Personal Identity and the Self

AS 150.104.13

MWF 1-2:45pm

Kathryn Brophy

Office Hours: Wednesday 3:00-4:00pm in Gilman 269A, and by appointment.

Course Objectives:

By the end of this class, you will:

  • Be familiar with the debate surrounding the metaphysical concept of personal identity.
  • Understand the basics of philosophical argumentation.
  • Learn how to closely examine and discussthe work of both historical and contemporary philosophers.

Course Texts:

There is no book to buy for this course. All readings will be posted on Blackboard and sent by e-mail.

Course Requirements:

Participation and attendance: Must come to class prepared to discuss the readings. (If you do not come to any classes and simply show up to take the final, you will not pass.)

Final Exam: To be held on the last day of class.

Disability:

Any student with a disability who may need accommodations in this class must obtain an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services, 385 Garland, (410) 516-4720,

Academic Integrity:

The strength of the university depends on academic and personal integrity. In this course, you must be honest and truthful. Ethical violations include cheating on exams, plagiarism, improper use of the Internet and electronic devices, alteration of graded assignments, forgery and falsification, lying, facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair competition. Report any violations you witness to the instructor. Please see web.jhu.edu/studentlife/policies/judicial.html for more information.

Tentative Schedule:

January 9: Course introduction and introduction to philosophical reasoning

January 11: Memory Theories of Personal Identity

  • John Locke: Of Identity and Diversity
  • Joseph Butler: Of Personal Identity
  • Thomas Reid: Of Mr. Locke’s Account of our Personal Identity

January 13: Biological vs. Psychological Theories

  • Judith Jarvis Thomson: People and Their Bodies
  • Derek Parfit: Persons, Bodies, and Human Beings
  • David Lewis: Survival and Identity

January 16:Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, no class.

January 18: Biological vs. Psychological Theories cont.

  • Eric Olsen: Excerpts from the Human Animal, Personal Identity without Psychology
  • Bernard Williams: The Self and the Future

January 20: The Simple View & Indeterminate Identity

  • Trenton Merricks: There are No Criteria of Identity Over Time
  • Matt Duncan: A Challenge to Anti-Criterialism
  • Harold Noonan: Personal Identity, chapter 6

January 23: The Person Lives View

  • Marya Schechtman: Excerpts from Staying Alive: Personal Identity, Practical Concerns, and the Unity of a Life

January 25: The Self

  • Galen Strawson: The Self and the SESMET
  • Daniel Dennett: The Reality of Selves

January 27: Final Exam