Swinburne - Thisness

8/13/2019 Swinburne - Thisness

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ThisnessRichard Swinburne

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aOriel College, Oxford

Version of record first published: 02 Jun 2006.

To cite this article:Richard Swinburne (1995): Thisness, Australasian Journal of

Philosophy, 73:3, 389-400

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ustralasian Journal of PhilosophyVol. 73, No. 3; September 1995

T H I S N E S SR i c h a r d S w i n b u r n e

It m i g h t w e l l s e e m t h a t i n d i v i d u a l s o f s o m e k i n d s h a v e haecceitas o r t h i sn e s s , w h i c hm a k e s t h e m d i f f e re n t , fr o m o t h e r i n d i v i d u a l s o f t h e s a m e k i n d o t h e r w i s e i n d i s t i n -g u i sh a b l e f r o m t h e m . I n th e f i rs t p a r t o f th i s p a p e r I s e e k t o m a k e t h e n o t i o n o ft h is n es s m o r e p r e c i s e , a n d I t h e n g o o n t o c o n s i d e r w h i c h k i n d s o f i n d i v i d u a l s h a v et h is n e ss . I s h a l l u n h e s i t a n t l y s u g g e s t t h a t a b s t r a c t o b j e c t s , p l a c e s , a n d t i m e s d o n o t .I s h a ll h e s i t a n t l y s u g g e s t t h a t m a t e r i a l o b j e c t s d o n o t . I s h a l l c o n f i d e n t l y s u g g e s tth at a n i m a t e b e i n g s s u c h a s h u m a n s ) a n d a l s o c o n s c i o u s e v e n t s w h i c h i n v o l v e t h e md o h a v e t h i s n e s s ; a n d I s h a l l h e s i t a n t l y s u g g e s t t h a t a l l o t h e r e v e n t s a l s o h a v e t h i s -n ess . T h e s e s u g g e s t i o n s w i l l b e b a c k e d u p b y a r g u m e n t s , b u t i n e v i t a b l y m yd i sc u s si o n w i l l r a i s e m a n y o t h e r c e n t r a l p h i l o s o p h i c a l q u e s t io n s w h i c h a p a p e r s u c has t h is c a n n o t d i s c u s s a d e q u a t e l y . T h e p o i n t o f t h e p a p e r i s , h o w e v e r , t o s h o w h o wd i ff er en t a n s w e r s t o t h e s e q u e s t i o n s a r e c o n n e c t e d t o e a c h o t h e r b y t h e c e n t r a ln o ti on o f th i s n e s s ; a n d t o s h o w h o w t h e g r o u n d s f o r a s c r i b i n g th i s n e s s t o i n d i v i d u -als o f o n e k i n d i n t e r a c t w i t h t h e g r o u n d s f o r a s c r i b i n g i t t o i n d i v i d u a l s o f . a n o t h e rkind.

A n i n d i v i d u a l h a s t h i s n e ss i n t h e s e n s e a t w h i c h I a m a i m i n g i f a v e r y w e a k f o r mo f t h e p r i n c i p l e o f t h e i d e n t i t y o f in d i s c e r n i b l e s d o e s n o t a p p l y to i t. T h e p r i n c i p l esta te s t h a t t w o i n d i v i d u a l s a re th e s a m e i f t h e y h a v e a l l t h e s a m e p r o p e r t i e s ; b u tta ke s d i f f e r e n t f o r m s a c c o r d i n g t o w h a t i s a l l o w e d t o c o n s t i t u t e a p r o p e r t y . I d i s t in -g uish m o n a d i c p r o p e r t i e s , a s t h o s e w h i c h p e r t a i n t o i n d i v i d u a l s h o w e v e r t h e y a r er el at ed t o a c t u a l i n d i v i d u a l s , f r o m r e l a t i o n a l p r o p e r t i e s . P h i l o s o p h e r s m a y d i s a g r e ea bo ut w h i c h p r o p e r t i e s a re m o n a d i c , b u t p l a u s i b l y th e t r a d i t i o n a l p r i m a r y q u a l i t ie sa re m o n a d i c . S o t o o p l a u s i b l y a r e c a u s a l p o w e r s a n d l i a b i l it i e s . T h e p o w e r to e x e r tsu ch a n d s u c h a f o r c e i s a p r o p e r t y p o s s e s s e d b y a n i n d i v i d u a l , w h e t h e r o r n o t i te ver e x e r t s it o r w h e t h e r t h e r e a r e a n y o t h e r a c t u a l i n d i v i d u a l s o n w h i c h i t c a n e x e r tit. I u n d e r s t a n d b y a g e n e r a l r e l a t i o n a l p r o p e r t y a p r o p e r t y o f r e l a t i o n to s o m e i n d i -v id u al o f a c e r ta i n k i n d , i .e . , h a v i n g c e r t a i n m o n a d i c a n d g e n e r a l r e l a t i o n a lp ro p e rt ie s . G e n e r a l p r o p e r t i e s i n c l u d e b o t h m o n a d i c a n d g e n e r a l re l a t i o n a l p r o p e r -tie s. I u n d e r s t a n d b y a p a r t i c u l a r r e l a t io n a l p r o p e r t y o n e w h i c h i n v o l v e s a r e l a t io n t op a rt ic u la r i n d i v i d u a l s . I u n d e r s t a n d b y a p a r t i c u l a r i n d i v i d u a l o n e w h i c h i s t h e i n d i -v id u al i t i s n o t s o l e l y i n v i r t u e o f i ts g e n e r a l p r o p e r t i e s , i .e . , o n e w h i c h i s n o tn e c es s ar il y i d e n t i c a l w i t h a n y i n d i v i d u a l w h i c h h a s a l l th e s a m e g e n e r a l p r o p e r t i e s .B ein g t e n f e e t a w a y f r o m a r o u n d s t e e l b a l l o r l i v i n g i n a b i g c i t y a r e g e n e r a l r e l a -tio na l p r o p e r t i e s . L i v i n g i n L o n d o n o r s t a n d i n g t o t h e l e ft o f J o h n m a y b e p a r t i c u l a rr el at io n a l p r o p e r t i e s . W h e t h e r t h e y a r e w i l l d e p e n d o n w h e t h e r b e i n g L o n d o n o rb ein g J o h n i s j u s t a m a t t e r o f b e i n g a n i n d i v i d u a l w i t h c e r t a i n m o n a d i c a n d g e n e r a lr e la t io n a l p r o p e r t i e s ; o r wh e t h e r t h e r e i s m o r e t o i t t h a n t h a t .

A r e la t i o n a l p r o p e r t y m a y b e h a r d o r s o f t. A h a r d p r o p e r t y i s o n e w h i c h b e l o n g s389

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390 hisnesst o a n i n d i v i d u a l a t a c e r t a i n t i m e s o l e l y in v i rt u e o f h o w t h i n g s a r e a t t h a t t i m e . As o f t p r o p e r t y i s o n e w h i c h b e l o n g s t o a n i n d i v i d u a l a t a t i m e i n v i rt u e o f h o w t h in g sa r e a t o t h e r t i m e s ; t h a t i s, t h e t ru t h c o n d i t i o n s o f i t b e l o n g i n g t o a n i n d i v i d u a l a t o n et i m e l i e a t o t h e r t i m e s . 1 A s o f t fu t u r e - r e l a t e d p r o p e r t y i s o n e w h i c h b e l o n g s t o a ni n d i v i d u a l a t t in p a r t i n v i r tu e o f h o w t h i n g s w i l l b e a t t i m e s l a t e r t h a n t . B e i n g t h en e x t c e n t u r y s g r e a t e s t p r i m e m i n i s t e r is a s o f t f u t u r e - r e l a t e d p r o p e r t y , b e c a u s e i tb e l o n g s t o a n i n d i v i d u a l i n o n e c e n t u r y i n v i r tu e o f h o w t h i n g s w i l l b e i n t h e n e x t .A s o f t p a s t - r e l a t e d p r o p e r t y i s o n e w h i c h i s n o t fu t u r e - r e l a t e d b u t b e l o n g s t o a n i n d i -v i d u a l a t t i n p a r t i n v i r t u e o f h o w t h i n g s w e r e a t t i m e s e a r l i e r t h a n t . A m o n g s o f tp a s t - r e l a t e d p r o p e r t i e s a r e p r o p e r t i e s o f c o n t i n u i t y - e . g ., s p a t i o - t e m p o r a l c o n t in u i t y ,o r c o n t i n u i t y o f e x p e r ie n c e w i t h p a s t i n d i v i d u a ls . T h i s t a b l e s b e i n g s p a t i o -t e m p o -r a l l y c o n t i n u o u s w i t h a c e r t a i n e a r l i e r t a b l e i s i t s p o s s e s s i n g a c e r t a i n s o f tp a s t - r e l a t e d p r o p e r t y .

