", 2018, No Abstract, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    5. "Hershenov (David) - The Thesis of Vague Objects and Unger's Problem of the Many", 2001, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 11%
    6. "Hudson (Hud) - A Materialist Metaphysics of the Human Person", 2001, Book, Read = 2%
    7. "Hudson (Hud) - The Many Problematic Solutions To the Problem Of the Many", 2001, Read = 3%
    8. "Jones (Nicholas K.) - Too Many Cats: The Problem of the Many and the Metaphysics of Vagueness", 2010, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    9. "Lewis (David) - Many, But Almost One", 1999 Reprint, Internal PDF Link, Read = 6%
    10. "Lowe (E.J.) - The Paradox of the 1,001 Cats", 1982, Internal PDF Link
    11. "Lowe (E.J.) - The Problems of the Many and the Vagueness of Constitution", 1995
    12. "Markosian (Ned) - Brutal Composition", 1998, Internal PDF Link
    13. "McKinnon (Neil) - A New Problem of the Many", 2008, Internal PDF Link, Read = 13%
    14. "McKinnon (Neil) - Supervaluations and the Problem of the Many", 2002, Internal PDF Link
    15. "Sanford (David H.) - The Problem of the Many, Many Composition Questions, and Naive Mereology", 1995, Internal PDF Link, Read = 22%
    16. "Schiffer (Stephen) - Two Issues of Vagueness", 1998, Internal PDF Link
    17. "Sutton (Catherine S.) - Almost One, Overlap and Function", 2015, Internal PDF Link, Read = 33%
    18. "Tye (Michael) - Fuzzy Realism and the Problem of the Many", 1996, Internal PDF Link
    19. "Unger (Peter) - The Problem of the Many", 1980, Read = 6%
    20. "Weatherson (Brian) - Epistemicism Parasites and Vague Names", 2003, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    21. "Weatherson (Brian) - Many Many Problems", 2003, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    22. "Weatherson (Brian) - Stages, Worms, Slices and Lumps", Undated, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    23. "Weatherson (Brian) - The Problem of the Many", 2003-14, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 4%, Footnote₁₀
    24. "Williams (J. Robbie G.) - An Argument for the Many", 2006, Internal PDF Link
    25. "Woods (Evan Thomas) - The Problems of the Many", 2019, Internal PDF Link, Read = 2%

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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-holder¹¹.

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In-Page Footnotes:

Footnote 10:

• Take this as a starting-point, and use its references (except for those on Vagueness) for further reading, though these writers are top of the list:-
  → "Hudson (Hud) - The Many Problematic Solutions To the Problem Of the Many" (and the whole of "Hudson (Hud) - A Materialist Metaphysics of the Human Person")
  → "Carter (William) - 'Partist' Resistance to the Many: Review of 'A Materialist Metaphysics of the Human Person' by Hud Hudson" (a critique of the above)
  → "Unger (Peter) - The Problem of the Many" (fons et origo?)

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Table of the Previous 6 Versions of this Note:

Date	Length	Title
20/09/2022 11:24:00	3475	Problem of the Many
10/05/2022 17:45:36	2951	Problem of the Many
16/02/2021 01:00:29	2839	Problem of the Many
30/09/2020 01:16:19	2097	Problem of the Many
10/10/2018 16:43:41	3613	Problem of the Many
14/01/2017 20:18:14	1745	Problem of the Many

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Note last updated	Reading List for this Topic	Parent Topic
06/07/2023 00:43:12	Problem of the Many	Constitution

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Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note

Awaiting Attention (Personal Identity)	Dion and Theon	Life	Note Links Explanation	Plug Note Apologia
Process Metaphysics	Substance	Tibbles the Cat	Vagueness	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

