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Personal Identity

Continuity

(Text as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12)

Plug Note¹

• Thesis Text:
  1. Continuity is one of the principle factors taken into account when determining or deciding whether an object of whatever sort² has survived³ some change⁴.
  2. “Spatio-temporal” continuity is usually what is intended, though this might be deemed to beg the question against certain forms of the Psychological View⁵ of Personal Identity where the continuity required is psychological: while this continuity is temporal, it’s not obviously spatial unless psychology is dependent on something physical (the brain⁶), something denied by substance dualists⁷.
  3. To be identity-preserving, the change must not be too radical or too swift: both of these break the continuity requirement.
  4. In particular, it is usually held that
     1. An object cannot survive the loss of one of its essential properties⁸. If this loss involves continuous change, we may encounter a sorites⁹ paradox.
     2. Nor can the object change too many of its parts at once, though some things may change all of their parts over time provided change is gradual.
     3. Nor can it change sortal¹⁰, which makes radical metamorphosis¹¹ impossible.
        
  5. In all of the above cases there is deemed to be insufficient continuity between successive stages of a thing to allow for its persistence¹².
  6. I don’t think in the above that “gradual” means “slowly”, though this will usually be the case. What is needed is for there to be many intermediate steps to allow continuity. Each change involved in each of the steps has to be “minor”. All this is somewhat vague¹³.

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  Further Remarks:
  1. This topic – and the associated reading material – is also covered further under the heads of the following specific applications of continuity:-
     • Connectedness vs Continuity¹⁴,
     • Physical Continuity¹⁵,
     • Psychological Continuity¹⁶, and
     • Psychological Continuity – Forward¹⁷.

References

• Relevant Works cited above: No items to list.
• For a Page of Links¹⁸ to this Note, Click here. There are far too many “hits” for an updating run. I’ve focussed on items with “Continuity” in the title. I’ve ignored items focusing on Psychological Continuity, which has its own Note.
• Works on this topic that I’ve actually read¹⁹, include the following:-
  • General:
    1. "Hirsch (Eli) - Continuity", 1982
    2. "Oderberg (David) - Continuity as the Criterion of Identity Over Time: The Classical Theory of Continuity", 1993
    3. "Shoemaker (David) - Personal Identity and Immortality", 2009
    4. "Shoemaker (David) - Personal Identity and Self-Regarding Ethics - Alternative Approaches", 2009
    5. "Shoemaker (David) - Personal Identity, Rational Anticipation, and Self-Concern", 2009
    6. "Williams (Bernard) - Bodily Continuity and Personal Identity", 1960, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
• A further reading list might start with:-
  • General:
    1. "Brennan (Andrew) - Discontinuity and Identity", 1987, Internal PDF Link, Read = 6%
    2. "Brennan (Andrew) - Identity and Continuity", 1988
    3. "Brennan (Andrew) - Identity and Discontinuity", 1988
    4. "Coburn (Robert) - Bodily Continuity and Personal Identity", 1960
    5. "Coburn (Robert) - Identity and Spatio-Temporal Continuity", 1971, No Abstract
    6. "Elliot (Robert) - Personal Identity And The Causal Continuity Requirement", 1991, Internal PDF Link
    7. "Hall (D. Geoffrey) - Continuity and the Persistence of Objects: When the Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of the Parts", 1998, Internal PDF Link
    8. "Kilborn (William) - Contact and Continuity", 2007, No Abstract
    9. "LePoidevin (Robin) - Continuants and Continuity", 2000, Internal PDF Link
    10. "Oderberg (David) - Continuity as the Criterion of Identity Over Time: Continuity Without Stages?", 1993
    11. "Oderberg (David) - The Myth of Continuity: A Coherent Ontology?", 1993
    12. "Park (Desiree) - Persons and Continuity", 1972
    13. "Runggaldier (Edmund) - Sortal Continuity of Material Things", 1998, Internal PDF Link, Read = 11%
    14. "Scaltsas (Theodore) - Identity, Origin and Spatiotemporal Continuity", 1981, Internal PDF Link
    15. "Wiggins (David) - Identity & Spatio-temporal Continuity", 1967, Book, Read = 5%

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• 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:-
  1. Read: No items to list.
  2. Further Reading: No items to list.
• This is mostly a place-holder²⁰.

