Person

The philosophical question of the identity of a person has not been posed precisely enough. Contrary to the term’s use in everyday life, and even within philosophy, the identity of a person is not a unified phenomenon. Rather, the identity of a person has to be analysed in terms of the following questions:

1. What determines the entity of a person?
2. What has to happen so that a person from yesterday is ‘identical’ to the person of today?
3. What do we regard as identity in the sense of self-understanding and self-awareness?

This book shows how in our everyday understanding the two ‘identities’ of human persons – persistence and personality – intertwine.

Michael Quante, Universität zu Köln.

"Als sehr positiv hervorzuheben ist neben einer um Klarheit bemühten [...]Sprache, die immer wieder betonte Nähe zur lebensweltlichen Intuition, wodurch sich Quantes Buch von der Abstraktheit und Lebensferne analytischer Philosophie wohltuend abhebt."
Hans-Ulrich Lessing in: Zeitschrift für die Didaktik der Philosophie 4/2009

"This book is a welcome exception within the vast literature on the notions of person and personal identity. Quante offers a clear way of distinguishing and answering various questions that are all too often blurred. The book is thus valuable to readers seeking an introduction to these issues, but it also provides a helpful framework to experts on the topic."
Logi Gunnarsson in: Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 3/2008

"[...] kluges Buch!"
Michael Pawlik in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 18.02.2008

"‚Person‘ ist ein anspruchsvoller Theorieentwurf, der sich kenntnisreich und teilweise höchst subtil mit historischen und neuesten Positionen der Debatte auseinandersetzt."
Jan-Hendrik Heinrichs in: Philosophischer Literaturanzeiger 10-12/2007