ABSTRACT
A central premise of Personal Identity and Literature is that the nature of personal identity is both an objective empirical issue (for psychology and neuroscience) and an issue that is inseparable from subjective experience (hence the relevance of philosophy and literature). In keeping with this, personal identity is not only a challenging intellectual issue, but a consequential concern in our individual practical lives. For these reasons, the book integrates aspects of memoir with literary analysis, cognitive and affective science, and philosophical reflection. The Foreword begins with some of the personal factors that initially led the author to approach the topic. The book ends with an Afterword, which extends—and perhaps to some extent resolves—the biographical concerns of the Foreword.
