Abstract
The first chapter introduces the puzzle of persistence from two angles: First, I show that questions about the diachronic identity of conditions of concrete particulars – and in particular of persons – can be motivated with examples from literature. I then delineate a philosophical trilemma arguing that the puzzle of persistence is an interesting and genuine philosophical problem.
Abide with me; Fast falls the eventide.
Henry Francis Lyte: Abide with me (1847)
Behold an emblem of our human mind
Crowded with thoughts that need a settled home,
Yet, like to eddying balls of foam
Within this whirlpool, they each other chase
Round and round, and neither find
An outlet nor a resting-place!
Stranger, if such disquietude be thine,
Fall on thy knees and sue for help divine.
William Wordsworth: On the Banks of a Rocky Stream (1846)
Sara Connor: Are you saying it’s from the future?
Kyle Reese: One possible future. From your point of view…
Sarah Connor: Then you’re from the future, too. Is that right?
Kyle Reese: Right.
Sarah Connor: Right.
The Terminator (1984)
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Strawson, Galen. 2008. Real materialism. In Real materialism and other essays, ed. Galen Strawson, 19–52. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Whitehead, Alfred North. 1929. Process and reality – An essay in cosmology. New York, NYC: The Free Press. 2nd, revised edition (1978).
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Jaskolla, L. (2017). Persistence? From a Philosopher’s Point of View. In: Real Fourdimensionalism. Philosophical Studies Series, vol 130. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65927-5_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65927-5_1
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Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
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Online ISBN: 978-3-319-65927-5
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