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Olson - The Human Animal Abstracta Symposium
(Work In Progress: output at 02/08/2026 00:53:02)
This Note reviews a Symposium, recorded in the Brazilian journal Abstracta, convened on the 10th anniversary of the publication of "Olson (Eric) - The Human Animal - Personal Identity Without Psychology". It consists of a full Special Issue of the Journal ("Olson (Eric), Etc. - Abstracta Special Issue on 'The Human Animal'"), which, after an Editorial, includes a brief Precis1 by Olson of his Book, followed by:-
- A response2 from Lynne Rudder Baker.
- A response3 from Ned Markosian.
- A response4 from Dean Zimmerman.
- A replies to his critics from Eric Olson: to Baker5, Markosian6 and Zimmerman7.
- A complaint8 from Lynne Rudder Baker.
I’m not 100% clear on how many of the above papers were presented at the Symposium itself. It looks from a footnote in Olson’s reply to Baker that Olson had had a draft of Baker’s paper on which to base his reply. So, I imagine that Olson’s précis and the above three responses were as delivered, but that Olson’s replies have been worked up subsequently to the Symposium to take account of variations from the drafts. The closing remark in Baker’s complaint makes it appear as though it was delivered in the Symposium as well. Since the symposium only lasted a day (14th April April 2007, in San Francisco), it wouldn’t have been possible for Baker to write the paper on the spot, though maybe she delivered her response ex tempore and then worked it up a bit later. Alternatively, Olson’s draft Replies could have been circulated beforehand.
The upshot of this Symposium is not much, really. Olson and Baker have still made no progress and talk past one another. Markosian’s critique is somewhat left field. Olson acknowledges that Zimmerman’s critique is the most penetrating. In my view, this is not a problem for Animalism per se, but with what Zimmerman calls Olson’s Master Argument, his “Thinking Animal” argument. As far as I can see, Animalism can survive in the absence of this dubious argument, though it looks from a brief squint at Olson’s latest book – "Olson (Eric) - What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology" – that he’s not so sure. I presume this book was already in press by the time of the Symposium. In the Preface to that book he acknowledges his debt to Zimmerman, so I imagine Zimmerman’s critique for this Symposium was hardly news.
See the following Terminological Disclaimer9 related to what I have to say in the above links.
Table of the Previous 2 Versions of this Note:
| Note last updated |
Reading List for this Topic |
Parent Topic |
| 02/08/2026 00:53:02 |
None available |
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Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note
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Summary of Notes Citing This Note
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Authors, Books & Papers Citing this Note
| Author |
Title |
Medium |
Extra Links |
Read? |
| Olson (Eric), Etc. |
Abstracta Special Issue on 'The Human Animal' |
Book  |
|
Yes |
References & Reading List
| Author |
Title |
Medium |
Source |
Read? |
| Olson (Eric) |
The Human Animal - Personal Identity Without Psychology |
Book - Cited  |
Olson (Eric) - The Human Animal - Personal Identity Without Psychology |
Yes |
| Olson (Eric) |
What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology |
Book - Cited |
Olson (Eric) - What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology |
Yes |
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- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2026