Thought Experiments and Personal Identity

Finding Ourselves

Simon Beck

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Hardback

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English

Routledge
08 August 2025

Analytical philosophy & Logical Positivism; Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology; Philosophy of mind; The self, ego, identity, personality

Series: Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy

This book provides an essential, comprehensive discussion on thought experiments and how they have featured throughout the history of the personal identity debate in analytic philosophy.

Although many philosophical arguments employ thought experiments as a valuable methodological tool, there is a lack of focused discussion on the significant role these experiments play in the personal identity debate specifically. This book covers a range of central theories and examines how thought experiments have been featured throughout each. The author discusses and responds to pivotal works on personal identity such as John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Derek Parfit’s Reasons and Persons, as well as more recent arguments in the discussion. The book also explores how thought experiments are used for related debates in other philosophical traditions.

Thought Experiments and Personal Identity will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in contemporary philosophy of mind and metaphysics, as well as those with an interest in philosophical methodology.

By: Simon Beck
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781032953199
ISBN 10: 1032953195
Series: Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy
Pages: 144
Publication Date: 08 August 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

1. Introduction: These Bizarre Fictions 2. In the Beginning: Locke, the Prince and the Cobbler 3. Transplant Thought Experiments: For and Against Them 4. Costly Mistakes in Rejecting a Transplant 5. Conflicting Intuitions 6. Other Kinds of Thought Experiments in the Debate: The Puzzle of Parfit’s Puzzle-Cases 7. Thought Experiments and Personal Identity in Other Traditions

Simon Beck is professor of philosophy at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He has published essays in several journals such as Analysis, Metaphilosophy, Philosophical Papers, The South African Journal of Philosophy, Philosophy, Psychology and Psychiatry, the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology and the Journal of the American Philosophical Association.