Theo Todman's Web Page - Notes Pages
Status Reports
Status: Personal Identity (2014 - June)
(Text as at 04/07/2014 22:46:34)
*** THIS IS NOT THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS NOTE ***
(For the live version and other versions of this Note, see the tables at the end)
Rationale for this Project
- I am researching the subject of Personal Identity primarily because of its intrinsic interest and importance. It is really a sub-topic in my Philosophy of Religion1 project, with its penultimate chapter considering the metaphysical possibility of resurrection.
- While I’m interested in the topic of my research in its own right, I think when I’ve sorted it out a bit, and have something to say, I’ll want to engage with other philosophers active in this field – and re-starting a PhD at Birkbeck or elsewhere might be the only effective way to do this.
- While a PhD is not an end in itself, and certainly not the ultimate aim of my doing philosophy, it’s still true that a PhD would teach me research techniques, provide focus and direction, and furnish a professional qualification should I want to publish any results in this or any other area of philosophy.
Summary of Progress during April - June 2014
- This quarter was much more focussed than the last, though during the last month most effort was diverted towards my Web-Tools2 project.
- Anyway, I spent 165 hours in 2Q14 (434 hours YTD, where for “YTD” – Year to Date – I mean the (academic) year that commenced in October 2013) on my Thesis or Thesis-related work. That’s 75% of the planned effort (62% YTD). Overall, 27% of my Project effort in the Quarter was directed towards this project (making 24% YTD) – as against 31% planned (34% YTD).
- Progress between reports can be obtained from the relevant section of my Summary Task List (Click_Here3).
- This quarter, key items (though not always those planned) included the following:-
- More detail follows:-
Thesis (Total Hours = 156.75)
- Thesis - Reading / Writing (Total Hours = 152)
- "Aydede (Murat) - The Language of Thought Hypothesis" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Big-Tent Metaphysics" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Brief Reply to Rosenkrantz's Comments on my 'The Ontological Status of Persons'" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Christians Should Reject Mind-Body Dualism" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Everyday Concepts as a Guide to Reality" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Material Persons and the Doctrine of Resurrection" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Precis of 'Persons & Bodies: A Constitution View'" (Write, 1.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Reply to Garrett" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Reply to Noonan" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Reply to Zimmerman’s 'Christians Should Affirm Mind-Body Dualism'" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - The Difference that Self-Consciousness Makes" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - The Ontological Status of Persons" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Unity without Identity: A New Look at Material Constitution" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - When Do Persons Begin and End?" (Read / Write, 29.5 hours)
- "Baker (Lynne Rudder) - Why Constitution is Not Identity" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Belshaw (Christopher) - My Beginnings" (Read / Write, 5.5 hours)
- "Bradley (Ben) - How Bad Is Death?" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Burley (Mikel) - Immortality and Boredom: A Response to Wisnewski" (Read, 0.25 hours)
- "Call (Josep) & Tomasello (Michael) - A Nonverbal False Belief Task: The Performance of Children and Great Apes" (Read, 0.25 hours)
- "Carter (William) - Artifacts of Theseus: Fact and Fission" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Claxton (Guy) - Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Cooper (John) - Body, Soul and Life Everlasting: Preface to the Second Printing" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Cushing (Simon) - Fred Feldman: Confrontations with the Reaper" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Desmond (Adrian) - The Ape's Reflexion" (Write, 2.25 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - A Materialist Conception of Death" (Write, 1.25 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - Abortion and the Failure to Conceive" (Write, 1.5 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - Epicurus and the Evil of Death" (Write, 1.25 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - Introduction: Confronting the Reaper" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Feldman (Fred) - Life-Functional Theories of Life" (Read / Write, 1.5 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - More Puzzles About the Evil of Death" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - On Dying as a Process" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Feldman (Fred) - The Enigma of Death" (Write, 1.5 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - The Morality and Rationality of Suicide" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - The Search For Death Itself" (Read / Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - The Survival of Death" (Write, 1.25 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - Utilitarianism, Victimism, and the Morality of Killing" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Feldman (Fred) - Vitalist Theories of Life" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Feldman (Fred) - Why Killing Is Wrong" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Flitch (Crawford J. E.) - The Tragic Sense of Life: Introductory Essay" (Read, 0.75 hours)
