PERSONAL IDENTITY AND THE SELF

Philosophy 736-232-001

University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee Fall 2001

Course Description

In this course we will investigate what philosophy can tell us about our distinctive nature as persons. What makes us the particular persons that we are and how is this identity preserved in time? Is the biological death of the body also the death of the person? Does each of us has something as a unique and unified `self'? Is this self the object of introspection? Does our existence amount to the existence of the self?

In the first part of the course, we will discussion what makes a person the same individual as time goes by. Does personal identity depend on the continuity of memories, beliefs and psychological traits? Or does it rather depend on the continuity of the body? Or is it a matter of the persistence of an immortal and immaterial soul? In discussing these questions, particular attention will be devoted to the treatment of cases where continued personhood is uncertain (like brain bisection experiments, amnesia, multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, and science fiction cases like "Star Trek" style teletransporter or body exchanges). We will then consider the implications of theories of personal identity for understanding what counts as the death of a person.

In the second part of the course, we will look at the implications of theories of personal identity for the idea of the `self'. We will discuss issues about the unity of the self, self-deception and the nature of self-knowledge. If time permits, we will consider the implications of theories of personal identity and the self for psychology, morality, law and medicine. We will read works of contemporary philosophers in the analytic tradition.

 

J. Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. Hackett, 1978	B R
J.F. Rosenberg, Thinking Clearly About Death (TCAD), 2nd ed. Hackett, 19982	B
D. Dennett, " Where Am I?" in Hofstadter, Dennett, The Minds'I, pp. 217-231	R
D. Dennett & N. Humphrey, "Speaking for Ourselves," in Brainchildren http://cogprints.soton.ac.uk/documents/disk0/00/00/08/10/index.html	O R
D. Dennett, "The Self as a Center of Narrative Gravity," http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/papers/selfctr.htm	O
T. Nagel The View From Nowhere, Ch. IV	R
C. Korsgaard "Self-Constitution in the Ethics of Plato and Kant in The Journal of Ethics 3: 1-29, 1999	R
D. Velleman "The Self as Narrator" http://www-personal.umich.edu/~velleman/Self/Narrator.html	O
Dennett "Conditions of Personhood" in Brainstorms, Ch. 14	R
Dennett "The Origins of Selves" http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/papers/originss.htm	O
A. Rorty, "Persons and Personae" in Mind in Action, pp. 27-46	R

Supplementary Readings

 

D. Kolak & R. Martin (eds.) Self & Identity	R
Hofstadter & D. Dennett (eds.) The Mind's I	R
J. Perry (ed.) Personal Identity	R

Readings marked with a B are available at the UWM bookstore
Readings marked with a O are available online
Readings marked with an R are on reserve at the Golda Meir Library

N.B. You are required to read the assigned texts before attending the lecture

---==o0o==---

---==o0o==---

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS

 

Date	Lecture	Topic	Readings	Assignments
9/4	I	Presentation of the course, syllabus and grading policy
9/6	II	First Night	Perry Dialogue I
9/11	III	Second Night	-- presentation of writing workshop --
9/13	IV	Third Night	Perry Dialogue II
9/18	V	Summary and Review	Perry Dialogue III
9/20	VI	Life after Death	Rosenberg TCAD ch.1	TEST IN CLASS -- 30 minutes on Perry
9/25	VII	Bodies and Souls Ia	Rosenberg TCAD 2.1-2.6
9/27	VIII	Bodies and Souls Ib	Rosenberg TCAD 2.7-2.12
10/2	IX	The Body	Dennett "Where Am I?"
10/4	X	Bodies and Souls II	Rosenberg TCAD ch.4
10/9	XI	Multiple Personality Disorder	Dennett "Speaking for Ourselves"
10/11	XII	Narrative Unity	Dennett "The Center of Narrative Gravity"	Topics of First Paper distributed
10/16	XIII	The unity of the Self	Korsgaard "Self-Constitution..."
10/18	XIV	Objective and Subjective View	Nagel The view from Nowhere	DRAFT OF FIRST PAPER DUE IN CLASS
10/23	XV	Writing Workshop	See instructions on my homepage	COMMENTS ON DRAFT DUE IN CLASS
10/25	XVI	Writing Workshop	See instructions on my homepage
10/30	XVII	Narrative Unity	Velleman "The Self as Narrator"	FIRST PAPER DUE IN CLASS
11/1	XVIII	Persons	Rosenberg TCAD ch.5
11/6	XIX	Conditions of Personhood	Dennett "Conditions of Personhood"
11/8	XX	Persons and Personae	Rorty "Persons and Personae"
11/13	XXI	The Origin of Selves	Dennett "The Origin of Selves"	Topics of the second paper distributed
11/15	XXII	Active Euthanasia	Rosenberg TCAD ch.7
11/20	XXIII	Active Euthanasia	Rosenberg TCAD ch.7	DRAFT OF THE SECOND PAPER DUE IN CLASS
11/22	-------	HAPPY THANKSGIVING	--------------------------------------	-------------------------------
11/27	XXIV	Writing Workshop	See instructions on my homepage	COMMENTS ON DRAFT DUE IN CLASS
11/29	XXV	Writing Workshop	See instructions on my homepage
12/4	XXVI	Passive Euthanasia	Rosenberg TCAD ch.8	SECOND PAPER DUE IN CLASS Take home final distributed
12/6	XXVII	Suicide	Rosenberg TCAD ch.9
12/11	XXVIII	Death	Rosenberg TCAD ch.10
12/13	XIX	Summary and Review
12/15		TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM DUE IN MY MAILBOX CURTIN 6th Floor by 5:00 p.m.		TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM DUE IN MY MAILBOX CURTIN 6th Floor by 5:00 p.m.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING POLICY

