Transplant thought-experiments: Two costly mistakes in discounting them
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Date
2014
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Abstract
�Transplant� thought-experiments, in which the cerebrum is moved from one body to another have featured in a number of recent discussions in the personal identity literature. Once taken as offering confirmation of some form of psychological continuity theory of identity, arguments from Marya Schechtman and Kathleen Wilkes have contended that this is not the case. Any such apparent support is due to a lack of detail in their description or a reliance on predictions that we are in no position to make. I argue that the case against them rests on two serious misunderstandings of the operation of thought-experiments, and that even if they do not ultimately support a psychological continuity theory, they do major damage to that theory�s opponents.
Description
Keywords
Thought experiments, Psychological Continuity Theory, Marya Schechtman, Personal identity
Citation
Beck, S. et al. (2014). Transplant thought-experiments: two costly mistakes in discounting them. South African Journal of Philosophy, 33(2): 189-199