T h e s e d i s t in c t i o n s a m o n g k i n d s o f p r o p e r t y g i v e ri s e to m a n y d i f fe r e n t f o r m s o ft h e p r i n c i p le o f th e i d e n t i t y o f i n d i sc e r u i b le s . I n m y d e s c r i p t io n s a n d s u b s e q u e n td i s c u s s i o n s o f th e s e f o r m s a l l p r o p e r t i e s o f t h e a b o v e k i n d s w i l l c o u n t a s p r o p e r t i e se x c e p t t h e p r o p e r t i e s o f b e i n g i d e n t i c a l w i t h p a r t i c u l a r in d i v i d u a l s (o r p r o p e r t ie sw h i c h e n t a il s u c h p r o p e r ti e s ). I i g n o r e t h e s e - la t t e r p r o p e r t i e s b e c a u s e th e w h o l ep o i n t o f a p r i n c i p l e o f t h e i d e n t i t y o f i n d i s c e r n i b l e s i s to a n a l y s e t h e i d e n t i t y o r d i s -t i n c t n e s s o f i n d i v i d u a l s in t e r m s o f o t h e r p r o p e r t i e s w h i c h t h e y p o s s e s s . I t i s ac o n s e q u e n c e o f t h i s r e s tr i c t i o n t h a t I c o u n t s o m e t h i n g a s a p r o p e r t y i f a n d o n l y i f iti s a u n i v e r s a l , i. e ., c a n ( a t a n y r a t e i n a d i f f e re n t p o s s i b l e w o r l d ) b e p o s s e s s e d b y d i f -f e r e n t in d i v i d u a l s . I n c o n s e q u e n c e a l l d i s j u n c t i o n s o f p r o p e r t i e s a r e p r o p e r t i e s , an dm o s t c o n j u n c t i o n s o f p r o p e r t i e s a re p r o p e r t i e s - w h e t h e r a l l c o n j u n c t i o n s o f p r o p e r -t ie s a r e p ro p e r t i e s d e p e n d s o n w h e t h e r t w o d i s ti n c t i n d i v i d u a l s c a n h a v e t h e s a m ec o n j u n c t i o n o f a l l t h e i r p r o p e r t i e s - i .e . , t h e v e r y i s s u e w h i c h i s th e c o n c e r n o f th i sp a p e r .

I n o w d i s t i n g u i s h s i x f o r m s o f t h e p r i n c i p l e u s e f u l f o r m y p u r p o s e s . I n t h e c a s eo f i n d i v i d u a l s w h i c h c a n e x i s t w h o l l y a t m o r e t h a n o n e t i m e , s u c h a s m a t e r i a lo b j e c t s , a n i m a t e b e i n g s , a n d p l a c e s - l e t u s c a l l t h e m c o n t i n u a n t s - t h e s e p r i n c i p l e sc o n c e r n th e i d e n t it y o f t w o i n d i v i d u a l s a t a t i m e ; t h e c l a u s e a t s o m e t i m e m a y b ei n s e r t e d a f t e r t h e w o r d p r o p e r t i e s i n e a c h f o r m o f t h e p r i n c i p l e b e l o w . I a s s u m e -b y t h e n e c e s s i t y o f i d e n t i t y - t h a t i f t w o i n d i v i d u a l s a r e th e s a m e a t o n e t i m e , t h e ya r e t h e s a m e a t a l l t i m e s . I n th e c a s e o f i n d i v i d u a l s w h i c h c a n e x i s t w h o l l y o n l y a to fi e t i m e , su c h a s t i m e s a n d e v e n t s, th e c l a u s e a t s o m e t i m e s h o u l d b e o m i t te d .T h e s e p r i n c i p l e s c o n c e r n n o t m e r e l y t h e i d e n t i t y o f in d i v i d u a l s in a g i v e n w o r l d , b u ta c r o s s p o s s i b l e w o r l d s ; t h a t i s, t h e y c o n c e r n w h a t w o u l d m a k e a n i n d i v i d u a l t h ei n d i v i d u a l i t i s e v e n i f t h e w o r l d w e r e d i f f e r e n t i n v a r i o u s r e s p e c t s .

[ A ] A n y t w o i n d i v i d u a l s w h i c h h a v e a l l t h e s a m e p r o p e r t i e s a r e t h e s a m ei n d i v i d u a l .

[ B ] A n y t w o i n d i v i d u a l s w h i c h h a v e a l l t h e s a m e h a r d a n d p a s t- r e la t e d s of tp r o p e r t i e s a re t h e s a m e i n d i v i d u a l .

O f course, the notion of the truth conditions of it belonging to an individual at one time mayneed to b e spelled out by obvious examp les, in order to rebut the suggestion that all properties

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Richard Swinbu rne 391[ C] A n y t w o i n d i v i d u a ls w h i c h h a v e al l t h e s a m e h a r d p r o p e r t ie s a re t h e

s a m e i n d i v i d u a l .[ D ] A n y t w o i n d i v i d u a l s w h i c h h a v e a ll t h e s a m e g e n e r a l h a rd a n d p a s t-

r e l a t e d s o f t p r o p e r t i e s a r e th e s a m e i n d i v i d u a l .[ E] A n y t w o i n d iv i d u a l s w h i c h h a v e a l l t h e s a m e g e n e r a l h a r d p r o p e rt ie s

a r e t h e s a m e i n d i v i d u a l .[F ] A n y tw o i n d i v id u a l s w h i c h h a v e a ll t he s a m e g e n e r a l h a rd m o n a d i c

p r o p e r t i e s a r e t h e s a m e i n d i v i d u a l .T h e s e f o r m s o f t h e p r i n c i p l e a r e c le a r l y n o t t h e o n l y o n e s p o s s i b l e , b u t t h e y a r e

th e o n l y o n e s t o h a v e b e e n s e r i o u s l y e n t e r ta i n e d ; a n d t h e y a r e i n o r d e r o f in c r e a s i n gs t re n g th ( e x c e p t th a t , w h i l e [ C ] a n d [ D ] a r e b o t h s t r o n g e r t h a n [ B ] a n d w e a k e r t h a n[E ], t h e y a r e n o t c o m p a r a b l e w i t h e a c h o t h e r w i t h r e s p e c t t o s t r e n g t h ) . [ D ] d i f f e r sf ro m [ E ], a n d [ B ] f r o m [ C ] b y w e a k e n i n g t h e la t t er f o r m t o r e q u i r e s a m e n e s s o fp r o p er ti es w h i c h b e l o n g t o i n d i v i d u a l s i n v i r t u e o f h o w t h i n g s h a v e b e e n i n t h e pa s t.[E ], a n d i t s w e a k e r f o r m [ D ] , c l a i m t h a t m e r e g e n e r a l p r o p e r t i e s ( m o n a d i c a n d r e l a -t io n a l) s u f f i c e to i n d i v i d u a t e . [ C ] a n d it s w e a k e r f o r m s [ B ] a n d [ A ] r e q u i r es a m e n e s s o f p a r ti c u l a r p r o p e r t ie s a s w e l l . I n t h e s e n s e i n w h i c h I a m i n t e re s t e d , a ni n d iv i d u al h a s t h i s n e s s i f t h e w e a k e s t f o r m o f t h e p r i n c i p l e - [ A ] - d o e s n o t a p p l y t oi t? T h a t i s, w h a t m a k e s i t t h e i n d i v i d u a l i t i s i s n o t s o l e l y a m a t t e r o f i t s p r o p e r t i e s -w h i ch is w h a t D u n s S c o t u s , t o w h o s e i n t e r p r e t e r s w e a r e in d e b t e d f o r t h e n o t i o n o fh a e c c e i t a s s e e m s t o b e c l a i m i n g w h e n h e a f f i r m s t h e u n a n a l y s a b i li t y o f w h a t m a k e si n d i v id u a l s t h e i n d i v i d u a l s t h e y a r e ? I t i s s o m e t h i n g d i s t i n c t a n d i n t r i n s i c t o e a c hi n d iv i d ua l w h i c h h a s i t. A n y i n d i v i d u a l w h i c h h a s t h i s n e s s w i l l b e a p a r t ic u l a r i n d i -v id u a l i n t h e s e n s e d e l i n e a t e d e a r l i e r , b u t n o t c o n v e r s e l y . S o m e p a r t i c u l a ri n d iv i d ua l s m a y b e t h e o n e s t h e y a r e i n v i r tu e ( as w e l l a s o f t h e i r g e n e r a l p r o p e r t i e s )o f t h e ir r e l a t i o n s t o o t h e r p a r t i c u l a r i n d i v i d u a l s , w h i c h l a t t e r h a v e t h i sn e s s . B u tt h e r e c a n n o t b e a n y p a r t i c u l a r i n d i v i d u a l s u n l e s s s o m e p a r t i c u l a r i n d i v i d u a l s h a v et hi sn e ss , o t h e r w i s e t h e r e w o u l d b e a v i c i o u s in f i n i t e r e g r e s s , a w o u l d b e t h e p a r t i c u -l a r i n d i v i d u a l i t i s i n v i r t u e ( a s w e l l a s o f g e n e r a l p r o p e r t i e s ) o f i t s r e l a t i o n t o b ,

cont inued . . .are soft. Fo r someo ne ma y say that , for example, being P rime M inister is a soft property,because among its truth conditions is having be en about to become Prime M inister at some earli-er time. But the latter is obviously (on any reasonable understanding of truth-condition) n ot atroth-condition which lay at the earlier time, no t a matter of ho w things we re then.2 Leib niz, o wh om w e owe the principle of the identity of indiscemibles, was unclear which formof the principle he was advocating. He certainly uses at times the strongest form in order toshow that there could not be two leaves or drops of water in different places indistinguishablefrom each other. (See [8, 4.4].) But elsewhere he claims that w e must take relational properties,including soft relational properties into account. See the discussion in [9, pp. 45 f and 60f], ofwhat makes Ad am Adam . It invo lves at least everything that happened to him throughout hislife, and, he seems to imply, eve ry general property o f relation to anything anyw here at any tim ein the Un iverse.3 D u ns Scotus discusses the question of what is the principle o f individuation - what m akes athing th is and not tha t - in, among other places, [3]. In nn 168-187 he explains that individ-ual difference arises from a contraction of the specific form, like the way in which a genericform is contracted to a specific but unlike it in that what we are left with is no long er a universal.The thisn ess of an individual, that is, is a particular w ay of being a memb er o f its species.

