Theo Todman's Web Page - Notes Pages
Status Reports
Status: Personal Identity (2016 - March)
(Text as at 05/04/2016 23:19:41)
(For other versions of this Note, see the tables at the end)
Rationale for this Project- I am researching the subject of Personal Identity primarily because of its intrinsic interest and importance. It is really a sub-topic in my Philosophy of Religion1 project, with its penultimate chapter considering the metaphysical possibility of resurrection.
- While I’m interested in the topic of my research in its own right, I think when I’ve sorted it out a bit, and have something to say, I’ll want to engage with other philosophers active in this field – and re-starting a PhD at Birkbeck or elsewhere might be the only effective way to do this.
- While a PhD is not an end in itself, and certainly not the ultimate aim of my doing philosophy, it’s still true that a PhD would teach me research techniques, provide focus and direction, and furnish a professional qualification should I want to publish any results in this or any other area of philosophy.
- The jumping-off point for my thesis is here2, and a progress dashboard is here3.
Summary of Progress during January – March 2016- I spent 164 hours in 1Q16 on my Thesis or Thesis-related work (420 hours YTD, where for “YTD” – Year to Date – I mean the (academic) year that commenced in October 2015). That’s 70% of the planned effort (89% YTD). Overall, 25% of my Project effort in the Quarter was directed towards this project (making 33% YTD) – as against 35% planned (35% YTD). This was a disappointment after last month, and was downto an increased focus on Web Tools and Bridge.
- Progress between reports can be obtained from the relevant section of my Summary Task List (Click Here4).
- This quarter, effort was yet again expended on a vast number of tasks, as listed in the task list below, but key items immediately follow …
- Enhanced my Notes on:-
- Discovered Guy Claxton and bought another couple of his books. I’m hoping "Claxton (Guy) - Intelligence in the Flesh: Why Your Mind Needs Your Body Much More Than it Thinks" will provide an antidote to the brain transplant intuition, a thorn in the side of animalism.
- Additionally, purchased – and started reading – the following books:-
→ "Korsgaard (Christine) - Self-Constitution: Agency, Identity, and Integrity", and
→ "Lowe (E.J.) - More Kinds of Being: A Further Study of Individuation, Identity and the Logic of Sortal Terms". - Completed – at long last – an extensive analysis of "Johnston (Mark) - Human Beings".
- Reviewed "Stewart-Williams (Steve) - On the Origin of Afterlife Beliefs by Means of Memetic Selection".
- Continued reviewing "Olson (Eric) - Psychology and Personal Identity".
- Took a good look at "Cerullo (Michael A.) - Uploading and Branching Identity".
- Converted some old write-ups to Note form, including:-
→ "Aristotle - De Interpretatione, Chapter 9", and
→ "Williams (Bernard) - The Self and the Future". - Made minor updates to most chapters of my Thesis.
- As background activities,
- More detail follows:-
Thesis (Total Hours = 128.75)- Thesis - Reading / Writing (Total Hours = 122.75)
- "Aristotle - De Interpretatione, Chapter 9" (Write, 3 hours)
- "Bird (Alexander) & Tobin (Emma) - Natural Kinds" (Read / Write, 3.25 hours)
- "Cerullo (Michael A.) - Uploading and Branching Identity" (Read / Write, 4.5 hours)
- "Claxton (Guy) - Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Claxton (Guy) - Intelligence in the Flesh - Limbering Up: An Introduction" (Read / Write, 11 hours)
- "Claxton (Guy) - The Wayward Mind: An Intimate History of the Unconscious" (Read / Write, 2 hours)
- "Damasio (Antonio) - Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain" (Write, 1.5 hours)
- "Feldman (Steven P.) - The Professional Conscience: A Psychoanalytic Study of Moral Character in Tolstoy's 'The Death of Ivan Ilych'" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Felps (Maryann) - How to Live? What We Can Learn from Ivan Ilych's Death" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Francione (Gary) - The Diagnosis: Our Moral Schizophrenia about Animals" (Read / Write, 2 hours)
- "Gavin (William J.) - En Attendant La Mort: Plato's Socrates, Tolstoy's Ivan Ilych, and Beckett's Waiting for Godot" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Graham (George) & Kennedy (Ralph) - Review of Thomas Metzinger's Being No-One: The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Jackson (Frank) & Priest (Graham) - Lewisian Themes: The Philosophy of David K. Lewis: Introduction" (Write, 1.25 hours)
- "Johnston (Mark) - Human Beings" (Read / Write, 36.5 hours)
- "Kamm (F.M.) - Rescuing Ivan Ilych: How We Live and How We Die" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Korsgaard (Christine) - Self-Constitution: Agency, Identity, and Integrity" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Lewin (Roger) - Is Your Brain Really Necessary?" (Read / Write, 1 hour)
- "Lewis (David) - Convention" (Read / Write, 1.5 hours)
- "Lichterman (Boleslav) - Medical Classics: The Death of Ivan Ilych" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Lowe (E.J.) - More Kinds of Being: Preface" (Write, 2.5 hours)
- "Marshall (Richard) & Fabre (Cécile) - Cecile Fabre: On the Intrinsic Value of Each of Us" (Read, 1 hour)
- "Marshall (Richard) & Korsgaard (Christine) - Christine Korsgaard: Treating People as an End in Themselves" (Read, 1 hour)
- "Marshall (Richard) & Mele (Alfred) - Alfred R. Mele: The $4 Million Philosopher" (Read, 1 hour)
- "Marshall (Richard) & Priest (Graham) - Graham Priest: Logically Speaking" (Read, 1 hour)
