Overview
Please respond to one and only one of the following prompts. In doing so, please write no more than 1000 words.
Lefty and Righty and George: Imagine that we operate on George, removing from his head each hemisphere of his cerebrum. We then transplant each hemisphere into a different empty head. Call the resulting creatures Lefty and Righty, both of which will be mentally continuous with George. (Some creature, S, is mentally continuous with George if S’s current mental features are related to George’s mental features by a chain of psychological connections, which can involve memories, beliefs, desires, tendencies, personality traits, and so on.) Write a paper in which you respond to the following: (a) Which of these two creatures—Lefty or Righty—is George? Please choose from the following options: (i) Both Lefty and Righty are George; (ii) neither Lefty nor Righty is George; (iii) Lefty, but not Righty, is George; or (iv) Righty, but not Lefty, is George. (b) Why is the option you chose the right option or the best option? (c) What is one potential problem for the option you chose? (d) How do you propose to deal with that potential problem?
The Metaphysics of Race: We discussed three broad views about the metaphysics of race: that races are natural kinds (biological realism), that races are social constructs (social constructivism), and that there are no races (eliminativism). (a) Which of these three views is the right view or the best view? (b) Why is the view you chose the right view or the best view? (c) What is one potential problem for the view you chose? (d) How do you propose to deal with that potential problem?
The Final Frontier: We discussed two broad views about the nature of space: a substantivalist (or absolutist) view, and a relationalist view. (a) Which of these two views is the right view or the better view? (b) Why is the view you chose the right view or the better view? (c) What is one potential problem for the view you chose? (d) How do you propose to deal with that potential problem?