 

Class participation (including quality of peer commentaries in the writing workshop)	15%
1 Test in class	8%
2 Short Papers (900 words each)	21% each
Final Exam	35%

• Attendance to lectures and writing workshops is mandatory
  
  
• PAPERS MUST BE SUBMITTED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CLASS BY THE DEADLINES indicated above. All late papers will be marked 1 grade down for each day or portion thereof that they are late, including weekends and holidays (for instance, if a paper is due on Tuesday at 2:05 p.m. and it is turned in on Wed at 5.00 p.m., it will be penalized two full grades). The penalty applies BOTH to the first and the final draft of each paper (e.g., if you turn both the first and the final draft one day late, your will be penalized 2 full grades).
  
  
• In order to pass this course you MUST COMPLETE ALL assignments. You must take the in-class tests, participate in the writing workshops, turn in both papers and take the final exam

Grading Guideline for papers and exams
• A-range: The paper/answer adequately states and defends an argument, and answers the counterexamples and counter arguments suggested by the lectures and the readings; it shows knowledge of the topic, is well structured and well written.
• B-range: The paper/answer contains an argument, it shows a satisfactory knowledge of the subject, but it does not account for all the counter examples and counter arguments suggested by the readings and the lectures. The main claims are not adequately supported.
• C-range: The paper/answer states an argument or thesis, but its supporting premises are missing, incorrect, or not sufficiently specific. It is not well structured and it is poorly written.
• D-range: The paper/answer makes no serious attempt to frame an argument or defend a thesis. It simply describes the readings or lectures, and includes several errors. It fails to address the question posed, it lacks structure, and it is poorly written.
• F : The paper/answer completely ignores the questions set, or it contains very serious errors in reasoning, and shows no knowledge of the subject. The essay violates the requirements of academic integrity.

---==o0o==---

WRITING WORKSHOP

In this class, you are given the opportunity to benefit from the comments of your peers on the first draft of your papers. You must submit the first draft of the papers a few days in advance of the writing workshop. Two other students will be assigned to you as commentators. You will meet with them at the writing workshop and discuss with them how to improve your draft. You then have some more days to revise your draft before submitting the final version for grading (for the exact deadlines, see the schedule above). You will also be commenting on the work of two other students. You will receive their drafts on the day when your draft is due. You will turn in your written comments at the writing workshop.

Please note that the active participation in the writing workshop is REQUIRED in order to pass the class. Detailed instructions about the writing workshop will be distributed during the term and made available on my homepage by clicking here..

---==o0o==---

CLASS REFLECTOR: a class reflector (personal-identity@uwm.edu) has been set up up for general announcements. If you do not have access to an email account or if your preferred email account is not on the UWM alpha system, please contact me as soon as possible

---==o0o==---

Drop/Audit Policy: Students will be allowed to drop the course up through the last day permitted by the Registrar. Likewise, students may elect to audit the course up through the last day permitted by the Registrar

Grievance and Appeals Policy: The Department of Philosophy has procedures for handling student grievance and grade-appeals. Information is available in the Department office, 612 Curtin Hall

Special Assistance: If you need special assistance, please contact me the first day of class

---==o0o==---

Last Revised 20 November 2001