X-Message-Number: 14774
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 20:29:32 -0700
From: Lee Corbin <>
Subject: Why a Person is not a Thing

In my experience, those who argue about personal identity
divide into two camps: those who believe that people are
patterns, and those who believe that people are systems.

We never say, for example, that one computer system can be
in two places at the same time, even though they are
executing exactly the same program and have exactly the
same behavior.  But, in this analogy, are people more like
the physical systems themselves, or more like their programs?

It's time once more to deploy the Ship of Theseus against
those who do not believe in the information (pattern) theory
of identity.  As you may recall, the gallant old Ship of
Theseus was beloved by all the warriors who sailed her, and
she served through many, many campaigns.  Over time, planks
and masts became warn, and were gradually replaced. It was
clear that the ship retained its identity as surely as does
an aging person, whose atoms are all replaced over and
over again through the years.

But lo!  As each plank and mast was replaced, they were
secreted away in a nearly lagoon, and slowly the real Ship of
Theseus was rebuilt.  So which, now, is the "real" ship?
Of course, as I'm sure you know, the question is wrong.  We
know all the facts, and there is no mystery.

In the same way, may I ask what would happen if in the coming
years it is found that certain small pieces of the brain can
be replaced by electronic equipment?  That is, suppose as each
small part of a brain begins to lose function, it is found
that the person can be restored to health by piecemeal
replacement. This is really the uploading prospect, of course.

The situation is somewhat the same as in The Ship of Theseus,
and if a person is still functioning in our society after
entire replacement, and seems in no way changed, would you
really have the nerve to insist to the creature that in
reality he or she no longer lived?

Lee Corbin

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