- This pseudo-Paper is intended as the mechanism to record time spent on the Note 'Forensic Property1' during my Thesis research, as from 2011.
- For the actual time recorded, click on "Paper Statistics" above.
Write-up2 (as at 02/03/2026 06:24:29): Forensic Property
Plug Note3
- Thesis Text:
- Locke4’s recognition that there are important Forensic – that is, moral – aspects to the topic of Personal Identity is as true today as in his own day, even though we might not share his primary concern in justifying the importance of identifying the resurrected5 with the pre-mortem individuals.
- Animalism6 says that psychology has nothing to do with the metaphysics of our identity – in that we continue on as the same animal – if we do – irrespective of our psychological states and history. While this may be true, most of what matters7 to us in our Survival8 is psychological, and ethical, and our concerns about praise and blame, and especially punishment, remain.
- Also, forensic matters are central to the Concept9 of Person10, even if we are11 not – most fundamentally – persons, and Person is an honorific rather than a Substance12 term.
- Forensic matters are central to discussions as to whether – and if so why – all human beings13 are persons for the entirety of their lives.
- Finally, Animalism is especially well-motivated in considering – for forensic reasons – whether certain Non-Human Animals14 are suitable for admission to the class of Person, maybe of reduced degree15.
- I reject Frankfurt’s proposal (see "Frankfurt (Harry) - Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person") that wantons16 are not persons17, on the grounds that they do satisfy the other standard conditions of personhood: they satisfy rationality and linguistic conditions, have a first-person perspective18 and survival19 matters20 to them.
- The issue of the punishment of already-reformed or amnesiac criminals has been thought relevant to issues of personal identity, as though any reluctance to punish was tied to doubts about identity. Such doubts only reflect confusion on the purpose of punishment; it depends whether we think of punishment as reformative, retributive, a deterrent, or merely treat incarceration or execution as a necessary evil for the protection of society21 (by eliminating the source of harm).
- Only if we think of punishment as reformative, so there’s no point punishing the seriously repentant, might we have doubts about the propriety of carrying out the punishment. However, the reason isn’t that the criminal is a different person but that the needed reformation has already taken place.
- From the other perspectives, for instance the retributive, there is still a point to the punishment of the already-reformed criminal (cf. C.S. Lewis’s advice – probably in "Lewis (C.S.) - Mere Christianity" – to the converted murderer as to his Christian duty – it is “to be hanged”; presumably because this was, in Lewis’s day, his debt to the state, to which, as a good Christian, he must submit), and the temptation to provide reasons not to doesn’t arise.
- With respect to amnesiacs, again there’s only a reluctance to punish on the reformatory view, but again the reluctance has nothing to do with questions of identity, but of the attempt at reformation being ineffective or even counter-productive. If I’m punished for something I can’t remember doing, I’m likely to resent the authority that punishes me.
- There is a question of whether persons22, as distinct from human beings23, are the subjects of special moral concern, or whether it is the reverse implication – that those for whom we feel a special moral concern should be accounted persons.
- Whether all persons are morally equal is another matter altogether. This is relevant because if the Great Apes were to be counted as persons, of what moral status would they be? See "Rachels (James) - Morality without the Idea that Humans are Special", in "Rachels (James) - Created From Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism", for “Moral Individualism”, the view that difference of moral treatment should depend only on the individual’s characteristics, not their group membership, though thus baldly-stated this raises huge questions.
- The Great Ape Project (absurdly, it seems to me; see "Cavalieri (Paola) & Singer (Peter), Eds. - The Great Ape Project - Equality Beyond Humanity") demands moral equality between humans and the great apes, on the grounds that the latter have intellectual capabilities on a par with human 2-3 year-olds. Even human beings aren’t equal in their capacities, but we can invent a law demanding that we treat them equally, and we can enact a law extending this moral equality to encompass the great apes, or even stones, if we like. If the great apes satisfy the criteria for personhood, they are persons, but the right to equality of treatment is only loosely connected to capacities.
Further Remarks:
- This Note will discuss the relation of personal identity to ethics, and how much ethical issues ought to drive our thoughts on the metaphysics of personal identity.
- Several papers in the reading lists below are also covered under the Note on Locke and are only partly relevant.
References
- Relevant Works cited above:
- "Cavalieri (Paola) & Singer (Peter), Eds. - The Great Ape Project - Equality Beyond Humanity", 1993, Book, Read
- "Frankfurt (Harry) - Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person", 1991, Write-Up Note24, Internal PDF Link, Read
- "Rachels (James) - Created From Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism", 1991, Book, Read
- "Rachels (James) - Morality without the Idea that Humans are Special", 1991, No Abstract, Read
- For a Page of Links25 to this Note, Click here.
