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Personal Identity

Bundle Theories

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

Plug Note¹

• Thesis Text:
  1. If "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? Bundles" is anything to go by, Bundle theories are still a live option.
  2. My initial intuition² is that they are – if I understand them correctly – too absurd to demand much attention, in that they put the cart before the horse. Rather than attend to substances³ as the bearers of properties⁴ that may qualify their bearers as persons⁵, Bundle theories focus on collections of perceptions and thoughts to constitute⁶ minds⁷ and sensations to constitute bodies⁸ – or variations on such themes.
  3. The classic statement is that of Hume⁹, though there’s some doubt as to whether Hume actually used the term.

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  Further Remarks
  1. The so-called “bundle” theories of Personal Identity are not a topic I’d intended to write anything on but, as noted above, one on which I ought to have a considered view.
  2. There may be a cross-over with the Process view¹⁰ of personal identity.

References

• Relevant Works cited above:
  1. "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? Bundles", 2007, Write-Up Note¹¹, Internal PDF Link, Read
• For a Page of Links¹² to this Note, Click here.
• Works on this topic that I’ve actually read¹³ – though some only touch on the topic tangentially – include the following:-
  • General:
    1. "Carruthers (Peter) - Dualism: Body and Soul", 1986
    2. "Carruthers (Peter) - Strong Dualism: Body and Soul", 2004
    3. "Crane (Tim) - Substance (4-Lecture BA Course)", 2005, Annotations
    4. "Garrett (Brian) - Persons", 1998, 2004, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link
    5. "Johnston (Mark) - Human Beings", 1987, Write-Up Note¹⁴, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
    6. "Olson (Eric) - What Are We?", 2007, Write-Up Note¹⁵, Annotations, Internal PDF Link, Footnote₁₆
    7. "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? Animals", 2007, Write-Up Note¹⁷, Annotations, Internal PDF Link
    8. "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? Bundles", 2007, Write-Up Note¹⁸, Internal PDF Link
    9. "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? Souls", 2007, Write-Up Note¹⁹, Internal PDF Link
    10. "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? The Question", 2007, Write-Up Note²⁰, Internal PDF Link
    11. "Olson (Eric) - What Are We? What Now?", 2007, Write-Up Note²¹, Internal PDF Link
    12. "Smith (Barry C.), Broks (Paul), Kennedy (A.L.) & Evans (Jules) - Audio: What Does It Mean to Be Me?", 2015, External Link
    13. "Snowdon (Paul) - The Self and Personal Identity", 2009, Write-Up Note²²
    14. "Srinivasan (Amia), LRB - Remembering Derek Parfit", 2017, External Link
    15. "Thomas (Janice L.) - Psychological continuity", 2000
• A further reading list might start with:-
  • General:
    1. "Anderson (Susan Leigh) - Chisholm's Argument to Show that a Person Cannot be an Ens Successivum", 1980
    2. "Armstrong (David) - Are Particulars Reducible to Universals", 1977
    3. "Blackburn (Simon) - Has Kant Refuted Parfit?", 1997, Write-Up Note²³, Read = 156%
    4. "Brennan (Andrew) - Fragmented Selves and the Problem of Ownership", 1990, Internal PDF Link
    5. "Cameron (Ross P.) - Tropes, Necessary Connections, and Non-Transferability", 2006, Internal PDF Link
    6. "Carter (William) - Substance", 1990
    7. "Casullo (Albert) - A Fourth Version of the Bundle Theory", 2001
    8. "Grupp (Jeffrey) - Blob Theory: N-adic Properties Do Not Exist", 2006, Internal PDF Link
    9. "Grupp (Jeffrey) - Compresence is a Bundle: A Problem for the Bundle Theory of Objects", 2004, Internal PDF Link
    10. "Loux (Michael) - Concrete Particulars I: Substrata, Bundles, and Substances", 2002, Read = 6%
    11. "Meincke (Anne Sophie) - Persons as Biological Processes: A Bio-Processual Way Out of the Personal Identity Dilemma", 2018, Internal PDF Link, Read = 33%
    12. "O'Leary-Hawthorne (John) & Cover (J.A.) - A World of Universals", 1998, Internal PDF Link
    13. "Paul (L.A.) - Logical Parts", 2002, Internal PDF Link
    14. "Pike (Nelson) - Hume's Bundle Theory of the Self: A Limited Defense", 1967, Internal PDF Link
    15. "Robb (David) - Qualitative Unity And The Bundle Theory", 2005, Internal PDF Link
    16. "Robinson (Howard) - Substance", 2004-9, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 31%
    17. "Slors (Marc) - A Psychological Criterion of Personal Identity: The Five Problems Revisited (The Diachronic Mind, Chapter 5)", 2001, Internal PDF Link
    18. "Tye (Michael) - Persons and Personal Identity", 2003
    19. "Vallicella (William F.) - Bundles and Indiscernibility: A Reply to O’Leary-Hawthorne", 1997, Internal PDF Link
    20. "Van Cleve (James) - Three Versions of the Bundle Theory", 1985, Internal PDF Link
    21. "Zimmerman (Dean) - Distinct Indiscernibles and the Bundle Theory", 1997, 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-holder²⁴.

