Summary |
One of the primary methods of argument with respect to the metaphysics of personal identity has been to pump intuitions on a wide variety of puzzle cases, many of which involve science fiction. These include brain and body swaps, teletransportation, fission, fusion, and many more. The basic idea is to test the limits of our conceptual commitments by prizing apart various features of our identity that are typically conjoined. For example, what would happen if my body went in one direction and my psychological stream went in another? Where would I go? This method is highly controversial, however, with several theorists questioning both the possibility of such cases as well as their utility for determining the identity conditions for non-fictional creatures like us. |