- Works on this topic that I’ve actually read26, include the following:-
- Aeon:
- "Aeon - Video - Saviour siblings", 2024, External Link
- "Benatar (David) - Kids? Just say no", 2017, No Abstract, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Callcut (Daniel) - Wrestling with relativism", 2023, External Link
- "Cheek (Nathan) - Many of us have the wrong idea about poverty and toughness", 2024, External Link
- "Frick (Walter) - Economics 101", 2024, External Link
- "Gopnik (Alison) - Video - Alison Gopnik: Cognition, care and spirituality", 2021, External Link
- "Kelly (Daniel) & Westra (Evan) - Moral progress is annoying", 2024, External Link
- "Lichtenberg (Judith) - Abolish life sentences", 2022, External Link
- "Sepielli (Andrew) - Ethics has no foundation", 2023, External Link
- "Tasioulas (John) - Are human rights anything more than legal conventions?", 2017, No Abstract, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Uzan (Elad) - Moral mathematics", 2022, External Link
- "Vinocour (Susan) - Criminally insane", 2020, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Wilkinson (Dominic) & Doolabh (Keyur) - Which lives matter most?", 2017, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- General:
- "Cavalieri (Paola) & Singer (Peter), Eds. - The Great Ape Project - Equality Beyond Humanity", 1993, Book
- "Conee (Earl) - Reply to Timothy Chappell", 2000, Internal PDF Link
- "Frankfurt (Harry) - Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person", 1991, Write-Up Note27, Internal PDF Link
- "Hillier-Smith (Bradley) - Moral refuge", 2025, External Link
- "Lerner (Berel Dov) - Review of 'Personal Identity and Ethics: A Brief Introduction' by David Shoemaker", 2009
- "Marshall (Richard) & Broome (John) - John Broome: Weighing goods and people", 2017, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Marshall (Richard) & Woollard (Fiona) - Fiona Woollard: On Doing and Allowing Harm", Undated, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Noonan (Harold) - Locke", 2003, Annotations
- "Rachels (James) - Created From Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism", 1991, Book
- "Rachels (James) - Morality without the Idea that Humans are Special", 1991, No Abstract
- "Scheffler (Samuel) - The Independence and Distinctness of the Personal Point of View", 1994, Footnote28
- "Scruton (Roger) - Human Rights: Nonsense On Stilts?", 2014, External Link
- "Shoemaker (David) - Personal Identity and Ethics: A Brief Introduction", 2009, Book, Footnote29
- "Shoemaker (Sydney) - Persons and Personal Identity", 1996
- "Von Wachter (Daniel) - Free Agents as Cause", 2003, Annotations
- "Williams (Bernard) - Consistency and Realism", 1999, No Abstract, Internal PDF Link
- "Williams (Bernard) - Ethical Consistency", 1999, No Abstract, Internal PDF Link
- "Williams (Bernard) - Persons, Character and Morality", 1976
- A further reading list might start with:-
- General:
- "Archer (Alfred) & Matheson (Benjamin) - When Artists Fall: Honoring and Admiring the Immoral", 2019, Internal PDF Link, Read = 6%
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Persons and the Natural Order", 2007, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 11%
- "Benatar (David) - Better Never to Have Been: The Harm Of Coming Into Existence", 2008, Book, Read = 1%
- "Bennett (Jonathan) - Locke on Diachronic Identity-Judgements", 2001
- "Berghmans (Ron L.P.) - Ethical Hazards of the Substituted Judgement Test in Decision Making Concerning the End of Life of Dementia Patients", 1997, Internal PDF Link
- "Bernstein (Mark H.) - On Moral Considerability - An Essay on Who Morally Matters", 1998, Book
- "Blackburn (Simon) - Williams, Smith, and the Peculiarity of Piacularity", 2015, Internal PDF Link, Read = 7%
- "Blustein (Jeffrey) - Choosing for others as continuing a life story: The problem of personal identity revisited", 1999, Internal PDF Link
- "Brennan (Andrew) - Concepts of a Person", 1988
- "Caruso (Gregg D.) - Skepticism About Moral Responsibility", 2003-15, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 7%
- "Chappell (Tim), Chappell (Sophie Grace) - The Relevance of Metaphysics to Bioethics: A Reply to Earl Conee", 2000, Internal PDF Link, Read = 17%