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In-Page Footnotes:

Footnote 16:

• See Draft Note.
• Review Comments:–
  → First Half,
  → Second Half.

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Table of the Previous 4 Versions of this Note:

Date	Length	Title
20/09/2022 11:24:00	3463	Bundle Theories
01/05/2022 18:20:10	3084	Bundle Theories
07/02/2021 19:46:34	2756	Bundle Theories
23/11/2020 18:07:12	1989	Bundle Theories

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Note last updated	Reading List for this Topic	Parent Topic
06/07/2023 00:43:12	None available	Logic of Identity

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Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note

Awaiting Attention (Personal Identity)	Blackburn - Has Kant Refuted Parfit?	Body	Constitution	Hume
Intuition	Jen_080218 (Olson)	Jen_080303 (Olson, Baillie)	Johnston - Human Beings	Mind
Note Links Explanation	Olson - What Are We?	Olson - What Are We? Animals	Olson - What Are We? Bundles	Olson - What Are We? Souls
Olson - What Are We? The Question	Olson - What Are We? What Now?	Person	Plug Note Apologia	Process Metaphysics
Properties	Snowdon - The Self and Personal Identity	Substance	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

Baker - Materialism with a Human Face	Blackburn - Has Kant Refuted Parfit?	Hume, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10	Johnston - Human Beings	Olson - Personal Identity - Oxford Bibliographies Online, 2
Olson - What Are We?, 2	Olson - What Are We? Animals	Olson - What Are We? The Question	Olson - What Are We? What Now?	PID Note, Book & Paper Usage, 2, 3
Snowdon - The Self and Personal Identity	Thesis - Chapter 02 (What are We?), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6	Thesis - Chapter 12 (Conclusion)	Thesis - Current Stance	Thesis - Personal Identity, 2, 3, 4
Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6	What are We?

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?
Anderson (Susan Leigh)	Chisholm's Argument to Show that a Person Cannot be an Ens Successivum	Paper
Armstrong (David)	Are Particulars Reducible to Universals	Paper
Armstrong (David)	Introduction to Universals and Scientific Realism Vol. 1 (Nominalism and Realism)	Paper		Yes
Armstrong (David)	The Argument of Universals and Scientific Realism Vol. 1 (Nominalism and Realism)	Paper		Yes
Baker (Lynne Rudder)	When Do Persons Begin and End?	Paper		Yes
Blackburn (Simon)	Has Kant Refuted Parfit?	Paper
Brennan (Andrew)	Fragmented Selves and the Problem of Ownership	Paper	2
Cameron (Ross P.)	Tropes, Necessary Connections, and Non-Transferability	Paper	2
Carruthers (Peter)	Dualism: Body and Soul	Paper	2	Yes
Carruthers (Peter)	Strong Dualism: Body and Soul	Paper	2	Yes
Carter (William)	Substance	Paper	2, 3
Casullo (Albert)	A Fourth Version of the Bundle Theory	Paper
Crane (Tim)	Substance (4-Lecture BA Course)	Paper	2, 3	Yes
Garrett (Brian)	Persons	Paper		Yes
Grupp (Jeffrey)	Blob Theory: N-adic Properties Do Not Exist	Paper	2
Grupp (Jeffrey)	Compresence is a Bundle: A Problem for the Bundle Theory of Objects	Paper
Hawthorne (John) & Sider (Ted)	Locations	Paper
Johnston (Mark)	Human Beings	Paper		Yes
Korner (Stephan)	Substance (Part 2)	Paper
Loux (Michael)	Concrete Particulars I: Substrata, Bundles, and Substances	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Meincke (Anne Sophie)	Persons as Biological Processes: A Bio-Processual Way Out of the Personal Identity Dilemma	Paper
O'Leary-Hawthorne (John) & Cover (J.A.)	A World of Universals	Paper
Olson (Eric)	Personal Identity - Oxford Bibliographies Online	Paper	2	Yes
Olson (Eric)	Psychology and Personal Identity	Paper		Yes
Olson (Eric)	Review of P. Snowdon, Persons, Animals, Ourselves	Paper		Yes
Olson (Eric)	The Extended Self	Paper
Olson (Eric)	What Are We?	Paper	2	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? Animals	Paper		Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? Bundles	Paper	2, 3, 4	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? Souls	Paper		Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? The Question	Paper		Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? What Now?	Paper		Yes
Paul (L.A.)	Logical Parts	Paper
Penelhum (Terence)	Immortality: Introduction	Paper		Yes
Robb (David)	Qualitative Unity And The Bundle Theory	Paper	2
Robinson (Howard)	Dualism (Stanford)	Paper		Yes
Robinson (Howard)	Substance	Paper
Rogers (Ben), Taylor (Charles), Etc	Prospect Interview with Charles Taylor	Paper	2	Yes
Slors (Marc)	A Psychological Criterion of Personal Identity: The Five Problems Revisited (Personal Identity and the Metaphysics of Mind, Chapter 4)	Paper
Slors (Marc)	A Psychological Criterion of Personal Identity: The Five Problems Revisited (The Diachronic Mind, Chapter 5)	Paper
Smith (Barry C.), Broks (Paul), Kennedy (A.L.) & Evans (Jules)	Audio: What Does It Mean to Be Me?	Paper	2, 3	Yes
Snowdon (Paul)	The Self and Personal Identity	Paper		Yes
Srinivasan (Amia), LRB	Remembering Derek Parfit	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7	Yes
Thomas (Janice L.)	Psychological continuity	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 02 (What Are We?)	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Chapter 12 (Conclusion)	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Current Position	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Hume	Paper	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Personal Identity	Paper	2, 3, 4	Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - What Are We?	Paper		Yes
Tye (Michael)	Consciousness and Persons: Unity and Identity	Book
Tye (Michael)	Persons and Personal Identity	Paper	2
Vallicella (William F.)	Bundles and Indiscernibility: A Reply to O’Leary-Hawthorne	Paper
Williams (Paul)	Response to Mark Siderits' Review	Paper
Zimmerman (Dean)	Distinct Indiscernibles and the Bundle Theory	Paper	2, 3