- "Martin (Raymond) & Barresi (John) - Personal Identity and What Matters In Survival: An Historical Overview" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Metzinger (Thomas) - Being No One: Questions" (Read / Write, 2 hours)
- "Napier (James J.) - The Stages of Dying and 'The Death of Ivan Ilych'" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Nozick (Robert) - Philosophical Explanations: Introduction" (Write, 2.5 hours)
- "Nozick (Robert) - The Identity of the Self: Introduction" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Olney (James) - Experience, Metaphor, and Meaning: 'The Death of Ivan Ilych'" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Olson (Eric) - Psychology and Personal Identity" (Write, 2.75 hours)
- "Pachmuss (Temira) - The Theme of Love and Death in Tolstoy's the Death of Ivan Ilyich" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Pope (Stephen J.) - Compassion and Self-Deception: The Unity of Love and Truthfulness in Leo Tolstoy's 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich'" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Rorty (Richard) - The Mirror Of Nature: Introduction" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Skinner (B.F.) - Beyond Freedom and Dignity" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Stewart-Williams (Steve) - On the Origin of Afterlife Beliefs by Means of Memetic Selection" (Write, 5.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 01 (Introduction)" (Write, 2 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 02 (What Are We?)" (Write, 1.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 03 (What is a Person?)" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues)" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 05 (Persistence and Time)" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It)" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 07 (The Constitution View and Arguments for It)" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 08 (Arguments against Animalism)" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 09 (Arguments against the Constitution View)" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments)" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 11 (Resurrection)" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Connectedness vs Continuity" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Corpses" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Human Beings" (Write, 2 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Ivan Ilych" (Write, 3.75 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Kinds" (Write, 2 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Natural Kinds" (Write, 1.75 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Non-Human Persons" (Write, 1.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Reductionism" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Transhumanism" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Wexelblatt (Robert) - The Higher Parody: Ivan Ilych's Metamorphosis and the Death of Gregor Samsa" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Williams (Bernard) - The Self and the Future" (Write, 5.25 hours)
- Thesis - Discussions
- Thesis - Lectures
- Thesis - Research Repositioning (Total Hours = 5)
Thesis Background (Total Hours = 35.75)- Thesis Background - Reading / Writing (Total Hours = 24.5)
- "Borges (Jorge Luis) - Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Irby (James E.) - Labyrinths: Introduction" (Read, 0.75 hours)
- "Marshall (Richard) & Anderson (Elizabeth S.) - Elizabeth S. Anderson: The New Leveller" (Read, 1 hour)
- "Marshall (Richard) & Lindemann (Hilde) - Hilde Lindemann: No Ethics Without Feminism" (Read, 0.75 hours)
- "Marshall (Richard) & Renz (Ursula) - Ursula Renz: After Spinoza: Wiser, Freer, Happier" (Read, 0.75 hours)
- "Maurois (Andre) - Labyrinths: Preface" (Read, 0.75 hours)
- "Somerset Maugham (W.) - Short Stories" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- Somerset Maugham (W.) - Short Stories: Before the Party (Read / Write, 2.5 hours)
- Somerset Maugham (W.) - Short Stories: Mackintosh (Read / Write, 3.25 hours)
- Somerset Maugham (W.) - Short Stories: P & O (Read, 1.75 hours)
- Somerset Maugham (W.) - Short Stories: Rain (Read / Write, 4.5 hours)
- Somerset Maugham (W.) - Short Stories: The Casuarina Tree (Read / Write, 0.5 hours)
- Somerset Maugham (W.) - Short Stories: The Fall of Edward Barnard (Read / Write, 3.75 hours)
- "Thompson (Morgan), Adleberg (Toni), Sims (Sam) & Nahmias (Eddy) - Why Do Women Leave Philosophy? Surveying Students at the Introductory Level" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Why Play Bridge?" (Write, 2.5 hours)
- Thesis Background - Books Admin (Total Hours = 6.75)
- Admin - Catalogue Papers and Books - Computing Categorisation (2.25 hours)
- "Admin - Catalogue Papers and Books (including Abstract improvements)" (0.25 hours)
- Admin - Catalogue Papers and Books (including Abstract improvements) - Blackmore (1.75 hours)
- Admin - Catalogue Papers and Books (including Abstract improvements) - Springer Downloads (1 hour)
- Admin - Catalogue Papers and Books (including Abstract improvements) - Westermarck (1.5 hours)
- Thesis Background - Status
Plans for the Near Future – Top Priority Tasks - I now have a clear idea of what I want to do over the next 3 years11, which is to complete a thesis to my own satisfaction. As such I require rigorous focus on the priority tasks, books and papers. Lower-priority reading is not likely to get a look in, so will be cut.