Coincidence	Constitution	Dion and Theon	Organisms	Personite
PID Note, Book & Paper Usage, 2, 3, 4	Thesis - Chapter 03 (What is a Person?)	Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues)	Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It)	Thesis - Chapter 07 (The Constitution View and Arguments for It), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Thesis - Current Stance	Thesis - Personal Identity, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6	Tibbles the Cat	Vagueness	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?
Bennett (Karen)	Composition, Colocation, and Metaontology	Paper
Blatti (Stephan)	Material Constitution	Paper
Carter (William)	'Partist' Resistance to the Many: Review of 'A Materialist Metaphysics of the Human Person' by Hud Hudson	Paper	2	Yes
Doyle (Robert O.)	N/A	Author
Hawley (Katherine)	Almost Identical, Almost Innocent	Paper
Hershenov (David)	The Thesis of Vague Objects and Unger's Problem of the Many	Paper
Jones (Nicholas K.)	Too Many Cats: The Problem of the Many and the Metaphysics of Vagueness	Paper
Kingma (Elselijn)	Were You Part of Your Mother?	Paper		Yes
Lowe (E.J.)	Review of Peter Unger's - 'All the Power in the World'	Paper	2	Yes
Lowe (E.J.)	The Problems of the Many and the Vagueness of Constitution	Paper
McKinnon (Neil)	A New Problem of the Many	Paper	2, 3
McKinnon (Neil)	Supervaluations and the Problem of the Many	Paper	2, 3
Sanford (David H.)	The Problem of the Many, Many Composition Questions, and Naive Mereology	Paper
Sutton (Catherine S.)	Almost One, Overlap and Function	Paper
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 03 (What is a Person?)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues)	Paper		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	2, 3, 4, 5, 6	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Coincidence	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Constitution	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Current Position	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Dion and Theon	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Organisms	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Personal Identity	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Personite	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Tibbles the Cat	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Vagueness	Paper		Yes
Unger (Peter)	The Mental Problems of the Many	Paper
Unger (Peter)	The Problem of the Many	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5
Unger (Peter)	Why We Really May Be Immaterial Souls	Paper	2
Van Inwagen (Peter)	Material Beings	Book
Van Inwagen (Peter)	Naive Mereology, Admissible Valuations, and Other Matters	Paper
Van Inwagen (Peter)	Précis of Material Beings	Paper		Yes
Weatherson (Brian)	Many Many Problems	Paper	2
Weatherson (Brian)	Stages, Worms, Slices and Lumps	Paper
Williams (J. Robbie G.)	An Argument for the Many	Paper