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392 Thisnessw h i c h w o u l d b e t h e i n d i v i d u a l i t i s i n v i r tu e ( a s w e l l a s o f it s g e n e r a l p r o p e r t i e s ) o fi t s r e l a t i o n s t o c w h i c h . . , a nd s o o n ad in f in i tum. T h e r e w o u l d b e n o t h i n g u l t i-m a t e l y w h i c h p a r t i cu a r i se d th e g e n e r a l p r o p e rt i e s.

I t s e e m s f a i r l y e v i d e n t t h a t a b s t r a c t o b j e c t s d o n o t h a v e t h i s n e s s, b e c a u s e t h e y a r ei n d i v i d u a t e d b y [ E] . T h u s t w o i n t e g e r s w h i c h h a d t h e s a m e m o n a d i c p r o p e r t ie s an dt h e s a m e g e n e r a l re l a t io n a l p r o p e r t i e s w o u l d b e t h e s a m e i n t e g e r; a n y i n t e g e r w h i c hw a s t h e c u b e o f t h e s e c o n d p r i m e i n t e g e r , g r e a t e r t h a n t h e f i f th p r i m e i n t e g e r , a n dl e s s t h a n t h e n i n t h i n t e g e r w o u l d b e t h e n u m b e r 8 . T h e r e c o u l d n o t b e a d i f fe r e n ti n t e g e r w h i c h h a d a l l t h e s a m e g e n e r a l p r o p e r t ie s .

L i k e w i s e a g i v e n t i m e ( w h e t h e r p e r i o d o r i n s t a n t ) o r p l a c e ( w h e t h e r v o l u m e o rp o i n t ) i s w h a t i t i s i n v i r tu e o f i t s m o n a d i c p r o p e r t i e s a n d i t s r e l a ti o n s to o t h e r t h i n g s( i n c lu d i n g o t h e r ti m e s a n d p l a c e s ). I t m a y w e l l b e th a t p l a c e s ( a n d p e rh a p s e v e nt i m e s ) h a v e m o n a d i c p r o p e r t i e s - g e o m e t r i c a l p r o p e r t i e s o f c u r v a tu r e , s a y , a n d p r o p -e r t i e s o f s t r es s a n d t e n s io n . M o r e o v e r , p l a c e s h a v e s p a t i a l r e l a t i o n s t o o t h e r p l a c e s ,r e la t i o n s o f c o n t a i n m e n t t o th e m a t e r i a l o b j e c ts w h i c h o c c u p y t h e m , a n d m a y b ec a u s a l r e l a t i o n s to m a t e r i a l o b j e c t s ( e .g . , i n t h a t t h e y c a u s e p l a c e s to h a v e t h e g e o m -e t ry t h e y h a v e ) . A n d , o f c o u r s e , t im e s h a v e t e m p o r a l r e l a ti o n s t o o t h e r t i m e s ,r e l a ti o n s o f h a p p e n i n g - a t to t h e e v e n t s w h i c h o c c u r a t th e m , a n d m a y b e c a u s a l re l a -t io n s a s w e l l . A n d d i f fe r e n t p l a c e s a n d t i m e s m a y w e l l h a v e d i ff e re n t m o n a d i c a sw e l l a s d i f f e r e n t r e l a t i o n a l p r o p e r t i e s . I d o n o t w i s h t o d e n y a n y t h i n g w h i c h a n ya b s o l u t is t k n o w n t o m e w i s h e s t o a f f ir m a b o u t s p a c e o r t i m e ( a n d s o a b o u t s p a c e -t i m e , i f t h a t lo c u t i o n i s p r e f e r re d ) . B u t m y c l a i m i s s i m p l y t h at t h e r e c o u l d n o t b e au n i v e r s e w h i c h d i f f e r e d f r o m t h e a c t u a l u n i v e r s e i n t h e s o l e r e s p e c t t h a t t h e r e w a so n e t i m e o r p l a c e i n i t d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g t i m e o r p l a c e o f t h e a c t u a lu n i v e r s e . T h e r e c o u l d n o t b e , f o r e x a m p l e , a d i f f e r e n t y e a r b e t w e e n 1 9 8 9 a n d 1 9 9 1 ,w h i c h h a d a l l t h e s a m e p r o p e r t i e s ( e .g . , a t w h i c h a l l t h e s a m e e v e n t s o c c u r r e d ) f r o mt h e a c t u a l y e a r 1 9 9 0. A n d t h e r e c o u l d n o t b e a d i f f e r e n t p l a c e f r o m t h e p l a c e n o wo c c u p i e d b y t h e s u n w i t h a l l th e s a m e p r o p e r t i e s a s it - t h e s a m e g e o m e t r y , t h e s a m es t r e ss p r o p e r t i e s , t h e s a m e r e l a t i o n s t o o t h e r p l a c e s a n d m a t e r i a l o b j e c ts . F o r s u p -p o s e t h a t th e r e c o u l d b e , t h e n t h e r e w o u l d b e a s l o t b e t w e e n 1 9 8 9 a n d 1 9 9 1 w h i c hc o u l d b e o c c u p i e d b y d i f f e r e n t y e a r s ; a n d a s l o t i n th e r e g i o n o f t h e s u n w h i c h c o u l db e o c c u p i e d b y d i f fe r e n t s u n - s h a p e d p l a c e s . B u t s u c h a s l o t w o u l d t h e n i t s e l f b e at i m e o r a p l a c e ; a n d s o a t i m e w o u l d o c c u p y a t i m e a n d a p l a c e a p l a c e . B u t t o s a yt h a t is to e v a c u a t e t h e n o t i o n s o f ti m e a n d p l a c e o f an y c l e a r m e a n i n g . A n d i f o n ep l a c e o r t im e c a n n o t h a v e t h i s n e s s , th e s a m e g o e s f o r a n y o t h e r . S o p l a c e s o r t i m e sc a n n o t b e i n d i v i d u a t e d b y t h e i r p a r t i c u l a r re l a t i o n a l p r o p e r t i e s t o o t h e r p l a c e s o rt i m e s h a v i n g t h is n e s s. H e n c e t h e w h o l e f r a m e w o r k o f s p a c e o r t im e ( o r s p a c e -t i m e )c a n n o t h a v e t h i s n es s . W h a t m a k e s i t w h a t i t i s a n d w h a t m a k e s a n i n d i v i d u a l p l a c eo r t i m e w h a t i t i s c a n o n l y b e ( a s w e l l a s i t s m o n a d i c p r o p e r t i e s , s u c h a s c u r v a t u r e )r e la t i o n s to i n d i v i d u a l s o f o t h e r k i n d s , v i z. , m a t e r i a l o b j e c ts w h i c h o c c u p y s p a c e o rt h e e v e n t s w h i c h o c c u r a t t i m e s . 4

Leibniz used the identity of indiscernibles to prove a stronger thesis about space and time. Heclaimed that there would be no difference if the whole collection of material bodies of ou r uni-verse, preserving the same spatial relations to each other, were p laced in one place rather than inanother. 'T is imposs ible there should be a re a so n . . , why every thing was not p la c e d . . , bychanging East into West. The o ne would exactly be the same thing as the other, they being

