Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    No thought experiment that involves non-human animals or ... — Carmelics
    Home/Personal Identity
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    No thought experiment that involves non-human animals or computers as persons is well conceived.

    Personal Identity
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    2 reasons for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Strawson's 'Individuals' grounds personhood in the irreducible unity of psychological and physical predicates ascribable to a single subject of experience.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Non-human animals and computers lack the requisite bidirectional ascribability of M-predicates and P-predicates that constitutes a genuine Strawsonian person.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Thought experiments presupposing personhood in entities that structurally lack this dual-ascription framework import a conceptually incoherent subject, rendering conclusions ungeneralizable.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Locke's account ties personal identity to forensic applicability—persons are loci of moral accountability, praise, blame, and legal standing within a moral community.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Thought experiments positing animal or computational persons systematically underdetermine the forensic conditions Locke identifies as constitutive of personhood, not merely incidental to it.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.An experiment that strips away the constitutive forensic scaffolding of personhood does not isolate a purer concept but dissolves the concept it purports to examine.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Thought experiments examining concepts that do not pick out natural kinds face insurmountable relevance problems.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Personhood, as treated in such experiments, would extend beyond the natural-kind category of human beings.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Personal Identity

    Connections

    1 topic

    Skepticism1 linked

    Related

    An experiment that strips away the constitutive forensic scaffolding of personho...Locke's account ties personal identity to forensic applicability—persons are loc...Non-human animals and computers lack the requisite bidirectional ascribability o...Personhood, as treated in such experiments, would extend beyond the natural-kind...
    +4 moreShow less
    Strawson's 'Individuals' grounds personhood in the irreducible unity of psycholo...Thought experiments examining concepts that do not pick out natural kinds face i...Thought experiments positing animal or computational persons systematically unde...Thought experiments presupposing personhood in entities that structurally lack t...

    Similar

    Personhood, as treated in such experiments, would extend beyond the na...75%Deciding what is relevant to the success of a thought experiment about...72%What is shared with other animals is not distinctively human.71%The boundaries between human and animal, and between animal and machin...71%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: thought-experiment
    View source passageHide passage
    We also agree that the inferences drawn in thought experimenting are highly problematic if the hypothetical scenario “is inadequately described” (Wilkes 1988, p. 8). But Wilkes seems to think that the lack of description is unavoidable, which supposedly amounts to a reason against philosophical thought experiments on personal identity because persons are not natural kinds. This makes it impossible to fill in necessary information to make the thought experiment work given its unavoidable underdet
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (2 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit