Full Idea
Instead of attributing person-like persistence conditions to bodies, we could attribute body-like persistence conditions to persons, …so human persons are identical with human organisms.
Gist of Idea
Maybe our persistence conditions concern bodies, rather than persons
Source
report of Eric T. Olson (The Human Animal [1997]) by Katherine Hawley - How Things Persist 5.10
Book Reference
Hawley,Katherine: 'How Things Persist' [OUP 2004], p.173
A Reaction
In the case of pre-birth and advanced senility, Olson thinks we could have the body without the person, so person is a 'phase sortal' of bodies. A good theory, which seems to answer a lot of questions. 'Person' may be an abstraction.