Abstract

This collection of twelve essays on the problem of persons is divided into two general themes. Essays on "identity and physical continuity" are presented by: Lewis, Rey, Perry, Parfit, Shoemaker, and Wiggins, while Dennett, Williams, de Sousa, Frankfurt, Penelhum, and Taylor write on "social and moral conditions of personhood." A. O. Rorty’s introduction is especially lucid, arguing that the concept of a person must, finally, be treated as a moral one. With advances in technology, e.g., the plausibility of brain transplants and robots that can think, conditions of responsibility change hand in hand with changes in the meaning of persons. The philosopher’s job is not to introduce new, ingenious "final" solutions but to understand the roles of conflicting as well as interrelated definitions of persons.