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Write-up₁ (as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12): Dracula

Plug Note²

• Thesis Text:
  1. In October 2022, while tossing and turning with Covid in the dead of night, it occurred to me that the fictional Dracula might be a useful case study for various issues in the general area of Personal Identity. This Note is the end result.
  2. Count Dracula is only a Fiction₃, but the vicissitudes he is supposed to be able to survive may be worth some brief considerations to determine whether they are metaphysically possible – or even make logical sense.
  3. I have no great interest in what supposedly causes vampirism – whether it’s a virus or whatever, nor on how it’s passed on. Nor do I care about Dracula’s abilities to climb walls or fly through the air. Nor about his supposed aversion to garlic or crucifixes.
  4. However, the vampire is supposed to only maintain his Existence⁴ by drinking blood – preferably human, but animal blood – particularly of rats – will do at a pinch. I presume there’s some refection of ancient ideas that ‘the Life⁵ – or Soul⁶ – is in the blood’, which was not to be eaten.
  5. Dracula is described as ‘undead’. That is – he has died at some point – in fact at many points in later retellings in order to keep the sequels running – but is neither claimed to be alive nor dead. We might reflect on how such an idea squares with our normal ideas of what Life⁷ and Death⁸ are.
  6. The fictional claims that really interest me relate to Dracula’s Metamorphoses⁹. The first question is what he ‘really’ looks like. In the book, and film thereof, Dracula in has castle looks as you might expect someone over 400 years old to look. But when he appears in public, he looks young and handsome. Then – in the dénouement – when he is mortally wounded in the guise of his ancient self – he reverts to his youthful self in response to Mina’s kiss, after which he is ‘released’ by beheading. A question is – is he metamorphosing, or supposed to be influencing the vision of his beholders? As the latter would be needlessly complicated in busy London streets, I assume the former, especially as he is supposed to be able to transform himself in other – more radical - ways. Enough to say there’s nothing metaphysically problematical about such identity-preserving Metamorphosis¹⁰, as it’s presumably ‘just’ a rearrangement of Matter¹¹, with some need for an energy source to effect the same. One needn’t worry about the details.
  7. The more interesting metamorphoses involve Dracula’s supposed Metamorphosis¹² into a large dog-like animal on leaving the ship at Whitby, and into a mist, into bats, and rats.
  8. Transformation into a dog (and back) would be a trans-species Metamorphosis¹³. I’ve not much special to add here. If Dracula still falls under the Natural Kind¹⁴ concept Human Being¹⁵, and the natural kind is an essential property of the Individual¹⁶, then he would cease to exist as the dog, but – if Intermittent Existence¹⁷ is allowed – might subsequently ‘exist again’. The same might apply to the other transformations.
  9. It is supposed that Dracula transforms himself into many bats (or rats). Bats and rats are much of a muchness. The interesting common feature is the one-to-many ratio. If Dracula cannot survive – logically speaking – Metamorphosis¹⁸ into a dog, he certainly can’t survive transformation into a single rat or bat, let alone many of them. Each rat – we may suppose – is an independent sentient being. Can they collectively constitute another being? Would this ‘distributed’ being be an Individual¹⁹? Are we to suppose Dracula to be conscious in this state? It is true that Organisms²⁰ are constituted by a multitude of cells, but these cells aren’t independent beings. More could be said – maybe along the lines of Societies²¹.
  10. Transformation into a mist is very odd. Presumably this is disassembly into microscopic constituent parts. Can an Organism²² – as distinct from a bicycle₂₃ – survive such an adventure? "Olson (Eric) - Life After Death and the Devastation of the Grave" thinks not. Would he cease to exist in the interim or exist as a Scattered Object²⁴?
  11. It’s not in the book, but – at least in Hammer Horror – human blood dropped onto his ashes allows Dracula to regenerate. This would seem to be an example of Resurrection²⁵. At least there’s some physical Continuity²⁶ mediated by the ashes.

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  Further Remarks:
  1. As is apparent from the above, this Note relates to – and could be subordinated under – numerous others, including:-
     • Thought Experiments²⁷
     • Metamorphosis²⁸
     • Life²⁹
     • Death³⁰
     • Resurrection³¹