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References & Reading List

Author	Title	Medium	Source	Read?
Armstrong (David)	Reply to David Lewis's 'Many, but Almost One'	Paper - Cited	Bacon, Campbell & Reinhardt - Ontology, Causality and Mind	No
Bacon (John), Campbell (Keith) & Reinhardt (Lloyd)	Ontology, Causality and Mind	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	4%
Bennett (Karen)	Composition, Colocation, and Metaontology	Paper - By Subtopic	Chalmers (David), Manley (David) & Wasserman (Ryan) - Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology	9%
Blatti (Stephan)	Material Constitution	Paper - Referencing	Continuum Companion to Metaphysics, ed. Bob Barnard and Neil Manson (Continuum, 2012), 149-69	28%
Carter (William)	'Partist' Resistance to the Many: Review of 'A Materialist Metaphysics of the Human Person' by Hud Hudson	Paper - Cited	Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 68, No. 3, May 2004, pp. 713-723	Yes
Chalmers (David), Manley (David) & Wasserman (Ryan)	Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Chalmers (David), Manley (David) & Wasserman (Ryan) - Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology	3%
Chihara (Charles S.)	The Many Persons Problem	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophical Studies 76, 45-49, 1994	No
Doyle (Robert O.)	The Problem of the Many	Paper - By Subtopic	Personal Website	No
Hershenov (David)	The Thesis of Vague Objects and Unger's Problem of the Many	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophical Papers, 30:1, March 2001, 47-57	11%
Hudson (Hud)	A Materialist Metaphysics of the Human Person	Book - Cited	Hudson (Hud) - A Materialist Metaphysics of the Human Person	2%
Hudson (Hud)	The Many Problematic Solutions To the Problem Of the Many	Paper - Cited	Hudson (Hud) - A Materialist Metaphysics of the Human Person, 2001, Chapter 1, pp. 11-44	3%
Jones (Nicholas K.)	Too Many Cats: The Problem of the Many and the Metaphysics of Vagueness	Paper - By Subtopic	Ph.D. Dissertation, Birkbeck College, University of London, 2010	No
Kingma (Elselijn)	Were You Part of Your Mother?	Paper - Referencing	Mind, Volume 128, Issue 511, July 2019, Pages 609–646	Yes
Koslicki (Kathrin)	Aristotle's Mereology and the Status of Form	Paper - By Subtopic	Journal of Philosophy , Dec., 2006, Vol. 103, No. 12, Special Issue: Parts and Wholes (Dec., 2006), pp. 715-736	6%
Lewis (David)	Many, But Almost One	Paper - By Subtopic	Lewis - Papers in Metaphysics and Epistemology	6%
Lewis (David)	Papers in Metaphysics and Epistemology	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Lewis (David) - Papers in Metaphysics and Epistemology	5%
Lowe (E.J.)	Review of Peter Unger's - 'All the Power in the World'	Paper - By Subtopic	The Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 58, No. 233 (Oct., 2008), pp. 745-747	Yes
Lowe (E.J.)	The Problems of the Many and the Vagueness of Constitution	Paper - By Subtopic	Analysis 55.3, July 1995, pp. 179-182	No
Marshall (Richard)	Philosophy at 3:AM: Questions and Answers with 25 Top Philosophers	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Marshall (Richard) - Philosophy at 3:AM: Questions and Answers with 25 Top Philosophers	37%
Marshall (Richard) & Olson (Eric)	Eric T. Olson: The Philosopher with No Hands	Paper - By Subtopic	Marshall (Richard) - Philosophy at 3:AM: Questions and Answers with 25 Top Philosophers	Yes
McKinnon (Neil)	A New Problem of the Many	Paper - By Subtopic	The Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 58, No. 230, Special Issue: Existence and Identity (Jan., 2008), pp. 80-97	13%
McKinnon (Neil)	Supervaluations and the Problem of the Many	Paper - By Subtopic	The Philosophical Quarterly (1950-), Vol. 52, No. 208 (Jul., 2002), pp. 320-339	No
Olson (Eric)	What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Olson (Eric) - What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? Temporal Parts	Paper - By Subtopic	What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 5 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.)	Yes
Sanford (David H.)	The Problem of the Many, Many Composition Questions, and Naive Mereology	Paper - By Subtopic	Nous, 27, No. 2, Jun., 1993, pp. 219-228	22%
Schiffer (Stephen)	Two Issues of Vagueness	Paper - By Subtopic	The Monist, Vol. 81, No. 2, Vagueness (April 1998), pp. 193-214	No
Sutton (Catherine S.)	Almost One, Overlap and Function	Paper - By Subtopic	Analysis 75, no. 1 (2015): 45–52	33%
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Problem of the Many	Paper - By Subtopic		Yes
Tye (Michael)	Fuzzy Realism and the Problem of the Many	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophical Studies, Vol. 81, No. 2/3, (Mar., 1996), pp. 215-225	No
Unger (Peter)	All the Power in the World	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Unger (Peter) - All the Power in the World	No
Unger (Peter)	The Mental Problems of the Many	Paper - By Subtopic	Oxford Studies in Metaphysics, Vol.1 (2004): 195-222	8%
Unger (Peter)	The Problem of the Many	Paper - Cited	Midwest Studies in Philosophy V, 1980, pp. 411-67	6%
Unger (Peter)	Why We Really May Be Immaterial Souls	Paper - By Subtopic	Unger - All the Power in the World, 2006, Chapter 7	No
Van Inwagen (Peter)	Material Beings	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Van Inwagen (Peter) - Material Beings	27%
Van Inwagen (Peter)	Naive Mereology, Admissible Valuations, and Other Matters	Paper - By Subtopic	Nous, 27, No. 2, Jun., 1993, pp. 229-234	33%
Van Inwagen (Peter)	Précis of Material Beings	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 53, No. 3, Sep., 1993, pp. 683-686	Yes
Van Inwagen (Peter)	The Problem of the Many and the Vagueness of Composition	Paper - By Subtopic	Van Inwagen - Material Beings; 1990; Ch. 17	No
Weatherson (Brian)	Many Many Problems	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophical Quarterly, 2003, Vol. 53: 481-501	No
Weatherson (Brian)	Stages, Worms, Slices and Lumps	Paper - By Subtopic	Personal Website	No
Weatherson (Brian)	The Problem of the Many	Paper - By Subtopic	Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, 2003-14	4%
Williams (J. Robbie G.)	An Argument for the Many	Paper - By Subtopic	Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Vol. 106 (2006), pp. 411-419	No
Woods (Evan Thomas)	The Problems of the Many	Paper - By Subtopic	PhD Thesis, Ohio State University, 2019	2%

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Text Colour Conventions

1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025

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