ABSTRACT
Are persons like you and me brains? e short answer is no, but I think I owe you a longer answer. I want to set out some of the reasons why it is wrong to regard people as being identical with their brains and a mistake to talk about brains when we should be talking about people. First, I shall list some of the ways in which persons are identifi ed with their brains. en I will suggest why so many people are inclined to do this: indeed, see it as plain common sense, validated by neuroscience. After these preliminaries, I shall give some reasons for denying that persons are brains (or their brains). is will take up the bulk of this essay. Finally, I shall say something about the challenges that have to be met if we establish that brains and persons are not identical: “Where do we go from here?”