- "Conee (Earl) - Metaphysics and the morality of abortion", 1999, Internal PDF Link, Read = 4%
- "Cureton (Adam) - Offensive Beneficence", 2016, Internal PDF Link, Read = 7%
- "Degaynesford (Maximilian) - Review of 'The Bounds of Agency: An Essay in Revisionary Metaphysics'", 2002, No Abstract, Internal PDF Link
- "DeGrazia (David) - Must We Have Full Moral Status Throughout Our Existence? A Reply to Alfonso Gómez-Lobo", 2007, Internal PDF Link, Read = 17%
- "Forrester (Mary) - Problems and Persons: Preface", 1996, Annotations, Read = 67%
- "Golding (William) - Lord of the Flies", Book
- "Goodnight (Audra L.) - A Life Worth Living: Value and Responsibility", 2019, Internal PDF Link, Read = 7%
- "Johnston (Mark) - What Is Found At The Center?", 2010, Read = 4%
- "Kavka (Gregory S.) - The Paradox of Future Individuals", 1982, Internal PDF Link, Read = 6%
- "Keba (Andrej) - The Concept of Self-Identity and Moral Conflicts", 2004, Internal PDF Link
- "Kolak (Daniel) - I Am You: The Metaphysical Foundations for Global Ethics", 2004, Book, Read = 1%
- "Lockwood (Michael), Ed. - Moral Dilemmas in Modern Medicine", 1986, Book, Read = 29%
- "Magnusson (Erik) - Children’s rights and the non-identity problem", 2019, Internal PDF Link, Read = 5%
- "McCall (Catherine) - Moral Personhood", 1990
- "McPherson (Stephanie Sammartino) - The Global Refugee Crisis: Fleeing Conflict and Violence", 2019, Book, Read = 21%
- "Morris (Herbert) - Persons and Punishment", 1968
- "Morse (Jennifer) - Rationality Means Being Willing to Say You're Sorry", 2005, Internal PDF Link
- "Nisan (Mordecai) - Personal Identity and Education for the Desirable", 1996
- "Poltera (Jacqui) - Is Personal Identity Evaluative?", 2005, Internal PDF Link
- "Radest (Howard B.) - Biomedical Ethics: Humanist Perspectives", 2006, Book, Read = 1%
- "Robinson (Denis) - Failing To Agree Or Failing To Disagree?: Personal Identity Quasi-Relativism", 2004, Internal PDF Link, Read = 10%
- "Rovane (Carol) - The Bounds of Agency: An Essay in Revisionary Metaphysics", 1998, Book
- "Schechtman (Marya) - Review of 'The Bounds of Agency: An Essay in Revisionary Metaphysics'", 1999, No Abstract, Internal PDF Link
- "Shoemaker (David) - Personal Identity and Practical Concerns", 2007, Internal PDF Link
- "Shoemaker (David) - Theoretical Persons and Practical Agents", 1996, Internal PDF Link
- "Slors (Marc) - Personal Identity and Responsibility for Past Actions", 2000, Internal PDF Link
- "Stenning (Anna) - Understanding empathy through a study of autistic life writing", 2020, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 40%
- "Strawson (Galen) - 'The Secrets of All Hearts': Locke on Personal Identity", 2015, Read = 11%
- "Strawson (Galen) - 'Where our responsibility lies': Locke on personal identity", 2015+, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 24%
- "Tiberius (Valerie) - The Reflective Life: Living Wisely with Our Limits", 2010, Book
- "Velleman (David) - Beyond Price", 2008, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 11%
- "Velleman (David) - Beyond Price: Papers On Life And Death", 2015, Book, Read = 10%
- "Wallace (Kathleen) - Agency, Personhood, and Identity: Carol Rovane's The Bounds of Agency", 2000, No Abstract, Internal PDF Link
- "Wandinger (Nikolaus) - The Rationale behind Purgatory", 2010, Read = 13%
- "Williams (Bernard) - Moral Incapacity", 1993, Internal PDF Link
- "Williams (Bernard) - The Idea of Equality", 1999, No Abstract, Internal PDF Link
- "Woollard (Fiona) - Have We Solved the Non-Identity Problem?", 2012, Internal PDF Link, Read = 8%
- "Woollard (Fiona) - The New Problem of Numbers in Morality", 2014, Internal PDF Link, Read = 11%
- For further papers held on-line of potential interest, follow this Link30. Total papers = 4.
- 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:
- This is mostly a place-holder31.
In-Page Footnotes
Footnote 2:
- This is the write-up as it was when this Abstract was last output, with text as at the timestamp indicated (02/03/2026 06:24:29).
- Link to Latest Write-Up Note.
Footnote 28:
- This Chapter has rather more to do with distributive ethics than personal identity or the FPP.
Footnote 29:
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2026