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Richard Swinburne 3 9 3But a t f i r s t s i gh t i na n i m a t e m a t e r i a l ob j e c t s l ook t o be a s t r ong c a s e f o r ha v i ng

thi sness . Clea r ly [F ] does no t apply to them . Th ere can be two qua l i t a t ive ly iden t i -ca l ob jec t s , each of the same shape , s i ze , and co lour in a l l o f i t s pa r t s , i n d i f fe ren tp la ce s. A nd s y m m e t r i c a l un i ve r s e s s e e m t o p r e s e n t a n obs t a c le t o t he s ugge s t i ontha t [E] appl i es to mate r i a l ob jec t s , and the obs tac le appl i es to [13] a s we l l . I s n t i tl og ic a ll y pos s i b l e t ha t the un i ve r s e s hou l d ha ve c on t a i ne d no t h i ng bu t t w o e xa c t l ys im i la r s phe r e s ? , a s ke d M a x B l a c k2 E a c h w ou l d be o f the s a m e s iz e , S hape, m a d eo f c he m i c a l ly pu r e i r o n , a t a d i s ta nc e o f t w o m i le s f r o m a s phe r e o f tha t k i nd , a nd -w e m a y a dd - s i tua t e d a t a p l a c e w h i c h ha s a l l t he s a m e m on a d i c p r ope r t i e s a s e ve r yother p lace , a nd e ach h as a qu a l i t a t ive ly s imi la r h i s tory , e .g . , each has the pas t - re l a t-e d s o ft p r op e r t y o f be i ng s pa t i o - t e m po r a l l y c on t i nuo us w i t h a s phe r e w i t h t he s a m ehard proper t i e s fo r in f in i te pas t t ime ; and ye t the two sph eres w ou ld be d i f fe ren t .T h i s c ons i de r a t ion m ov e s u s , f o r m a t e r i a l ob j e c t s , i n t he d i r e c t ion o f t he w e a ke rf o r m s , [ C ] , a n d ( t a k i n g s p a t i o - t e m p o r a l c o n t i n u i t y i n t o a c c o u n t ) , [ B ] , a s t h es tronge st w h i c h c a n be a s s e rt e d . E a c h m a t e r i a l ob j e c t i n a s ym m e t r i c a l un i ve r s ewould , by pr inc ip le [B] be a d i f fe ren t ind iv id ua l i f i t is the ind iv idu a l i t i s in v i r tueof it s re l a t ions to ind iv idua l s w hic h a re the ind iv idu a l s th ey a re no t so le ly in v i r tueof the ir genera l p roper t i e s . Th us sphere a cou ld be ind iv id ua ted by a pa r t i cu la r re l a -tional p r ope r t y o f be i ng t w o m i le s a w a y f r om s phe r e b i f sphere b was the sphere i tw as no t s o l e ly be c a us e o f t he ge ne r a l p r ope r ti e s i t pos s e s s e d . Bu t i f t he p r ope r t y o fb ein g t w o m i le s a w a y f r o m s p h e re b a m o u n t s t o n o m o r e t h an b e i n g t w o m i l e s a w a yf rom a sphere o f a ce r t a in k ind , the ap paren t pa r t i cu la r re l a t iona l p ro per ty tu rn s ou tto be a ge ne r a l one . S i nc e p r e s um a b l y e a c h s phe r e i s i nd i v i dua t e d i n t he s a m e s o r tof wa y as each o th e r sphere , i f sphere a i s no t the sph ere i t i s so le ly in v i r tue of i tsgenera l p roper t i e s , i t cannot be ind iv idua ted by i t s spa t i a l re l a t ion to sphere b , s incethe sam e wi l l b e t ru e o f the la t ter .

[B] m i gh t s u f f i c e to i nd i v i dua t e m a t e r ia l o b j e c t s i f the y h a ve r e l a ti ons t o i nd i v i d -uals o t he r tha n m a t e r i a l ob j e c t s. T h us i f p l a c e s ha d t h i s ne s s t he t w o s ph e r e s w ou l dbe d i f fe ren t in v i r tue o f hav ing d i f fe ren t re l a t ions to the p lac es w hich f i ll ed space .But I ha ve a r gue d t ha t p l a c e s do no t ha ve t h i sne s s . A l t e r na t i ve l y , i f - c on t r a r y toBl a c k s s uppos i t i on - t he un i ve r s e c on t a i ne d a n i m m a t e r ia l obs e r ve r w h i c h ha d t h is -ness , the spheres c ou ld be ind iv idua ted by the i r d i f fe ren t re l a t ions to th i s obse rver(e.g ., one cou ld cau se a n e f fec t in the r igh t - s ide o f h i s v i sua l f i e ld , a nd the o the r inthe l ef t) . Bu t i n t he a bs e nc e o f i nd i v i dua l s o f a ny o t he r k i nd ha v i n g t h i sne s s , i tw ould s e e m t ha t t he re c ou l d be t w o d i s ti nc t m a t e r i a l ob j e c t s w h i c h w e r e no t d i s ti n -guis he d by [ B] . Bu t [ A ] d if f e rs f r om [ B] on l y i n a l l ow i ng t ha t f u tu r e - r e la t e d s o f tproper ti es mig ht mak e a ll the d i f fe rence . Ye t tha t i s no t p laus ib le . T w o ind iv idua l scan only have a d i f fe ren t fu ture h i s tory (e .g ., one cease to e x i s t a t t, and the o the rcont inue to ex i s t a f t e r t ) i f t he re a re a l ready two ind iv idua l s d i s t inc t in v i r tue of

continueda b s o l u t e l y i n d i s c e r n i b l e [ 8 , 1 1 1 .5 ]. A n d t h e s a m e g o e s , h e c l a i m e d , [ 8 , 1 1 1.6 ] f o r t h e S u g g e s t i o nt h a t e v e r y t h i n g m i g h t h a v e b e e n c r e a t e d a y e a r s o o n e r . B u t h i s t h e s i s d e p e n d s o n h i s a s s u m p t i o nt h a t s p a c e i s s o m e t h i n g a b s o l u t e l y u n i f o r m , i .e ., t h a t a l l p l a c e s h a v e t h e s a m e m o n a d i c p r o p e r -t ie s, a n d t h e c o r re s p o n d i n g a s s u m p t i o n a b o u t t im e . I a m n o t f o l lo w i n g h i m i n m a k i n g t h e s eassumptions.S e e [ 2 , p . 156 ] .

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394 hisnesso t h e r c o n s i d e ra t i o n s , w h o m i g h t s u b s e q u e n t l y h a v e d i f f e r e n t h i s t o r i e s ? I f w e a c c e p tt h at t h e t w o q u a l i t a ti v e l y i d e n t i c a l i r o n s p h e r e s t w o m i l e s a w a y f r o m e a c h o t h e r i na n o t h e r w i s e e m p t y u n i v e r s e a r e d i f f e r e n t , w e a r e f o r c e d t o d e n y t h a t e v e n [ A ] h a sa p p l i c a t i o n t o t h e m , a n d s o t o a f f i rm t h a t w h a t m a k e s t h e m t h e i n d i v i d u a l s t h e y a r ei s s o m e t h i n g o t h e r t h a n t h e i r p r o p e r t i e s .

