The Ontological Distinction between Persons and Their Bodies
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Mohammad Reza Tahmasbi
Abstract
Lynne Rudder Baker’s constitution theory of persons explains the relationship between persons and their bodies. Baker’s theory can explain the ontological status of persons. However, her explanation of the distinction between persons and their bodies faces a problem. In this paper, first, I show that her account, in fact, does not amount to a real distinction between persons and their bodies. Then, by discussing the notion of ‘derivatively having property,’ I propose a notion of constitution which is compatible with the idea that persons and their bodies are, ontologically speaking, distinct entities. This notion of constitution helps us to avoid both the problem of too many minds and the problem of substance dualism.
References
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Original Papers
- In Praise of Externalism? Spaulding, Dewey, and the Logic of Relations
- Relations in the Metaphysics of Science
- Fictional Universal Realism
- Grounding and the Existence of God
- Inquiry & Ordinary Truthmakers
- Haecceity Mereology
- Not Just Many Worlds but Many Universes? A Problem for the Many Worlds View of Quantum Mechanics
- The Ontological Distinction between Persons and Their Bodies
- A Mental-Physical-Self Topology: The Answer Gleaned From Modeling the Mind-Body Problem
- Encoding in Conceivability-Contexts: Zalta’s Theory of Intentionality versus Bourgeois-Gironde’s Notion of Quasi-encoding
- Presentism & Passage
- Metaphysical Compatibilism and the Ontology of Trans-World Personhood: A Neo-Lewisian Argument for the Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge (Determinism) and Metaphysical Free Will
- The Question of Transcendence and Constraint in a Panartifactual Account of Being, Knowing and Making
- Can Non-Causal Explanations Answer the Leibniz Question?
- Two Notes on Composition
- Can Causal Powers Cause Their Effects?
- A “Nouvelle Métaphysique Thomiste” or Simply Neo-Cayetanism?
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Original Papers
- In Praise of Externalism? Spaulding, Dewey, and the Logic of Relations
- Relations in the Metaphysics of Science
- Fictional Universal Realism
- Grounding and the Existence of God
- Inquiry & Ordinary Truthmakers
- Haecceity Mereology
- Not Just Many Worlds but Many Universes? A Problem for the Many Worlds View of Quantum Mechanics
- The Ontological Distinction between Persons and Their Bodies
- A Mental-Physical-Self Topology: The Answer Gleaned From Modeling the Mind-Body Problem
- Encoding in Conceivability-Contexts: Zalta’s Theory of Intentionality versus Bourgeois-Gironde’s Notion of Quasi-encoding
- Presentism & Passage
- Metaphysical Compatibilism and the Ontology of Trans-World Personhood: A Neo-Lewisian Argument for the Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge (Determinism) and Metaphysical Free Will
- The Question of Transcendence and Constraint in a Panartifactual Account of Being, Knowing and Making
- Can Non-Causal Explanations Answer the Leibniz Question?
- Two Notes on Composition
- Can Causal Powers Cause Their Effects?
- A “Nouvelle Métaphysique Thomiste” or Simply Neo-Cayetanism?