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Table of the Previous 8 Versions of this Note:

Date	Length	Title
20/09/2022 11:24:00	3643	Continuity
04/05/2022 11:19:41	3262	Continuity
09/02/2021 21:59:02	2637	Continuity
17/09/2020 23:45:36	2402	Continuity
05/02/2018 20:02:24	3321	Continuity
18/12/2010 19:58:05	293	Continuity
26/11/2007 23:25:26	204	Continuity
12/08/2007 10:17:46	205	Continuity

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Note last updated	Reading List for this Topic	Parent Topic
06/07/2023 00:43:12	Continuity	Connectedness vs Continuity

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Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note

Awaiting Attention (Personal Identity)	Brain	Change	Connectedness vs Continuity	Dualism
Metamorphosis	Note Links Explanation	Persistence	Physical Continuity	Plug Note Apologia
Properties	Psychological Continuity	Psychological Continuity - Forward	Psychological View	Sorites
Sortals	Survival	Vagueness	Works Read - Explanation

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

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Summary of Notes Citing This Note

Bodily Continuity	Connectedness vs Continuity	Dracula	Exdurantism	Existential Passage
Metamorphosis	PID Note, Book & Paper Usage, 2, 3, 4	Research - Proposal	Resurrection	Scattered Objects
Similarity	Strawson - Why I Have No Future	Thesis - Chapter 02 (What are We?)	Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues), 2, 3	Thesis - Chapter 05 (Persistence and Time), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It), 2	Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments)	Thesis - Chapter 11 (Resurrection)	Thesis - Chapter 12 (Conclusion)	Thesis - Current Stance
Thesis - Personal Identity, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12	Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6	Wiggins, 2

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

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Authors, Books & Papers Citing this Note

Author	Title	Medium	Extra Links	Read?
Johnston (Mark)	Is Heaven a Place We Can Get To?	Paper
Schechtman (Marya)	Personality and Persistence: The Many Faces of Personal Survival	Paper
Strawson (Galen)	Why I Have No Future	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Bodily Continuity	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 02 (What Are We?)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues)	Paper	2, 3	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 05 (Persistence and Time)	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It)	Paper	2	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 11 (Resurrection)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 12 (Conclusion)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Connectedness vs Continuity	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Current Position	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Dracula	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Exdurantism	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Metamorphosis	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Personal Identity	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Resurrection	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Scattered Objects	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Similarity	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Wiggins	Paper	2	Yes

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References & Reading List

Author	Title	Medium	Source	Read?
Brennan (Andrew)	Conditions of Identity	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Brennan (Andrew) - Conditions of Identity	0%
Brennan (Andrew)	Discontinuity and Identity	Paper - Cited	Nous, Vol. 21, No. 2. (Jun., 1987), pp. 241-260	6%
Brennan (Andrew)	Identity and Continuity	Paper - By Subtopic	Brennan - Conditions of Identity, 1988, Chapter 1	No
Hirsch (Eli)	Continuity	Paper - Cited	Hirsch - The Concept of Identity, 1982, Chapter 1	Yes
Hirsch (Eli)	The Concept of Identity	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	Yes
Kilborn (William)	Contact and Continuity	Paper - By Subtopic	Zimmerman (Dean), Ed. - Oxford Studies in Metaphysics: Volume 3	No
LePoidevin (Robin)	Continuants and Continuity	Paper - By Subtopic	Monist, Jul2000, Vol. 83 Issue 3, p381, 18p	No
Oderberg (David)	Continuity as the Criterion of Identity Over Time: Continuity Without Stages?	Paper - By Subtopic	Oderberg - The Metaphysics of Identity Over Time, 1993, Chapter 2	No
Oderberg (David)	Continuity as the Criterion of Identity Over Time: The Classical Theory of Continuity	Paper - By Subtopic	Oderberg - The Metaphysics of Identity Over Time, 1993, Chapter 1	Yes
Oderberg (David)	The Metaphysics of Identity Over Time	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Oderberg (David) - The Metaphysics of Identity Over Time	3%
Oderberg (David)	The Myth of Continuity: A Coherent Ontology?	Paper - By Subtopic	Oderberg - The Metaphysics of Identity Over Time, 1993, Chapter 5	No
Park (Desiree)	Persons and Continuity	Paper - By Subtopic	Park - Persons: Theories and Perceptions, 1972, Chapter 5	No
Park (Desiree)	Persons: Theories and Perceptions	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Park (Desiree) - Persons: Theories and Perceptions	No
Scaltsas (Theodore)	Identity, Origin and Spatiotemporal Continuity	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophy, Vol. 56, No. 217 (Jul., 1981), pp. 395-402	No
Spiegel (Murray)	Advanced Calculus (Schaum Outline Series)	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Spiegel (Murray) - Advanced Calculus (Schaum Outline Series)	0%
Spiegel (Murray)	Advanced Calculus: Functions, Limits and Continuity	Paper - By Subtopic	Spiegel - Advanced Calculus (Schaum Outline Series), 1974	No
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Continuity	Paper - By Subtopic		Yes
Wiggins (David)	Identity & Spatio-temporal Continuity	Book - Cited	Wiggins (David) - Identity & Spatio-temporal Continuity	5%
Zimmerman (Dean), Ed.	Oxford Studies in Metaphysics: Volume 3	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Zimmerman (Dean), Ed. - Oxford Studies in Metaphysics: Volume 3	10%

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Text Colour Conventions

1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2026

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