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Write-up2 (as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12): Metamorphosis
Plug Note3
- Thesis Text:
- Metamorphosis involves a radical and fairly rapid change of bodily4 form in the same individual5, by comparison with “business as usual” growth and maturation – catastrophic injury doesn’t count. No doubt this begs the question somewhat in assuming that we do indeed have the same individual.
- Tadpoles → frogs and caterpillars → butterflies are, in seems to me, different kinds of cases of metamorphosis. If there is anything it’s like to be a caterpillar or a tadpole, the caterpillar’s experience of metamorphosis will differ from that of the tadpole’s, as the caterpillar transforms into the butterfly via goo, whereas the tadpole’s metamorphosis into the frog is continuous6 with it remaining an active organism7.
- While “Tadpole → Frog” is a paradigm case of Metamorphosis, presumably there’s no more metamorphosis in this transformation than there is in fetus8 → neonate in humans and mammals generally? Isn’t the difference between the maturation of a tadpole and fetus simply the environment and food-source? Maybe not, since the tadpole’s gills and tail have to be re-absorbed and the material used for the frog’s front and rear legs respectively. The use of the collagenase enzyme in this process is described in detail in "Al-Khalili (Jim) & McFadden (Johnjoe) - Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology", Chapter 3, pp. 110-112.
- If the account of Sortals9 is correct, metamorphosis involving a change of Ultimate Sortal is a logical impossibility (in the sense of the very same thing metamorphosing as in the frog to prince case). I suppose, in this last case, we might have the Ultimate Sortal as Organism10 of which Frog and Prince (or Human Being11) are Phase Sortals12, but then, what is an Ultimate Sortal in one context is a Phase Sortal in another. Is this an issue?
- How should the (supposed) case of bodily transformation to be expected by the Christian at Christ’s return be understood? In that case – see 1 Corinthians 15:5213 – rather than dying and being resurrected14 to a new body, the living body is “… changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump”. Is this a case of metamorphosis? What about the dead (supposedly) coming out of their graves during the same event? Are these Corpses15 metamorphosed into (resurrection) bodies?
- "Bynum (Caroline) - Metamorphosis and Identity" is presumably the jumping-off point for this topic, though the detailed text seems overly fixated on medieval fascination with werewolves.
References
- Relevant Works cited above:
- "Al-Khalili (Jim) & McFadden (Johnjoe) - Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology", 2015, Book, Read
- "Bynum (Caroline) - Metamorphosis and Identity", 2001, Book
- For a page of Links16 to this Note, Click here. In the reading lists below, some of the items may only touch on this topic tangentially.
- Works on this topic that I’ve actually read17, include the following:-
- Aeon:
- "Aeon - Video - The incredible life of Maria Sibylla Merian", 2022, External Link
- "Aeon - Video - The many disguises of Australian walking sticks", 2022, External Link
- General:
- "Al-Khalili (Jim) & McFadden (Johnjoe) - Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology", 2015, Book
- "Arnold (Keith) - The Subject of Radical Change", 1978, Internal PDF Link
- "Baillie (James) - Identity, Survival, and Sortal Concepts", 1990, Internal PDF Link
- "Baillie (James) - What Am I?", 1993, Write-Up Note18, Footnote19
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Big-Tent Metaphysics", 2008, Write-Up Note20, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Personal Identity Over Time", 2000, Write-Up Note21, Internal PDF Link
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Reply to Olson", 2001, Write-Up Note22, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Gasser (Georg) - Personal Identity and Resurrection: Introduction", 2010, Annotations
- "Johnston (Mark) - Human Beings", 1987, Write-Up Note23, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Kafka (Franz), Pasley (Malcolm) - Metamorphosis and Other Stories", 2000 Reprint, Book
- "Kazez (Jean) - The Philosophical Parent: Asking the Hard Questions About Having and Raising Children", 2017
- "Lockwood (Michael) - When Does a Life Begin?", 1987, Annotations
- "Markosian (Ned) - Three Problems for Olson's Account of Personal Identity", 2008, Write-Up Note24, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Olson (Eric) - Replies to Baker, Markosian & Zimmerman", 2008, Write-Up Note25, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
- "Shoemaker (David) - Personal Identity and Immortality", 2009
- "Wilson (Jack) - Beyond Horses and Oak Trees: A New Theory of Individuation for Living Entities", 1999, Annotations
- A further reading list might start with:-
- General:
- "Bynum (Caroline) - Metamorphosis and Identity", 2001, Book
- "Carter (William) - Can Substantial Changes Be Qualitative Changes?", 1989
- "Curran (Andrew) - Monsters and the Self in the Rêve de d'Alembert", 1997, Internal PDF Link
- "Leroi (Armand Marie) - Mutants: On the Form, Varieties and Errors of the Human Body", 2004, Book, Read = 1%
- "Price (Marjorie) - Identity Through Time", 1977, Annotations, Internal PDF Link, Read = 147%
- "Sacks (Oliver) - An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales", 1995, Read = 2%
- "Wexelblatt (Robert) - The Higher Parody: Ivan Ilych's Metamorphosis and the Death of Gregor Samsa", 1980, Internal PDF Link, Read = 8%, Footnote26
- 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: No items to list.
- This is mostly a place-holder27.
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 (06/07/2023 00:43:12).
- Link to Latest Write-Up Note.
Footnote 19: Footnote 26:
- This may be an interesting comparison of two novellas, both germane to my thesis.
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2026