Theo Todman's Web Page - Paper Abstracts

Philosophers Index Abstract

1. Consciousness¹ may be an episodic phenomenon.
2. The general conditions of identity for episodic objects² are discussed, with a view to throwing light on identity conditions for minds³.
3. By considering both four-dimensionalist⁴ and non-four-dimensionalist⁵ metaphysics, certain conditions on identity are isolated as of crucial importance: these concern matter, structure and cause, and they seem to apply successfully both to physical and to psychological cases.
4. One of three conditions, the one concerning structure, is discussed at length, for it suggests a more illuminating treatment of identity than one given in terms of sortal-covered⁶ continuity.
5. A concept of survival⁷ like the one introduced in the early work of Parfit⁸ also plays an important part in the discussion, and it emphasizes that the proposals in the paper involve conceptual development rather than conceptual analysis.