B l a c k s t h o u g h t e x p e r i m e n t s e e m s t o s h o w t h a t t h e re c o u l d b e a u n i v e r s e inw h i c h m a t e r i a l o b j e c t s h a d t h i s ne s s . B u t t h a t t h o u g h t e x p e r i m e n t d o e s n o t s e e m t om e s u f f i c i e n t t o s h o w t h a t t h e m a t e r i a l o b j e c t s o f o u r u n i v e r s e h a v e t h i s n e ss . F o rm a y i t n o t b e t h at t h e y a r e l ik e m a g n e t i c a n d g r a v i t a t io n a l f i e ld s ? T h e r e c o u l d n t b ea d i f f er e n t m a g n e t i c f i e l d f r o m t h e o n e t h e re i s i n s o m e p l a c e o f e x a c t l y t he s a m es h a p e a n d s t r e n g t h a s a g i v e n fi e l d . I t s e e m s to m e t h a t Q u a n t u m T h e o r y g i v e s q u i teg o o d r e a s o n f o r s u p p o s i n g t h a t t h e f u n d a m e n t a l p a r t i c le s o f o u r u n i v e rs e a re li k et h a t, d i s t u r b a n c e s in a f i e ld . T o t a k e a h i g h l y s i m p l i f i e d e x a m p l e - s u p p o s e y o uh a v e t wo p a r t i c l e s , b o s o n s 11 a n d 12, w h i c h y o u i d e n t i f y b y t h e i r p o s i t i o n s a t t 1 - 11 i nP a ( b o x 1 ) a n d 12 i n P2 ( b o x 2 ) , t h e t w o b o x e s b e i n g s e p a r a t e d f r o m e a c h o t h e r b y ap a r t i t io n . S u p p o s e t h e p a r t i t i o n th e n r e m o v e d a n d r e p l a c e d b e f o r e t2 , t h e n a t t 2 e a c hp a r t i c l e m u s t b e e i t h e r i n P l o r in P2 . T h e r e m i g h t t h e n s e e m t o b e f o u r p o s s i b l e d is -t inc t a r r a ng em en ts a t t2: bo th in P l ; bo th in Pa ; 11 in P l a nd 12 in P2; and 11 in P2a n d 1 2 i n P l . W e c a n n o t i n g e n e r a l , a c c o r d i n g t o Q u a n t u m T h e o r y , tr a c e c o n t i n u o u sp a t h s f o r p a r t i c l e s7 a n d s o c a n n o t o b s e r v e w h e r e 11 o r 12 g o . T h e r e a r e t h e n o n l yt h r e e p o s s i b l e a r r a n g e m e n t s d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e ( b y u s ) a t t2 : b o t h p a r t i c l e s i n p f i b o t hi n P 2; o n e i n P l a n d t h e o t h e r in P2 . W e c a n n o t d i s t i n g u i s h b e t w e e n t h e t w o a p p a r -e n t l y d i s t in c t a l t e rn a t i v e s c o v e r e d b y t h e th i r d d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e p o s s i b i l it y . B u tm a y b e t h e r e i s a t r u th a l l th e s a m e a b o u t w h e t h e r i t i s 11 w h i c h r e m a i n s i n P l o rw h e t h e r 11 i s i n P2 . T h e n o r m a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f Q u a n t u m T h e o r y d e n i e s th a t t h e rei s . I t c l a i m s t h a t p r o p e r t i e s a l o n e m a k e p a r t i c l e s th e o n e s t h e y a r e , a n d s i n c e t h e r e i sn o c o n t i n u i ty w i t h p a s t p a r ti c l e s, th a t m e a n s h a r d m o n a d i c a n d r e l a t i o n a l p r o p e r ti e sa lon e ; tha t p r in c ip le [E] ind iv idu a te s . (11 in P l an d 12 in P2) and (12 in P I an d 11 inP 2) a r e n o t d i s t i n c t a l t e r n a t i v e s - p a r t i c l e s h a v e n o u n d e r l y i n g th i s n e s s . T h e e v i -d e n c e f o r t h i s i s t h a t i f t h i s s u p p o s i t i o n t h a t t h e r e a r e o n l y t h r e e d i s t i n c t a l t e r n a t iv e si s c o r re c t , a n d i f d i s t i n c t a lt e r n a t i v e s a r e e q u i p r o b a b l e , w e s h o u l d f i n d t h e t h re ea r r a n g e m e n t s w i t h e q u a l fr e q u e n c y . Q u a n t u m s t a t is t i c s a s s u r e s u s t h a t w e d o fi n dt h at . H e n c e , g i v e n t h e a s s u m p t i o n o f e q u i p r o b a b i l i ty , i t i s e v i d e n c e f o r p a rt i c le sl a c k i n g th i s n es s . T h e a s s u m p t i o n o f e q u i p r o b a b i l i ty i s a n a p r i o r i o n e - w h i c h w eo u g h t t o m a k e i n t he a b s e n c e o f re a s o n f o r s u p p o s i n g o t h e r w i s e ( e .g . , s o m e g o o dr e a s o n s u g g e s t e d b y p h y s i c a l th e o r y w h y s o m e a r r a n g e m e n t s a r e m o r e l i k e l y too c c u r th a n o t h er s ). N o o n e h a s p r o d u c e d a n y s u c h g o o d r e a s o n - s o t h e e v id e n c ec u r r e n t l y s u g g e s t s t h a t p a r t i c l e s l a c k t h i s n e s s ?

See [1, pp. 18 f].Particles do not m ove in w ell-defined trajectories, so the qu estion of spatio-temporal continuityof trajectory does not arise [4, p. 244].See, e.g., [1 0]. Re dh ead and Teller point out that the normal system o f labelling particles mis-leadingly suggests that they d o h ave (in my terminology) thisness, and that there is available adifferent system of description of the Quantum domain, the Fock space description, whichavoids this assumption.

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ichard Swinburne 395B u t t h e r e is n o t h i n g m o r e t o la r g e - s c a le m a t e r i a l o b j e c t s e x c e p t t h e f u n d a m e n t a l

p a r t ic l e s a n d t h e r e l a t i o n s t h e s e h a v e t o e a c h o t h e r . S o o r d i n a r y m a t e r i a l o b j e c t sa ls o d o n o t h a v e th i s n e ss . T h e y a r e j u s t i n t e r t w i n e d fi e ld s o f f o r c e ? I n c o n s e -q u e n c e , t h e o b j e c ts o f o u r w o r l d , f o r lo g i c a l r e a so n s , c o u l d n o t - g i v e n w h a t t h e y a r e- b e a r r a n g e d s y m m e t r i c a ll y . T h a t d o e s n o t r u le o u t t h e r e b e i n g a s p h e r e t w o m i l e sa w a y f r o m a n o t h e r sp h e re - b u t i t w o u l d b e t h e s a m e s p h er e , sp a c e b e i n g c u r v e d : Is tr es s t h a t th i s r e s u l t - t h a t m a t e r i a l o b j e c t s d o n o t h a v e t h i s n e s s - i s s i m p l y a c o n s e -q u e n c e o f a s c i e n t i f i c t h e o r y b e s t s u p p o r t e d b y o b s e r v a t i o n a l d a ta . N e w d a t al e a d in g t o a n e w t h e o r y c o u l d o v e r t u r n a l l t ha t. B u t Q u a n t u m T h e o r y i s at p r e s e n tv e ry w e l l s u p p o r t e d b y t h e d a ta , a n d i t w o u l d n e e d a l o t t o o v e r t h r o w it .

A t f i r st th e ( l o g i c a l ) i m p o s s i b i l i t y o f t h e o b j e c t s o f o u r w o r l d b e i n g a r r a n g e ds y m m e t r i c a l l y s e e m s a s t r a n g e c o n s e q u e n c e . O u r u n i v e r s e b e g a n , w e a r e t o ld ,a lm o s t s y m m e t r ic a l ly . T h e u n i v e r s e e x p l o d e d f r o m t h e B i g B a n g a l m o s t s y m m e t r i -c a ll y. S o t h e p a r t i c l e s o f th e i n i t i a l e x p l o s i o n c o u l d n t , fo r r e a s o n s o f l o g i c , h a v eb e en i n s li g h t ly d i f fe r e n t p o s i t io n s f r o m t h e o n e s i n w h i c h t h e y w e r e ( v iz . , so a s t ob e s y m m e t r ic a l ) . B u t h o w c o u l d l o g i c p r e v e n t a d if f e r e n t a r r a n g e m e n t o f p a r t ic l e s ?A p o s s i b l e a n s w e r i s s u g g e s t e d i f w e t a k e Q u a n t u m T h e o r y a b i t m o r e s e r i o u s l y .

A c c o r d i n g to th a t t h e o r y , t h e r e a l t r u th a b o u t th e B i g B a n g i s t h a t f r o m t h a tm o m e n t o n w a r d s w h a t r e a l ly e v o l v e d w a s t h e W - f u n c t i o n o f th e w h o l e u n i v e r s e .W i t h o u t o b s e r v a t i o n s t h e p a r t i c l e s , w h i c h I h a v e w r i t te n a b o u t as t h o u g h t h e y w e r ev e ry s m a l l b i l l i a r d b a l l s , a r e r e a l l y t o t a l ly e n t a n g l e d w i t h e a c h o t h e r i n t h a t f u n c -tio n. S e p a r a t e p a r t ic l e s b e i n g h e r e o r t h e r e a r e t h e r e s u lt s o f o b s e r v a t i o n s , o f a ni n te r ac t io n b e t w e e n t h e W - f u n c t i o n a n d a n a p p a r a t u s m e a s u r i n g f o r p o s i t io n . S u c h am e a s u r i n g a p p a r a t u s is a d e v i c e w h i c h m e a s u r e s i n s u c h a w a y a s s u b s e q u e n t l y t oc a rr y a m a r k o f a p a r t i c l e s p o s i t i o n r e l a t i v e t o i t s e l f ( i . e ., a c q u i r e s a d i f f e r e n tm o n a d i c p r o p e r t y i n v i rt u e o f t h e d i s t a n c e a n d d i r e c t io n w h i c h i t m e a s u r e s ) . I n an a rr o w s e n s e o n l y a n a n i m a t e b e i n g c a n c o n s ti t u te a m e a s u r i n g a p p a r a tu s . I n a w i d es en se a n y b i t o f t h e u n i v e r s e ( o r t h e W - f u n c t i o n w h i c h c o r r e s p o n d s t o it ) c a n f u n c -tio n a s a m e a s u r i n g a p p a r a tu s . N o w i f w e u n d e r s t a n d t h e n o t i o n i n t h e w i d e s e n s e ,as p h y s i c is t s u s u a l l y d o , t h e n m e a s u r e m e n t h a s b e e n g o i n g o n f r o m t he v e r y9 In a non-symmetrical world, we c an distinguish objects from each other by their macroscopicproperties. In the case of large-scale objects, that m ean s no t on ly hard gen era l properties(monadic and relational), but also soft properties including the normal crucial property o f spatio-temporal continuity. O ur normal criteria for the identity over tim e of such objects are fairlyloose ones. Billiard ba ll b2 is the same as billiard ball b~ if i t has roughly the sam e size, m ass,shape etc., as i t , and p reserves spatin-temporal continuity w ith it as a whole over time, wh etheror not i ts com ponent particles preserve spatio-temporal continuity w ith the individual particles

of bl. The identity over tim e of a large-scale m aterial object is unaffected by the object losing o rgaining quite a num ber of particles, an d particles jum pi ng from place to place within the object(i .e., a particle disappearing from o ne place and another appearing in another place). Hencesuch objects will obey different statistics from the Q uantum statistics which govern their co n-stituent particles. They w ill, to use an an alogy, be the statistics of swarm s o f particles ratherthan of individual particles. How ever w e co uld insist on stricter criteria of identity for large-scale objects (e.g., insist that gain or loss of a particle makes an object cease to exist and bereplaced by another one). Bu t the stricter ou r criteria, the fewer objects w ill persist throughtime, and the more closely the large-scale objects will obey Quantum statistics.~0 This possible interpretation of the datum o f there bein g an iron sphere two m iles aw ay from a niron sphere was drawn to our attention in H acking [6].