- "Fodor (Jerry) - The Language of Thought" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Gallup (Gordon G.) - Review: Griffin - Animal Minds" (Read, 0.5 hours)
- "Gallup (Gordon G.) - Chimpanzees: Self-Recognition" (Read, 0.5 hours)
- "Gallup (Gordon G.) - Levels, Limits, and Precursors to Self-Recognition: Does Ontogeny Recapitulate Phylogeny?" (Read, 0.5 hours)
- "Gallup (Gordon G.) - Self-Awareness in Primates: The sense of identity distinguishes man from most but perhaps not all other forms of life" (Read, 1.25 hours)
- "Galton (Antony) - On the Process of Coming into Existence" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Hazlett (Allan) - Disassembly and Destruction" (Read / Write, 2.75 hours)
- "Ishiguro (Kazuo) - Never Let Me Go" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Kaku (Michio) - Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes and Our Future in the Cosmos" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Kaku (Michio) - Physics of the Future: The Inventions That Will Transform Our Lives" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Kaku (Michio) - Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration of the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation and Time Travel" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Kaku (Michio) - The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest To Understand, Enhance and Empower the Mind" (Read / Write, 10 hours)
- "Kaku (Michio) - The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance and Empower the Mind (YouTube Lecture)" (Read / Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Kaku (Michio) - Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Koch-Hershenov (Rose J.) - Conjoined Twins and the Biological Account of Personal Identity" (Read / Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Levine (Michael P.) - What Does Death Have to Do with the Meaning of Life?" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Liao (S. Matthew) - The Organism View Defended" (Read / Write, 13.25 hours)
- "Lowe (E.J.) - How Real Is Substantial Change?" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Luper-Foy (Steven) - Annihilation" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Moore (Adrian W.) - Williams, Nietzsche, and the Meaninglessness of Immortality" (Read, 0.25 hours)
- "Murphy (Nancey) - I Cerebrate Myself: Is there a little man inside your brain?" (Read / Write, 4.5 hours)
- "Okamoto-Barth (Sanae), Call (Josep) & Tomasello (Michael) - Great Apes' Understanding of Other Individuals' Line of Sight" (Read, 0.25 hours)
- "Olson (Eric) - The Paradox of Increase" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Parfit (Derek) - Personal Identity" (Read / Write, 1.5 hours)
- "Penn (Derek C.) & Povinelli (Daniel) - On the Lack of Evidence That Non-Human Animals Possess Anything Remotely Resembling a 'Theory of Mind'" (Read, 0.25 hours)
- "Perrett (Roy W.) - Regarding Immortality" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Povinelli (Daniel) - Behind the Ape's Appearance: Escaping Anthropocentrism in the Study of Other Minds" (Read, 2.5 hours)
- "Povinelli (Daniel), Eddy (Timothy J.), Hobson (R. Peter) & Tomasello (Michael) - What Young Chimpanzees Know about Seeing" (Read, 0.25 hours)
- "Preston (Ted M.) & Dixon (Scott) - Who Wants to Live Forever? Immortality, Authenticity, and Living Forever in the Present" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Rosenkrantz (Gary) - An Epistemic Argument for Enduring Human Persons" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Rosenkrantz (Gary) - Reflections on the Ontological Status of Persons" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Schmelz (Martin), Call (Josep), Tomasello (Michael) & Logothetis (Nikos K.) - Chimpanzees know that others make inferences" (Read, 0.25 hours)
- "Shoemaker (David) - Embryos, Souls, and the Fourth Dimension" (Read / Write, 4.25 hours)
- "Silverstein (Harry) - The Evil of Death" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Singh (Yii-Jan) - Semen, Philosophy, and Paul" (Read, 1.25 hours)
