Reading Guide
You Just Read Part Three: The Thought Experiments
Testing intuitions about identity
Part Three stress-tests the theory with thought experiments. Teleporters, Ship of Theseus, identical replicas, the anesthesia argument. Each one is designed to show that our everyday intuitions about identity are inconsistent, and that the theory resolves them.
Explore the thought experiments
Identireplica
An identical replica. A body whose structure and functioning are identical to yours at a moment in time. The simplest case the theory examines.
ReplicasCidentireplica
A continuing identical replica. A body that maintains structure and functioning identical to yours over time. Both bodies produce the same awarepath...
ReplicasVidentireplica
A diverging identical replica. A body that begins identical to you but is allowed to drift naturally over time, becoming gradually different.
ArgumentsTest for originalness argument
If two bodies produce identical consciousness, no test could determine which is the "original". The argument uses that fact to show that originalness is not a...
OtherIxperiencitness duplication
The phenomenon of one ixperiencitness being produced by more than one body. The theoretical possibility that conscious multiplicity rests on.