- An “ideal” next step (and one previously suggested) is to ensure that everything of relevance that I have actually read is written up and incorporated in my Notes database and only later – and secondly – consider anything that I have not yet read. This would require discipline, in that interesting new stuff is always turning up, and would be an iterative process. Further, given I’m not getting any younger, it could also be wasting time which should be focussed on using the most relevant materials.
- So, if what I’ve read and written on – in the form of particular papers on a particular topic – is most relevant, I’ll “process” that, but otherwise will start anew.
- As far as effort is concerned, to balance the books I’ve had to reduce planned hours / week from 18 to 16 – though this will increase once I’ve caught up with the backlog of work on my web-tools12 project.
- So, the tasks for the next quarter are:-
- Continue with my Thesis13; in particular fill out those sections that I can write something on without further research.
- Complete a full review and update of the Notes I’ve created on Personal Identity, focusing on those with least content.
- Make progress on specific Chapters, using the materials below …
- Chapter 214 (What Are We?). Focussing on:-
- Human Beings: "Johnston (Mark) - 'Human Beings' Revisited: My Body is Not an Animal".
- Selves:-
- "Dainton (Barry) - Self: Philosophy In Transit",
- "O'Hear (Anthony), Ed. - Mind, Self and Person".
- Chapter 615 (Animalism). Focussing on:-
- "Olson (Eric) - The Human Animal - Personal Identity Without Psychology", my core text,
- "Merricks (Trenton) - Objects and Persons",
- "Bailey (Andrew M.) - The Elimination Argument",
- "Olson (Eric) - On Parfit's View That We Are Not Human Beings",
- "Olson (Eric) - The Metaphysical Implications of Conjoined Twining",
- "Olson (Eric) - The Role of the Brainstem in Personal Identity",
- "Shoemaker (Sydney) - Persons, Animals, and Identity",
- "Snowdon (Paul) - Persons, Animals, Ourselves".
- Chapter 716 (The Constitution View):-
- Start a serious review of "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Persons and Bodies: A Constitution View", my other core text.
- Read and review "Corcoran (Kevin) - Rethinking Human Nature: A Christian Materialist Alternative to the Soul".
- Chapter 1117 (Resurrection):-
- Start a thorough review of "Martin (L. Michael) & Augustine (Keith) - The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life After Death",
- Start a review of "Luper (Steven), Ed. - The Cambridge Companion to Life and Death", especially
- "Olson (Eric) - The Nature of People",
- Read and review "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Death and the Afterlife",
- "Corcoran (Kevin) - Dualism, Materialism and the Problem of Post Mortem Survival".
- As background tasks:-
- Convert old PDF-précis, Etc18. to Notes,
- Complete cataloguing the books downloaded from Springer,
- Continue with "Marshall (Richard) - Philosophy at 3:AM: Questions and Answers with 25 Top Philosophers",
- Complete "Erber (Joan T.) & Szuchman (Lenore T.) - Great Myths of Aging",
- Complete "Dunne (John S.) - City of the Gods: A Study in Myth and Mortality",
- Continue reading and reviewing "Somerset Maugham (W.) - Short Stories",
- Keep up with the Journals via JSTOR19.
Summary of Progress to Date
This was hived off to a separate Note20 back in 2010, and hasn’t changed much since.
In-Page Footnotes
Footnote 11: - Hopefully, I may complete, or get stuck, earlier.
- By “3 years”, I mean the period ending on my 65th birthday – ie. 13/11/2018. This is not to slip!
- On the plus side, I’m much further advanced than would be expected of someone commencing a PhD.
- On the minus side, I want to go into greater depth, and have other projects on the go – most notably my Web-tools project.
Live Version of this Archived Note
Table of 12 Earlier Versions of this Note (of 60)
Table of the 7 Later Versions of this Note
| This version updated |
Reference for this Topic |
Parent Topic |
| 05/04/2016 23:19:41 |
518 (Status: Personal Identity (2016 - March)) |
Status: Summary (2018 - March) |
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