tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433428682510068517.post4443169640699566023..comments2024-02-29T19:21:32.831-05:00Comments on Possible Worlds: Awake, Modal Realism, and Transworld IdentityRandy Everisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870605678781409126noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433428682510068517.post-10677162277976377912012-03-05T22:42:45.347-05:002012-03-05T22:42:45.347-05:00HI Mike. Yes, that's what I was getting at in ...HI Mike. Yes, that's what I was getting at in the article; that if modal realism is true, we ought to deny transworld identity (it was only after publishing this that I discovered that Lewis indeed denied transworld identity, and for the same basic reason, so I am proud of myself for this one night lol). I have not read that book, it sounds interesting! I wish I had more time. Between my full time job, the wife, graduate classes, church, and the like...it's getting hard to study as much as I would like.Randy Everisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06870605678781409126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433428682510068517.post-81532100403725496242012-03-05T21:15:57.243-05:002012-03-05T21:15:57.243-05:00I know you don't believe in it because of the ...I know you don't believe in it because of the show! I was just saying that if modal realism is true (and I also don't believe it is), then I would deny the different "yous" would be the same person. That much seems clear. To answer the more difficult question (to me, anyway) about transworld identity would require me to have a more settled notion of identity. I really don't know what to think about that beyond thinking that continuous psychological experience seems more important than physical identity.<br /><br />On a slightly related note, have you ever read The First Person by Anscombe? You might enjoy it. She argues quite controversially that 'I' is not a term that refers to anything.Mike Gagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05034037930336299849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433428682510068517.post-31966863062747766832012-03-05T19:56:44.600-05:002012-03-05T19:56:44.600-05:00Hey Dr. Mike, long time no hear from! :)
I don...Hey Dr. Mike, long time no hear from! :)<br /><br />I don't believe in transworld identity because of the show. After all, I certainly don't believe in modal realism. I just find it utterly incredible that if I had been a quarter of an inch taller, or a tenth of an inch shorter, that I would be a different person (this is what a denial of transworld identity entails). Secondly, if this afflicts transworld identity it afflicts identity simpliciter. For there <i>was</i> a time when I was a tenth of a inch shorter. If it follows that from such a property I am a different person, it follows that I am a different person from moment to moment; indeed, I am a nearly infinite number of persons, so that "I" is really just an indexical representing the collection of all the various persons, who differ. However, if there is a solution to the "temporal identity" problem, it can be applied to the "transworld identity" problem as well. There are, in fact, at least two solutions. The first involves essential properties. The second is that indentity relations necessitate that there be no time such that each of the two subjects have different properties at that time; a similar move can be made with respect to possible worlds (cf. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-transworld/ ).Randy Everisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06870605678781409126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433428682510068517.post-2905097641266519982012-03-05T09:56:18.281-05:002012-03-05T09:56:18.281-05:00I would say they are two different persons. The on...I would say they are two different persons. The only reason it seems more plausible in the show is because there is a continuous psychological experience. That would not seem to be the case in a more "realistic" transworld scenario. Don't you think? I think we would end up in intuitively difficult situations, like those proposed by Derek Parfit. Are you familiar with the teletransporter problem? Let me know if not and I can describe it.Mikehttp://foxholeatheism.comnoreply@blogger.com