Nicole Kornblum's Proseminar Research

Annotated Bibliography: Personal Identity

The question is not so much "Who am I?" as much as it is "Who do I believe I am?" It is irrelevant whether there is an objective self because all humans view the world subjectively. We have subjective thoughts, subjective sensations, and thus, subjective perceptions. That is not to say that there is no universality when it comes to consciousness or humankind. Uniqueness is implied in the topic: "personal identity." But what is it? How do we maintain it over time? Could I have turned out to be someone else? I cannot say for sure, but I am researching individuals who claim to know.

Here is a list of a few sources I have gathered so far:

Noonan, Harold. (1978). 'Locke on Personal Identity.' Philosophy 53: 343-351.

Perry, J., (1972). ‘Can the Self Divide?’ Journal of Philosophy 69: 463–488

Rorty, R. (1989). 'The Contingency of Selfhood' (23-43). Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity. Cambridge University Press.

Shoemaker, S. (1963). Self-Knowledge and Self-Identity. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Williams, B. (1956–7). ‘Personal Identity and Individuation,' Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 57; 229-252.