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396 Thisnessm o m e n t o f t h e B i g B a n g ; a n d so p a r t i c le s h a v e h a d p o s i t i o n f r o m th e n o n w a rd s .I n t h a t c a s e w e s h a l l s i m p l y h a v e t o s a y th a t a U n i v e r s e q J - f u n c t io n h a s t o h a v e s u c ha n a t u re a s a l w a y s t o y i e l d a s y m m e t r i c a l m e a s u r e m e n t s - a n d t h a t t h i s i s a d e e pp h y s i c a l f a c t a b o u t s u c h a W - fu n c t io n . ( T h e m a t t e r o f a s y m m e t r i c a l p h y s i c a l u n i-v e r s e w o u l d h a v e t o b e o f q u i t e a d i f f e r e n t k i n d f r o m t h e m a t t e r o f o u r u n i y e r s e . )B u t i f w e u n d e r s t a n d t h e n o t i o n o f m e a s u r e m e n t i n t h e n a r r o w s e n s e a s , fo r e x a m -p l e , W i g n e r 11 d i d , t h e p o s i t i o n b e c o m e s q u i t e d i f f e re n t . F o r t h e n o t i o n o f t heU n i v e r s e h a v i n g b e g u n s y m m e t r i c a l l y (o r n o t ) c an t h e n o n l y b e c o n s t r u e d i n as t r a i n e d se n s e a s i t h a v i n g b e g u n i n s u c h a w a y a s t o p r o d u c e ( w h e n t h e r e w e r e a n i -m a t e b e i n g s w h o a l o n e c o u l d m e a s u r e i t a n d s o g i v e i ts p a r t i c l e s p o s i t i o n ) as y m m e t r i c a l ( o r o t h e r ) u n i v e r s e . I f t h e s e a n i m a t e b e i n g s d o n o t h a v e t h i s n e s s, s y m -m e t r y i s a g a i n r u l e d ou t . B u t i f , a s I a m a b o u t t o a rg u e , a n i m a t e b e i n g s d o h a v et h i s n e s s , t h e n a s y m m e t r i c a l u n i v e r s e i s p e r f e c t l y p o s s i b l e . F o r it s p a r t i c l e s c o u l dd i f f e r f r o m e a c h o t h e r b y h a v i n g d i f f e r e n t p a r t i c u l a r r e l a t i o n a l p r o p e r t i e s (e . g ., d i s -t a n c e a n d d i r e c t i o n ) to a n a n i m a t e b e i n g h a v i n g t h i s n e s s . I f t h e re w e r e t w os y m m e t r i c a l a n i m a t e b e i n g s , t h e y w o u l d d i f f e r f r o m e a c h o t h e r solo numero a n dp a r t i c l e s o n d i f f e r e n t s i d e s o f t h e U n i v e r s e w o u l d b e a t d i f f e r e n t d i s t a n c e s f r o me a c h .

S o w h a t a b o u t a n i m a t e b e i n g s - i .e . , b e i n g s w h o a r e a t l e a s t i n t e r m i t t e n t l y c o n -s c i o u s , s u c h a s h u m a n s ? I s u g g e s t t h a t t h e r e is a s t r o n g c a s e f o r t h e i r h a v i n gt h is n e ss . T h e w o r l d c o u l d h a v e b e e n s u c h t h a t t h e re w a s a h u m a n w h o h a d a l l t h es a m e g e n e r a l p r o p e r t i e s a n d r e l a t i o n s a s m y s e l f , a n d t h e s a m e c o n s c i o u s m e n t a l l i f ed e s c r i b e d i n g e n e r a l t e r m s e . g . , a p a i n f o l l o w e d b y a t h o u g h t t h a t p e o p l e w e r e h o s -t il e , f o l l o w e d b y a b l u e i m a g e e tc . T h a t h u m a n c o u l d a l s o h a v e h a d a l l t h e sa m ep a r t i c u l a r r e l a t io n a l p r o p e r t i e s , h a r d a n d s o f t , a s m y s e l f - e . g ., if , c o n t r a r y t o w h a t Ih a v e a r g u e d , i n a n i m a t e m a t e r i a l o b j e c ts h a v e t h i sn e s s, t h a t h u m a n c o u l d h a v e b e e nb o r n f r o m a n e m b r y o m a d e o f t h e s a m e p a r t i c u l a r b i t s o f m a tt e r. A n d y e t th a th u m a n c o u l d h a v e b e e n q u i t e d i f fe r e n t f r o m m y s e l f. T h a t i s, in m o r e f a s h i o n a b l et e r m s , t h e r e i s a p o s s i b l e w o r l d i n w h i c h t h e r e i s a h u m a n w i t h a l l t h e s a m e p r o p e r -t i e s a s m y s e l f w h o i s n o t m e - a t l e a s t so i t w o u l d a p p e a r u n l e s s w e a s s u m e i na d v a n c e s o m e c o n t e n t io u s p h i l o s o p h i c a l p o s i ti o n . A n d t h is p o i n t w i l l b e e v e n m o r ee v i d e n t i f in a n i m a t e m a t e r i a l o b j e c t s (i n c l u d i n g b o d i e s ) d o n o t h a v e t h is n e ss . F o r i nt h at c a s e i f a n i m a t e b e i n g s a l s o d o n o t h a v e t h i s n e ss , a n y h u m a n b e i n g w h o h a d a ts o m e t i m e a l l t h e s a m e g e n e r a l p r o p e r t i e s a s m y s e l f w o u l d b e m e . F o r i f n o c o n t i n -u a n t h a s t h i s n e s s , t h e r e a r e n o p a r t i c u l a r p r o p e r t i e s o f re l a t i o n s t o c o n t i n u a n t s b yw h i c h a c o n t i n u a n t a t s o m e t i m e c o u l d b e d i s t i n g u i s h e d f r o m a n y o t h e r . I n t h a t c a s et h e r e c o u l d n t b e a w o r l d q u a l i t a t i v e l y id e n t i c a l to t h i s w o r l d i n w h i c h I d o n o t e x i s t ,a ri d t h a t s e e m s i m p l a u s i b l e .

O r a g a i n , to u s e a f a m i l i a r k i n d o f e x a m p l e , g i v e n a b r a i n o p e r a t i o n in w h i c h ac e r ta i n a m o u n t o f m y b r a i n m a t t e r i s r e m o v e d , a r e th e r e n o t t w o l o g i c a l p o s s i b i li t ie sf o r w h a t m i g h t o c c u r t h e r e a f t e r - either t h a t I s u r v i v e a n d h a v e c e r t a in e x p e r i e n c e s ,or t h a t I c e a s e t o b e , w h i l e s o m e o n e e l s e h a s e x p e r i e n c e s q u a l i t a t i v e l y i d e n t i c a l an dc o n n e c t e d t o t h e s a m e b r a i n ? S u r e l y i t i s a fa c t u a l m a t t e r w h e t h e r I s u r v i v e s o m e1~ Se e [12].

