Julian Baggini. Published in 2011.
Philosophical book about "identity".
First read (September-October 2021)[]
Day after finishing, October 12th 2012.
Progress graph, generated by Goodreads.
Format[]
Kindle. The paperback on Amazon is 234 pages long[1], there are 3381 'locations'[2] which may be 268 standard pages[3].
Journal[]
Heard about it on the Guardian Science Weekly podcast on the 4th of April 2011. Thought it sounded like it goes into just some of the things I'd been pondering lately (such as the the issue of continuity of identity over time, or whether you're the same person at different times).
Bought it on the 14th of August 2012, for £1.09 in the 'Kindle Reading Marathon' sale, with the £25 voucher Darren and Sandra got me for Christmas.
Started reading it after discarding The Illuminatus! Trilogy on September 27th 2012. Finished it on October 11th.
Emminently readable, but a touch too shallow for what I was looking for. Mostly just gives a whirlwind tour of all available views on 'self' and 'identity', from transgender people to Buddhists, neuroscientists to transhumanists. Although it certainly talked a lot about continuity of identity over time (its central message was the 'bundle theory') I think I'd already accepted that long ago and was looking for something a bit more abstract - will the person sitting in this chair in five seconds be me, who is sitting here now?
Rating[]
1 (solid)
Reading record[]
Previous book: 'Lens of Sanity', The Dark Lord's Equal
Next book: 'Sir Poley, Harry Potter and the Natural 20
Ratings, awards, mentions and recommendations[]
Links and references[]
- ↑ Checked the 'Look Inside' feature.
- ↑ Starts with 32, first one after the end is 3413.
- ↑ Using, for now, the locations per standard page of On the Origin of Species.