Description
Book SynopsisBarry Dainton presents a fascinating new account of the self, the key to which is experiential or phenomenal continuity.Provided our mental life continues we can easily imagine ourselves surviving the most dramatic physical alterations, or even moving from one body to another. It was this fact that led John Locke to conclude that a credible account of our persistence conditions - an account which reflects how we actually conceive of ourselves - should be framed in terms of mental rather than material continuity. But mental continuity comes in different forms. Most of Locke''s contemporary followers agree that our continued existence is secured by psychological continuity, which they take to be made up of memories, beliefs, intentions, personality traits, and the like. Dainton argues that a better and more believable account can be framed in terms of the sort of continuity we find in our streams of consciousness from moment to moment. Why? Simply because provided this continuity is not
Trade ReviewReview from previous edition not only unusually rich in its discussions of phenomenology and questions about the self, but also impressively honest. ... Barry Dainton has many insightful and important things to say. The bottom line is that anyone interested in such issues could not fail to learn a great deal from his lucid and ingenious arguments and proposals. * Raymond Martin, Times Literary Supplement *
[F]or anyone interested in these issues the book is rich, interesting and full of provocative ideas. * William Uzgalis, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
a highly ambitious piece of philosophical work that covers a lot of ground ... It is written in a clear, straightforward and engaging style * David Mark Kovacs, Mind *
Table of Contents1. Mind and Self ; 2. Phenomenal Unity ; 3. Phenomenal Continuity ; 4. Powers and Subjects ; 5. Alternatives ; 6. Minds and Mental Integration ; 7. Embodiment ; 8. Simple Selves ; 9. Holism ; 10. Modes of Incapacitation ; 11. Objections and Reductions ; 12. The Topology of the Self ; 13. Appendix: Reductionism