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ichard Swinburne 397b r a i n o p e r a t io n , y e t n o t o n e e n t a i le d b y w h a t h a p p e n s t o t h e b r a i n m a t t e r a n d w h a te x p e r i e n c es th e s u b s e q u e n t p e r s o n h a s . T h a t i s , t h e r e i s a p o s s i b l e w o r l d i n w h i c h Ia m w h a t e v e r p e r s o n h a s t h e s u b s e q u e n t e x p e r i e n c e s a n d b r a i n ; a n d a p o s s i b l e w o r l di n w h i c h I a m n o t s u c h a p e r s o n - o r s o it w i l l s e e m t o s o m e o n e w h o d o e s n o t p re -s u p p o s e a d o g m a t i c p o s i ti o n in a d v a n c e . Y e t i f al l e l se c o u l d b e t h e s a m e , a n d y e te it h er I s u r v i v e o r I d o n t , j t m u s t b e s o m e t h i n g o t h e r t h a n m y p r o p e r t i e s w h i c hm a k e s a n i n d i v i d u a l m e - t h a t i s, I m u s t h a v e t h i sn e s s . H e r e t h e i n t u i t io n o f lo g i c a lp o s s ib i li ty i s i m m e n s e l y s t r o n g e r t h a n i n t h e t w o i r o n s p h e r e s c a s e , b e c a u s e s u r v i v -i ng is s o m e t h i n g o f w h i c h w e h a v e e x p e r i e n c e f ro m m o m e n t t o m o m e n t . I f I h av eo n e i m a g e , f o l l o w e d b y a n o t h e r , o r a n a u d i t o r y s e n s a t i o n a t th e s a m e t i m e a s a v i s u -al o n e , m y j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r b e l i e v i n g t h a t t h e se a r e h a d b y t h e s a m e s u b j e c t o fe x p e r i e n c e i s s i m p l y t h a t i t i s a d a t u m o f e x p e r i e n c e t h a t th i s is so . M y g r o u n d s f o rb e l i e v in g t h at t h e s a m e i n d i v i d u a l h a s t h e s e e x p e r i e n c e s a r e n o t t h at t h a t p r o v i d e sth e b e s t e x p l a n a t i o n o f o t h e r m o r e i m m e d i a t e l y a c c e s s i b l e d a ta . T h a t tw o e x p e r i -e n ce s ( at a t im e o r o v e r t im e ) b e l o n g t o t h e s a m e s u b j e c t i s a n u n a n a l y s a b l e d a t u m .A l l t h e e x p e r i e n c e s w e h a v e a r e t e m p o r a l l y e x t e n d e d a n d s o i n v o l v e a n a w a r e n e s so f t he f i rs t h a l f o f th e e x p e r i e n c e a s c o - e x p e r i e n c e d b y t h e s a m e s u b j e c t a s t h e s e c -o n d h a lf . H e n c e a l l e x p e r i e n c e s i n v o l v e a n a w a r e n e s s o f t h e s u b j e c t o f e x p e r i e n c e ,a nd o f o u r o w n e x p e r i e n c e s w e h a v e a s i n t im a t e a n a w a r e n e s s a s w e c a n h a v e o fa n y t h i n g .12 P l a u s i b l y , t h e re f o re , i f w e d o n t k n o w w h a t w e a r e a w a r e o f h e re , v i z . ,s o m e th in g w h i c h d o e s n t e n t a il , th o u g h i t m a y n o r m a l l y a c c o m p a n y , t h e c o n t i n u i tyo f e x a c tl y so m u c h b r a i n m a t t e r ; a n d w h i c h i s w h o i t i s q u i te i n d e p e n d e n t l y o fw h ic h e x p e r i e n c e s it m a y h a v e ; w e c o u l d n e v e r k n o w w h a t w e a r e a w a r e o f , a n d s oh ave n o d a t a o n w h i c h t o b u i l d a n y s c i e n t i fi c t h e o ry . A n d i f w e c a n t m a k e j u d g e -m e n ts o f l o g i c a l p o s s i b i l i t y h e r e, w e c a n t m a k e s u c h j u d g e m e n t s a n y w h e r e ; a n d i fw e c a n t d o t h at , w e c a n t d o p h i l o s o p h y . Y e t , o f th e i r o n s p h e re s , w e h a v e o n l y a ne x te rn a l a w a r e n e s s . W e o b s e r v e t h e p r o p e r t i e s a n d (j u s t i f i a b l y - b e f o r e m o d e r np h ys ic s c a m e a l o n g ) j u d g e t h e b e s t e x p l a n a t i o n o f t h e i r m a n i f e s t a t i o n to b e t h at t h e yin h ere i n s o m e s u b s t a n c e , w h i c h c o u l d h a v e b e e n t h e s u b j e c t i n s t e a d o f d i f fe r e n tp r o p e r t i e s , a n d w h i c h i s s u c h t h a t a d i f f e r e n t s u b s t a n c e c o u l d h a v e h a d t h e s a m ep ro p er tie s. B u t a l l t h a t i s m a k i n g s e n s e o f w h a t i s g i v e n m o r e i m m e d i a t e l y t o th ese nse s. W i t h o u r s e l v e s w e h a v e a d i re c t a c c e s s ( i n t h e w a y e x p l a i n e d ) t o t h e s u b j e c tin w h o m t h e e x p e ri e n c e s in h e r e. H e n c e h u m a n b e i n g s ( a n d o t h e r a n i m a t e b e i n g s )a re f a r s t r o n g e r c a n d i d a t e s f o r h a v i n g t h i s n e s s t h a n a r e m a t e r i a l o b j e c t s g e n e r a l l y .T he a r g u m e n t fo r h u m a n b e i n g s h a v i n g t h is n e s s d o e s o f c o u r s e m o v e f a r to o b r i e f l yo ve r s o m e w e l l - w o r n a n d c o n t r o v e r s i a l p h i l o s o p h i c a l t e r r i t o r y ; 13 b u t I r e - e m p h a s i s eth at m y p r o j e c t i n t h is p a p e r i s to p r o v i d e a n o v e r v i e w o f t h e p l a u s i b l e c a n d i d a t e s12 T hi s despite H um e s famous remark: W he n I enter most intimately into what I call myself, Ialways stumble on som e particular perception o r other, of heat or cold, l ight or shad e, love orhatred, pain or pleasure. I neve r catch m yse lf at any time without a perception [7, 1.4.6]. Itmay well be that Hum e neve r catches himself without a perception (i .e., a conscious episode)but his bare data are not jus t pe rcep tion s ; he d oes no t jus t observe perceptions at a distanceand won der who se they are . Rather his data are successions o f overlapping perceptions, experi-enced by a com mon subject, himself , who is also aware of them. He is aware of them as boun dtogether by occurring to a comm on subject.13 For a lengthier defence o f m y views on this issue, see [1 1].

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398 hisnessfor thisness and the issues involved in their candidature.

If anyone does not accept these arguments for animate beings having thisness,then presumably they will consider that the same empirical factors are relevant foranimate beings as for inanimate material objects; and so, if they accept my accountof the scientific evidence, they will conclude that animate beings do not have this-hess.

I come finally to events, which I understand as the instantiations of properties inconcrete individuals of the kinds discussed so far ( inanimate material objects, ani-mate beings, times, and places). Events thus include both continuing unchang ingstates and changes of state. Now it does look as if there is a possible world consist-ing of the continuants of our world and the properties which are instantiated inthem, which is cyclical. Aga in and again, I (not jus t someone like me) could sit atthis desk (not jus t one like it) and have the property of having a headache. An y oneof this infinite sequence of events could have occurred at times having all the sameproperties and could have had all the same temporal relations to events involvingthe same contin uant s and properties - i.e., each event of my havin g a headachecould have been preceded by an event of my sitting down and followed by an eventof my standing up and could have occurred at times with no distinguish ing proper-ties. We may, of course, try to deploy the principle of the identity of indiscerniblesvery quickly in the form of principle [D], ~4 and say that really there is only one event(of my having a headache), but time is circular and that event is both before andafter itself. I do not find this account very plausible - for two reasons. First, thereis a great difference between having a headache which lasts half an hour and willnever happen in future, and having a headache which will inflict itself upon me atregular intervals for an infin ite future. To say that in both cases I only experienceheadache for half an hour scarcely seems to do justice to the situation.

Another reason for supposing that the present headache is different from thefuture headache arises from the fact that the former is part of the present state of theUniverse E 1 which causes some later state E 2 prior to E3, a state which includes myfuture headache. If E 1 is the same state as E3, we have causat ion in a circle.Intuitively that is not possible. Its impossibility follows from another principle -that causation is logically contingent . Any thi ng can produce any thing , wroteHume. 15 His point can be put in this way: it is logically possible that a sufficientlypowerful being could alter the laws of nature at a time t 2 in such a way that someevent had, instead of its normal effect, at time t3, one incompatible with it. So if E tcaused E z and E 2 caused E l, a sufficiently powerful being could at the moment ofE2 s occurrence so alter the laws of nature that E 2 caused not-E1; in which case E 1would have (indirect ly) caused E 1 not to occur - which is absurd.

