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Personal Identity

Hume

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

Plug Note¹

• Thesis Text:
  1. Hume’s “Bundle Theory” of personal identity is – as even Hume seemed to agree – hopeless, and I have no intention of becoming a Hume scholar with the intention of extracting some goodness out of it.
  2. Nor, for that matter, do I intend to weigh in to deciding whether Hume did or not use that expression for his theory.

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  Further Remarks:
  1. This Note is eventually intended to cover David Hume’s Bundle Theory² of the human person. Other Bundle Theories³ will be covered under my Note of that title.
  2. Consequently, this Note will simply be a parking-bay for any references that crop up.
  3. All I seem to have at the moment is this discussion of the provenance of the term “Bundle”⁴:-
     1. Julian Baggini questioned the origin of the term on Philos_List in July 2010, and initially made the following comment,
        • No one seems to know who the first person to describe Humean personal identity theories as "Bundle Theories⁵" but there is a passage in Hume which seems to be the inspiration for it.
        • Hume notes that "There are some philosophers who imagine we are every moment intimately conscious of what we call our SELF," but goes on to write:
        • “But setting aside some metaphysicians of this kind, I may venture to affirm of the rest of mankind, that they are nothing but a bundle⁶ or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and movement. Our eyes cannot turn in their sockets without varying our perceptions. Our thought is still more variable than our sight; and all our other senses and faculties contribute to this change; nor is there any single power of the soul, which remains unalterably the same, perhaps for one moment.” (A Treatise of Human Nature, "Hume (David) - Treatise I.IV.VI: Of Personal Identity").
        • This seems to be Hume's only use of the word "Bundle⁷" in the whole of the treatise.
     2. But Baggini then received the following responses:-
        • Mattia Riccardi points out that Reid uses the terms “bundle”⁸ when describing Hume's view in Essays on the Intellectual Power, II, § 12: "what we call a body, is only a bundle⁹ of sensations; and what we call the mind, is only a bundle¹⁰ of thoughts, passions, and emotions, without any subject".
        • David Taylor also notes that "the phrase "bundle¹¹ of perceptions" is used a number of times in T. H. Green's introduction to Hume's works" which may account for its popularity.
  4. Currently, the categorised reading-list below includes all sorts of general stuff by or about Hume on all manner of subjects. I need to prune it so that only items relevant to personal identity are included.

