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Full Idea
Some very strange theories of the self suggest it is an abstract object, such as a class, or a property, or a function. Some theories imply that I am a collection, or a bundle, or a structure, or an event, or a process (or even a verb!).
Gist of Idea
Bad theories of the self see it as abstract, or as a bundle, or as a process
Source
Roderick Chisholm (Person and Object [1976], Intro 4)
Book Ref
Chisholm,Roderick: 'Person and Object' [Open Court 1976], p.20
A Reaction
I certainly reject the abstract lot, but the second lot doesn't sound so silly to me, especially 'structure' and 'process'. I don't buy the idea that the Self is an indivisible monad. It is a central aspect of brain process - the prioritiser of thought.
| 180 | We call a person the same throughout life, but all their attributes change [Plato] |
| 181 | Only the gods stay unchanged; we replace our losses with similar acquisitions [Plato] |
| 12809 | Nothing about me is essential [Locke] |
| 24139 | A 'person' is just one possible abstraction from a bundle of qualities [Nietzsche] |
| 15803 | Bad theories of the self see it as abstract, or as a bundle, or as a process [Chisholm] |
| 21843 | People consist of many undetermined lines, some rigid, some supple, some 'lines of flight' [Deleuze] |