ABSTRACT
This chapter is an introduction to the issues of personal identity as discussed in the research literature and as approached in this study. In section 1, I argue that we must distinguish between several questions when entering the fi eld usually termed “personal identity.” Although these questions are normally not adequately distinguished, I think that in the literature the focus is mostly on the diachronic identity of fundamental entities. The second section provides an overview of the main theories of diachronic identity and their problems. I also describe what kind of an approach is needed to solve these problems, an approach that will then be developed in Part II. Finally, in the third section, I explain why and how a theory of personal identity must engage with multiple personality, a task taken on in Part III.
