Identity in Science Fiction: Brain transplants and other misadventures

This is a textbook/popular introduction to the metaphysics of identity. It is centred around 12 science fiction stories, each of which explores some facet of the personal identity debate; cases like amnesia, teleportation, time travel, brain fission and mental fusion. Accompanying each story is a commentary that summarises the philosophical arguments. While the arguments are presented in a balanced way, the author ends up supporting a broadly animalist account, according to which we are essentially autonomous animals. This means that we persist so long as we maintain our animal bodies and its autonomous life-preservation distinct from other animals. We stop persisting if we are bodily fused with other animals, or if we lose our basic animal characteristics (for instance, if our bodies are gradually replaced by machine parts). Another point that the book makes is that thought experiments are essential for reasoning about the metaphysics of identity. Yet philosophers have often used thought experiments in an irresponsible way. For instance, philosophers such as Derek Parfit make appeals to brain transplants without thinking through their practical implications in any realistic detail. A collection of science fiction stories on these scenarios is thus important for getting us to think more carefully about these cases. Finally, the book has appendices which list science fiction stories and films relevant to personal identity, and a teacher's guide for a class centred around the metaphysics of identity. The attached file is a preprint version containing the contents list and introduction only.