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References & Reading List

Author	Title	Medium	Source	Read?
Anderson (Susan Leigh)	Chisholm's Argument to Show that a Person Cannot be an Ens Successivum	Paper - Cited	Philosophical Studies 37 (1980), pp. 111-113	No
Baker (Lynne Rudder)	Materialism with a Human Face	Paper - Referencing	Corcoran - Soul, Body and Survival, Chapter 10	Yes
Baker (Lynne Rudder)	When Do Persons Begin and End?	Paper - Referencing	Distinguished Faculty Lecture, December 5, 2005	Yes
Carruthers (Peter)	Dualism: Body and Soul	Paper - Cited	Carruthers - Introducing Persons, 1986, Chapter 2 (pp. 39 - 67)	Yes
Carruthers (Peter)	Introducing Persons: Theories and Arguments in the Philosophy of Mind	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	Yes
Carruthers (Peter)	Strong Dualism: Body and Soul	Paper - Cited	Carruthers - The Nature of the Mind, 2004, Chapter 2	Yes
Carruthers (Peter)	The Nature of the Mind: An Introduction	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	Yes
Corcoran (Kevin), Ed.	Soul, Body and Survival: Essays on the Metaphysics of Human Persons	Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	99%
Crane (Tim)	Substance (4-Lecture BA Course)	Paper - Cited	Tim Crane's Home Page, 2005	Yes
Garrett (Brian)	Persons	Paper - Cited	Routledge Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. London: Routledge. Garrett, Brian (1998). Persons.	Yes
JCS	Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 14, Issue 05-06 (2007)	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	No
Johnston (Mark)	Human Beings	Paper - Cited	Journal of Philosophy, Volume 84, Issue 2 (Feb 1987), 59-83	Yes
Olson (Eric)	Psychology and Personal Identity	Paper - Referencing	The Human Animal, September 1999, Chapter 1, pp. 7-21	Yes
Olson (Eric)	The Human Animal - Personal Identity Without Psychology	Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We?	Paper - Cited	Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 14, Issue 05-06 (2007), pp. 37-55 (19)	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology	Book - Cited (via Paper Cited)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology	Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing)	Bibliographical details to be supplied	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? Animals	Paper - Cited	What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 2 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.)	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? Animals	Paper - Referencing	What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 2 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.)	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? Bundles	Paper - Cited	What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 6 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.)	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? Souls	Paper - Cited	What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 7 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.)	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? The Question	Paper - Cited	What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 1 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.)	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? The Question	Paper - Referencing	What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 1 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.)	Yes
Olson (Eric)	What Are We? What Now?	Paper - Referencing	What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 9 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.)	Yes
Rogers (Ben), Taylor (Charles), Etc	Prospect Interview with Charles Taylor	Paper - Referencing	Prospect Website	Yes
Smith (Barry C.), Broks (Paul), Kennedy (A.L.) & Evans (Jules)	Audio: What Does It Mean to Be Me?	Paper - Referencing	BBC Website, April 2015	Yes

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Text Colour Conventions

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

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