References

• Relevant Works cited above:
  1. "Hume (David) - Treatise I.IV.VI: Of Personal Identity", 1975/1739, External Link, Read
• For a Page of Links¹² to this Note, Click here. This suffers from the same defect as the categorised reading-list.
• Works on this topic that I’ve actually read¹³, include the following:-
  • General:
    1. "Noonan (Harold) - Hume", 2003, Annotations
    2. "Penelhum (Terence) - Self-Identity and Self-Regard", 1976
    3. "Snowdon (Paul) - The Self and Personal Identity", 2009, Write-Up Note¹⁴
  • Hume:
    1. "Hume (David) - Our Idea Of Identity", 1975, No Abstract
    2. "Hume (David) - Second Thoughts (on Personal Identity)", 1975, No Abstract
    3. "Hume (David) - Treatise I.IV.VI: Of Personal Identity", 1975/1739, External Link
• A further reading list might start with:-
  • General:
    1. "Baxter (Donald L.M.) - Hume's Puzzle about Identity", 2000, Internal PDF Link
    2. "Bennett (Jonathan) - Hume and Leibniz on Personal Identity", 2011
    3. "Biro (John I.) - Hume on Self-Identity and Memory", 1976, Internal PDF Link
    4. "Brennan (Andrew) - Fragmented Selves and the Problem of Ownership", 1990, Internal PDF Link
    5. "Brett (Nathan) - Substance and mental identity in Hume's 'Treatise'", 1972, Internal PDF Link
    6. "Fogelin (Robert) - Hume's Worries about Personal Identity", 1992
    7. "Garrett (Don) - Hume's Self-Doubts about Personal Identity", 1981, Internal PDF Link
    8. "Green (Michael) - The Idea Of A Momentary Self And Hume's Theory Of Personal Identity", 1999, Internal PDF Link
    9. "Hirsch (Eli) - Hume's Distinction Between Genuine and Fictitious Identity", 1983, No Abstract
    10. "Mackie (J.L.) - Identity and Diversity", 1976, Footnote₁₅
    11. "McDonough (Jeffrey K.) - Hume's Account Of Memory", 2002, Internal PDF Link
    12. "Mendus (Susan) - Personal Identity: The Two Analogies in Hume", 1980, Internal PDF Link
    13. "Pears (David) - Personal Identity: Hume's Solution and his Later Recantation", 1990, No Abstract
    14. "Pears (David) - Personal Identity: The Problem and Hume's Rejection of Current Solutions", 1990, No Abstract
    15. "Penelhum (Terence) - Hume on Personal Identity", 1955, Internal PDF Link
    16. "Roth (Abraham Sesshu) - What was Hume's Problem with Personal Identity?", 2000, Internal PDF Link
    17. "Stone (Jim) - Hume on Identity: A Defense", 1981, Internal PDF Link
    18. "Stroud (Barry) - The Continued and Distinct Existence of Bodies", 1977, No Abstract
    19. "Stroud (Barry) - The Idea of Personal Identity", 1977, No Abstract
    20. "Wartofsky (Marx W.) - Hume's Concept Of Identity And The Principium Individuationis", 1979, Internal PDF Link
    21. "Winkler (Kenneth) - The New Hume", 1991, No Abstract, Internal PDF Link

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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-holder¹⁶.

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In-Page Footnotes:

Footnote 15:

• “Hume’s claim that identity is a fiction”.

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Table of the Previous 8 Versions of this Note:

Date	Length	Title
20/09/2022 11:24:00	4747	Hume
01/05/2022 18:20:10	4366	Hume
12/02/2021 15:44:38	4001	Hume
26/09/2020 19:58:05	3308	Hume
28/02/2018 23:42:43	4428	Hume
18/12/2010 19:58:05	1910	Hume
26/11/2007 23:25:26	146	Hume
12/08/2007 10:17:46	80	Hume

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Note last updated	Reading List for this Topic	Parent Topic
06/07/2023 00:43:12	Hume	General Surveys

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Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note

Awaiting Attention (Personal Identity)	Bundle Theories	Note Links Explanation	Plug Note Apologia	Snowdon - The Self and Personal Identity
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

Bundle Theories	Fiction	Kant	Olson - What Are We? Animals	PID Note, Book & Paper Usage, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Snowdon - The Self and Personal Identity	Status: Personal Identity (2025 - December)	Status: Priority Task List (2026 - February)	Status: Summary (2025 - December)	Thesis - Chapter 01 (Introduction)
Thesis - Chapter 02 (What are We?), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6	Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues)	Thesis - Chapter 05 (Persistence and Time)	Thesis - Personal Identity, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7	Time
Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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?
Baillie (James)	We all know that we will die, so why do we struggle to believe it?	Paper		Yes
Cassam (Quassim)	Kant and Reductionism	Paper		Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? Animals	Paper		Yes
Rogers (Ben), Taylor (Charles), Etc	Prospect Interview with Charles Taylor	Paper		Yes
Snowdon (Paul)	The Self and Personal Identity	Paper		Yes
Strawson (Peter)	The Bounds of Sense - An Essay on Kant's Critique of Pure Reason	Book
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Bundle Theories	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 01 (Introduction)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 02 (What Are We?)	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 05 (Persistence and Time)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Fiction	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Personal Identity	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Time	Paper		Yes

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References & Reading List

Author	Title	Medium	Source	Read?
Annet (Peter)	The Resurrection of Jesus Considered: In Answer to the Tryal of the Witnesses	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	No
Babbage (Charles)	On Hume's Argument Against Miracles	Paper - By Subtopic	Nineth Bridgewater Treatise, Chapter 10; Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	No
Baxter (Donald L.M.)	Hume's Puzzle about Identity	Paper - Cited	Philosophical Studies, Vol. 98, No. 2 (Mar., 2000), pp. 187-201	No
Bennett (Jonathan)	Hume and Leibniz on Personal Identity	Paper - By Subtopic	Learning from Six Philosophers, Volume 2, Chapter 40, 2001	No
Biro (John I.)	Hume on Self-Identity and Memory	Paper - By Subtopic	Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Sep., 1976), pp. 19-38	No
Biro (John I.)	Hume's New Science of the Mind	Paper - By Subtopic	Fate Norton - The Cambridge Companion to Hume, Chapter 2	33%
Botros (Sophie)	Hume, Justice and Sympathy: A Reversal of the Natural Order?	Paper - By Subtopic	Diametros 44 (June 2015), pp. 110-139	12%
Brennan (Andrew)	Fragmented Selves and the Problem of Ownership	Paper - By Subtopic	Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, New Series, Vol. 90 (1989 - 1990), pp. 143-158	No
Brueckner (Anthony)	Humean Fictions	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 46, No. 4, Jun., 1986, pp. 655-664	No
Cabrera (Miguel A. Badia)	Hume's Reflection On Religion	Book - By Subtopic	Cabrera (Miguel A. Badia) - Hume's Reflection On Religion	1%
Campbell (George)	A Dissertation on Miracles	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	No
Clarke (Samuel)	A Discourse Concerning the Unalterable Obligations of Natural Religion, and the Truth and Certainty of the Christian Revelations	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	No
Earman (John)	Hume on Miracles	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	12%
Earman (John)	Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Earman (John) - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles	3%
Fogelin (Robert)	Hume's Worries about Personal Identity	Paper - By Subtopic	Fogelin - Philosophical Interpretations, 1992 (Chapter 5)	No
French (Peter), Uehling (Theodore) & Wettstein (Howard)	Midwest Studies in Philosophy (Vol VIII, 1983) - Contemporary Perspectives on the History of Philosophy	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	French (Peter), Uehling (Theodore) & Wettstein (Howard) - Midwest Studies in Philosophy (Vol VIII, 1983) - Contemporary Perspectives on the History of Philosophy	No
Garrett (Don)	Hume's Self-Doubts about Personal Identity	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophical Review 90.3, July 1981, 337-358	No
Green (Michael)	The Idea Of A Momentary Self And Hume's Theory Of Personal Identity	Paper - By Subtopic	British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Mar1999, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p103, 20p;	No
Hirsch (Eli)	Hume's Distinction Between Genuine and Fictitious Identity	Paper - By Subtopic	Midwest Studies in Philosophy (Vol VIII, 1983) - Contemporary Perspectives on the History of Philosophy	No
Hooper (George)	A Calculation of the Credibility of Human Testimony	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	No
Hume (David)	Our Idea Of Identity	Paper - Cited	Perry - Personal Identity	Yes
Hume (David)	Second Thoughts (on Personal Identity)	Paper - By Subtopic	Perry - Personal Identity	Yes
Hume (David)	Treatise I.IV.VI: Of Personal Identity	Paper - Cited	Hume - Treatise I.IV.VI; also in Perry - Personal Identity	Yes
Laplace (Pierre Simon)	Concerning the Probability of Testimonies	Paper - By Subtopic	A Philosophical Essay on Probability; Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	No
Locke (John)	A Discourse of Miracles	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	No
Mounce (H.O.)	Review of 'Hume, Reason and Morality: A Legacy of Contradiction' by Sophie Botros	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophy - 81/318 (October 2006)	Yes
