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Mind 2005 114(453):31-59; doi:10.1093/mind/fzi031
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© Hershenov 2005

Do Dead Bodies Pose a Problem for Biological Approaches to Personal Identity?

David Hershenov

University at Buffalo Philosophy Department, National Center for Ontological Research, 135 Park Hall, Buffalo, NY, USA dh25{at}buffalo.edu

Part of the appeal of the biological approach to personal identity is that it does not have to countenance spatially coincident entities. But if the termination thesis is correct and the organism ceases to exist at death, then it appears that the corpse is a dead body that earlier was a living body and distinct from but spatially coincident with the organism. If the organism is identified with the body, then the unwelcome spatial coincidence could perhaps be avoided. It is argued that such an identification would be a mistake. A living organism has a different part/whole relationship and persistence conditions than the alleged body. A case will be made that the concept ‘human body’ is a conceptual mess, vague in an unprincipled manner, and that an eliminativist stance towards dead bodies is the appropriate response.


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This article has been cited by other articles:


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