Personhood and the “multiple self” view

Abstract

This paper critically assesses the supposition that the best way to capture the intuition that the concept of personhood has practical importance is to analyse personhood in terms of multiple selves. It explores the works of David Velleman and, more recently, Stanley Klein in illuminating the multiple self model. The paper argues that the reasons driving belief in multiple selves, and the subsequent conceptual distinctions between selves that David Velleman encourages, has not been sufficiently motivated. Among other things, it makes the point that Velleman’s theory of self is plagued with the problem of ambiguity and arbitrariness. It also argues that Stanley Klein’s recent attempt to ground the belief in multiple selves in empirical analysis is fraught with difficulties.