Noonan (Harold)	Hume	Paper - Cited	Noonan - Personal Identity, 2003, Chapter 4	Yes
Noonan (Harold)	Personal Identity	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	Yes
Norton (David Fate)	The Cambridge Companion to Hume	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Norton (David Fate) - The Cambridge Companion to Hume	2%
O'Hear (Anthony), Ed.	Philosophy - 81/318 (October 2006)	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	O'Hear (Anthony), Ed. - Philosophy - 81/318 (October 2006)	2%
Pears (David)	Hume's System - An Examination of the First Book of his Treatise	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Pears (David) - Hume's System - An Examination of the First Book of his Treatise	15%
Pears (David)	Personal Identity: Hume's Solution and his Later Recantation	Paper - By Subtopic	Pears - Hume's System - An Examination of the First Book of his Treatise, 1990	No
Pears (David)	Personal Identity: The Problem and Hume's Rejection of Current Solutions	Paper - By Subtopic	Pears - Hume's System - An Examination of the First Book of his Treatise, 1990	No
Penelhum (Terence)	Hume on Personal Identity	Paper - By Subtopic	The Philosophical Review, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Oct., 1955), pp. 571-589	No
Penelhum (Terence)	Hume's Moral Psychology	Paper - By Subtopic	Fate Norton - The Cambridge Companion to Hume	No
Penelhum (Terence)	Self-Identity and Self-Regard	Paper - Cited	Rorty (Amelie) - The Identities of Persons, 1976	Yes
Perry (John), Ed.	Personal Identity	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Perry (John), Ed. - Personal Identity	Yes
Perry (John), Ed.	Personal Identity	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	Yes
Price (Richard)	On the Importance of Christianity and the Nature of Historical Evidence, and Miracles	Paper - By Subtopic	Four Dissertations (#4); Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	No
Rorty (Amélie Oksenberg), Ed.	The Identities of Persons	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	23%
Shand (John)	Central Issues of Philosophy	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	35%
Sherlock (Thomas)	The Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus	Paper - By Subtopic	Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	No
Sinclair (Neil)	Review of 'Hume, Reason and Morality: A Legacy of Contradiction' by Sophie Botros	Paper - By Subtopic	Mind, New Series, Vol. 116, No. 463 (Jul., 2007), pp. 733-736	Yes
Snowdon (Paul)	The Self and Personal Identity	Paper - Cited	Shand (John) - Central Issues of Philosophy, Chapter 9	Yes
Sober (Elliott)	A Modest Proposal	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 68, No. 2, Mar. 2004	No
Spinoza (Benedict de)	Of Miracles	Paper - By Subtopic	A Theologico-Political Treatise, Chapter 6; Earman - Hume's Abject Failure - The Argument Against Miracles, 2000	No
Stone (Jim)	Hume on Identity: A Defense	Paper - By Subtopic	Philosophical Studies, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Sep., 1981), pp. 275-282	No
Stroud (Barry)	Hume	Book - By Subtopic (via Paper By Subtopic)	Stroud (Barry) - Hume	1%
Stroud (Barry)	The Continued and Distinct Existence of Bodies	Paper - By Subtopic	Stroud - Hume, 1977	No
Stroud (Barry)	The Idea of Personal Identity	Paper - By Subtopic	Stroud - Hume, 1977	No
Stroud (Barry)	The Study of Human Nature	Paper - By Subtopic	Stroud - Hume, 1977	No
Swinburne (Richard)	Review of John Earman's 'Hume's Abject Failure: The Argument Against Miracles'	Paper - By Subtopic	Mind - 111/441 (January 2002)	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Hume's Correspondence Theory	Paper - By Subtopic	Final Year Birkbeck BA Essay, 2003	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Hume	Paper - By Subtopic		Yes
Wartofsky (Marx W.)	Hume's Concept Of Identity And The Principium Individuationis	Paper - By Subtopic	M. W. Wartofsky, Models, D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland, 1979	No

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2. Mauve: Text by correspondent(s) or other author(s); © the author(s)

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