I conclude that if our universe were cyclical, there would still be a differencebetw een my present headache and ones yet future or past. So what makes the

As does Griinbaum. See [5, pp. 197-203].[7, 1.3.15.] There is a subsequentsentence limiting he possibilityof causation o objects whichare not contrary to each other; but even that could not be deployed to rule out E1 causing Ez,and E2 separately causing not-Ev

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Richard Swinburne 399h e a d a c h e s d i f f e re n t ? I f ti m e s h a d t h i s n e s s, t h e t w o e v e n t s c o u l d d i f f e r b y t h e i r d i f -f er en t p a r t i c u l a r r e l a t i o n s to p e r i o d s o f ti m e . O n e c o u l d o c c u r a t t h i s p e r i o d a n d t h eo th e r a t t h a t ( e v e n t h o u g h p e r i o d s o f ti m e h a d a l l t h e s a m e m o n a d i c p r o p e r t i e s a se a ch o t h e r) . B u t I h a v e a l r e a d y a rg u e d a g a i n s t ti m e s h a v i n g t h i s n e s s . T h e r e i s o n l yo n e p o s s i b l e a n s w e r re m a i n i n g - t h a t t h e s e e v e n t s t h e m s e l v e s h a v e th i s n e s s . T h i sh e a d a c h e i s d if f e r e n t f r o m t h a t h e a d a c h e solo numero I r e a c h e d t h i s c o n c l u s i o n b yr e f le c t i n g o n t h e n a t u r e o f a n e v e n t , w h i c h , l i k e t h e e x a m p l e I c h o s e o f a n a n i m a t eb e i n g ( m y s e l f ) , w a s o n e o f w h i c h I h a v e a s i n t i m a t e a n a w a r e n e s s a s I h a v e o f a n y -t hi ng ; a n d a b o u t th e l o g i c a p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f w h i c h I c a n p r o n o u n c e a s s u r e l y a s I c a na b o u t a n y l o g i c a l p o s s i b i l i t i e s . A n d I s u g g e s t t h a t a n y o n e e l s e w h o s o m e t i m e s h a sh e a d a c h e s w i l l - i f h e d o e s n o t y i e l d to o q u i c k l y to c o n s t r a i n t s o f s o m e p h i l o s o p h i -c al d o g m a - r e a c h t h e s a m e c o n c l u s i o n a s I h a v e .C l e a r l y w h a t g o e s f o r h e a d a c h e s g o e s f o r a n y o t h e r c o n s c i o u s e v en t s. E a c h c o n -s c io u s e v e n t o c c u r r i n g t o a n a n i m a t e b e i n g h a s t h i s n e s s . T h e a p p a r e n t l o g i c a lp o s s i b i l i t y o f a u n i v e r s e c o n t a i n i n g o n l y t h e i n a n i m a t e c o n t i n u a n t s o f o u r u n i v e r s eb e in g c y c l i c a l , s u g g e s t s t h a t a l l e v e n t s i n v o l v i n g t h e m a l s o ( a s w e l l a s n o n - c o n -s c io u s e v e n t s i n v o l v i n g a n i m a t e b e i n g s ) h a v e t h i s n e s s . I n a c y c l i c a l u n i v e r s e o n ee v e n t o f a s e p a r a t i o n o f M o o n a n d E a r t h m u s t b e d i f f e r e n t f r o m a l a t e r e v e n t o f s u c ha s e p a r a t io n , s i n c e t h e f o r m e r c a n f o r m p a r t o f t h e c a u s e o f t h e l a t t e r a n d h e n c e ( inv i e w o f t h e i m p o s s i b i l i t y o f c a u s a t i o n i n a c i r c l e ) m u s t b e d i s t i n c t f r o m i t. H e n c eo n e c o i n s t a n t i a t i o n o f th e s a m e c o l l e c t i o n o f p r o p e r t i e s c a n d i f f e r f r o m a n o t h e r s u c hc o i n s t a n ti a t io n e v e n w h e n t h e d i f f e r e n c e d o e s n o t l i e in t h e i r b e i n g p r o p e r t i e s o f d i f-f er en t i n a n i m a t e o r a n i m a t e b e i n g s . Y e t a c a u t i o n i s n e c e s s a r y h e r e . T h e i n t u i t i o no f t h e a p p a r e n t l o g i c a l p o s s i b i l i ty o f t h e re b e i n g a c y c l i c a l u n i v e r s e c o n t a i n i n g o n l yth e i n a n i m a t e c o n s t i t u e n t s o f o u r u n i v e r s e m i g h t p r o v e d e c e p t i v e i n v i e w o f t h e fa c tth at w e h a v e o n l y a n e x t e r n a l a w a r e n e ss o f th e n a t u r e o f w h a t w e a r e d e a l in g w i t h i nth e c a s e o f i n a n i m a t e m a t e r i a l o b j e c t s . I t m i g h t b e t h e c a s e t h a t t h e r e is s o m e d e e pp h y s i c a l f a c t a b o u t t h e n a t u r e o f s u c h o b j e c t s w h i c h p r e v e n t s t h e r e b e i n g a t e m p o -r a ll y c y c l i c a l u n i v e r se c o n s i s t i n g s o l e l y o f t h e m ( o f th e s a m e k i n d a s t h e d e e pp h y s i ca l f a c t a b o u t t h e W - fu n c t io n w h i c h m a k e s i m p o s s i b l e a s p a t i a l ly s y m m e t r i c a lu n i v e rs e c o n s i s t i n g o f t h e m a l o n e ) . I n t h a t c a s e t h e l o g i c a l p o s s i b i l i t y o f a c y c l i c a lu n i v e r s e w o u l d d e p e n d o n t h e p r e s e n c e i n i t o f a n i m a t e b e i n g s w h o s e c o n s c i o u se v e nt s h a v e t h i s n e s s a n d t h u s p r o v i d e a p r i n c i p l e o f i n d i v i d u a t i o n to d i s t i n g u i s hi n a n i m a t e e v e n t s o t h e r w i s e i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e . T h i s s e p a r a t i o n o f M o o n a n d E a r thw o u l d d i f f e r f r o m t h a t o n e , i n v i r tu e o f th e f a c t t h a t t h e f o r m e r o c c u r r e d b e f o r e t h i sh e a d a c h e , a n d t h e l a t t e r s e p a r a t i o n o c c u r r e d a f t e r it .

T h e i s s u e o f w h i c h k i n d s o f i n d i v i d u a l s h a v e t h i sn e s s i s th e i s s u e o f w h i c h k i n d so f s y m m e t r y o r re p l i c a t io n a re p o s s ib l e . I f, d e s p i t e m y a r g u m e n t s , s o m e o n e t h in k st ha t n o i n d i v i d u a l s h a v e t h i s n e ss , th e n a n y w o r l d j u s t l i k e th i s o n e ( a n d a n y s e g m e n to f t h e w o r l d j u s t l i k e t h i s o n e i n i t s g e n e r a l p r o p e r t i e s ) , w o u l d b e t h i s o n e . T h e r ew o u l d b e n o t h i n g m o r e t o t h e w o r l d t h a n t h e in s t a n t i a t i o n o f p r o p e r t i e s ; t h e r e w o u l db e n o c o n t e n t t o t h e i r b e i n g i n s t a n t i a t e d i n t h i s i n d i v i d u a l r a t h e r th a n t h a t, o r t o t h i si n s ta n t ia t io n b e i n g d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h a t. B u t i f t h e r e i s th i s n e s s , t h e re c a n b e d u p l i c a -t i o n a n d r e p l i c a t i o n , a n d t h i n g s d i f f e r a c c o r d i n g t o w h e r e a n d w h e n p r o p e r t i e s a r ei n s ta n t ia t e d . I h a v e p r e s e n t e d m y a r g u m e n t s a s to w h e r e t h i s n e s s l i e s ; b u t a l s o -

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400 Thisnessa n d t h i s i s t h e m a i n p o i n t o f t h e p a p e r - s h o w n t h e c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n a s c r ib i n gt h i s n e s s t o i n d i v i d u a l s o f o n e k i n d a n d a s c r i b i n g i t t o i n d i v i d u a l s o f a n o t h e r k i n d . *O r i e l C o l l eg e O x f o r d R e c e i v e d M a r c h 1 9 94

R e v i s e d J u ly 1 9 9 4

R E F E R E N C E S1. Adam s, R.M., Prim itive Thisness and Primitive Ide ntity , The Journal of Philosophy 76 (1979)

pp. 5-26.2. Black, M. T he Identity of Indiscernibles , M i n d 61 (1952) pp. 153-164.3. Duns Scotus, Ordinatio II d. 3 p. 1, in his Omnia Opera (Vatican City: Scotistic Commission,1950) vol.7.4 . French, S . and Redhead, M. , Qu antum Phys ics and the Ident i ty of Indiscern ib les , BritishJournal for the Philosophy of Science 3 9 (1988) pp. 233-246.5. Griinbaum, A ., Philosophical Prob lems o f Space and Time (London: Routledge and KeganPaul, 1964).6. Hacking, I., T he Identity of Indisceruibles , The Journal o f Philosophy 72 (1975) pp. 249-256.7. Hum e, D., Treatise of Hu ma n Nature (1739), (ed.) L.A Selby-Bigge (Oxford: Clarendon Press,1951).8 . Le ibn i z , G .W . , Le t t e r s i n H .G. A lexa nde r ( ed . ) , The Le ibn i z -C lark e Correspondence(Manchester: Man chester University Press, 1956).9 . L e i b n i z , G . W . , L e t t e r s i n H . T . M a s o n ( e d . ), T h e L e i b n i z - A r n a u l d C o r r e s p o n d en c e(Manchester: Manchester Un iversi ty Press, 1967).10. Redhead, M . and Teller, P., Pa rticle Labels and the Theo ry of Indistinguishable Particles inQuantum M echanics , British Journal for the Philosophy o f Science 43 (1992) pp. 201-218.11. Swinburne, R., The Evolution of The Soul (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986).12 . W igner , E . , Rem arks on the Mind-Bo dy Qu es t ion in J.A. Whee ler and W.H . Zurek (eds),Quantum Theory and Measurement (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983 ).

The penultimate version of this paper was read at the 3rd Congress of the Austrian Society forPhilosophy in Salzburg in February, 1 984 . A Germ an translation o f it w ill be published in theProceedings of the Congress.

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