- "Sorensen (Roy) - A Séance with an Immortal" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Sorensen (Roy) - The Cheated God: Death and Personal Time" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Steele (Hunter) - Could Body-bound Immortality be Liveable?" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Strauss (Jonathan) - After Death" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Syed (Matthew) - Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Animation" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Cerebrum" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 01 (Introduction)" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 02 (What Are We?)" (Write, 1.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 03 (What is a Person?)" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 04 (Basic Metaphysical Issues)" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 05 (Persistence and Time)" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 06 (Animalism and Arguments for It)" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 07 (The Constitution View and Arguments for It)" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 08 (Arguments against Animalism)" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 09 (Arguments against the Constitution View)" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments)" (Write, 1.75 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 11 (Resurrection)" (Write, 4.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Chapter 12 (Conclusion)" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Dicephalus" (Write, 1.75 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Intermittent Objects" (Write, 3 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Language of Thought" (Write, 1 hour)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Life" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Makropulos Case" (Read / Write, 1 hour)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Organisms" (Write, 0.75 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Persistent Vegetative State" (Write, 1.25 hours)
- "Todman (Theo) - Thesis - Scattered Objects" (Write, 0.5 hours)
- "Unamuno (Miguel De), Flitch (Crawford J. E.) - The Tragic Sense of Life" (Read / Write, 1 hour)
- "Wetzel (James) - Infinite Return: Two Ways of Wagering with Pascal" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Williams (Bernard) - Personal Identity and Individuation" (Read, 0.75 hours)
- "Williams (Bernard) - The Makropulos Case: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality" (Read / Write, 10 hours)
- "Winch (Peter) - Eine Einstellung Zur Seele" (Read / Write, 1.75 hours)
- "Wisnewski (J. Jeremy) - Is the Immortal Life Worth Living?" (Read, 0.25 hours)
- "Zimmerman (Dean) - Christians Should Affirm Mind-Body Dualism" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- "Zimmerman (Dean) - Reply to Baker's 'Christians Should Reject Mind-Body Dualism'" (Write, 0.25 hours)
- Thesis - Discussions
- Thesis - Lectures
- Thesis - Research Repositioning (Total Hours = 3)
Thesis Background (Total Hours = 8.25)
- Thesis Background - Reading / Writing (Total Hours = 1.5)
- Thesis Background - Admin
- Thesis Background - Books Admin
- Thesis Background - Status
Plans for the Near Future – Top Priority Tasks
- I now have a clearer idea of what I want to do over the next 4 years5, which is to complete a thesis to my own satisfaction. As such I require rigorous focus on the priority tasks, books and papers. Lower-priority reading is not likely to get a look in, so will be cut.
- Tasks for the next quarter divide between some ground-clearing and getting together the plan – in the sense of particular papers to be addressed – for the next 4 years.
- Maybe I ought to split the 4-year plan into two stages – firstly, ensuring that everything that is relevant that I have actually read is written up and incorporated in my Notes database and only later – and secondly – considering anything that I have not yet read. This will require discipline, and I will make a final decision on this in the coming quarter.
- So, the tasks for the next quarter are:-
- Review my Research Proposal6 to see if this also still makes sense.
- Fill out my Thesis Outline7 with what I’ve already researched and complete the reading lists in a realistic manner – this will provide focus for what I really need to study.
- Complete a full review and update of the Notes I’ve created on Personal Identity, focusing on those with little / no content other than a reading list.
- As a background task, convert old PDF-précis, Etc. to Notes.
- Update my “Progress to Date” Note8.
Summary of Progress to Date
This was hived off to a separate Note9 back in 2010, and hasn’t changed much since. I intend to update it in the coming quarter.
In-Page Footnotes
Footnote 5: Hopefully, I may complete, or get stuck, earlier. On the plus side, I’m much further advanced than would be expected of someone commencing a PhD. On the minus side, I want to go into greater depth, and have other projects on the go – most notably my Web-tools project.
Live Version of this Archived Note
Table of 12 Earlier Versions of this Note (of 53)
Table of 12 Later Versions of this Note (of 45)
Summary of Notes Links from this Page
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Summary of Note Links to this Page
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Text Colour Conventions
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2026