Teleportation, Replication and Mereology
https://doi.org/10.25206/2542-0488-2024-9-4-81-98
EDN: GTSBTH
Abstract
The paper criticizes pessimistic views on survival into teletransporter. It is considered, in particular, the recent attempt of Alexey Kardash and Konstantin Morozov to defend the pessimists’ views by means of the criterion of mereorganic continuity. This defence faces two serious problems. Firstly, it is based on a fundamentally flawed description of the mechanics of teleportation. Under the guise of teletransportation, the procedure discussed is quite different — replication (creation of a perfect copy for some original object from suitable matter). Secondly, the prohibition on the survival of objects by instantaneous replacement of all their parts derived from the criterion of mereorganic continuity cannot be component of any consistent (yet plausible) mereology.
About the Author
A. V. Nekhaev
Omsk State Technical University;
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nekhaev Andrei Viktorovich, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor, Professor of History, Philosophy and Social Communications Department, Omsk State Technical University; Professor of Philosophy, Media and Journalism Department, Tyumen State University; Senior Researcher of the Laboratory of Logical and Philosophical Studies, Tomsk Scientific Center, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
AuthorID (RSCI): 394939;
AuthorID (SCOPUS): 57211853279;
ResearcherID: M-7208-2016
Omsk; Tyumen; Tomsk
References
1. Parfit D. Reasons and Persons. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984. 560 p. (In Engl.).
2. Parfit D. Divided Minds and Nature of Persons // Mindwaves: Thoughts on Intelligence, Identity and Consciousness / Eds. C. Blakemore, S. A. Greenfield. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987. P. 19–26. (In Engl.).
3. Morozov K. E. Ukradennyye gamety i mereorganicheskaya preyemstvennost’ [Stolen Gametes and Mereorganic Continuity] // Omskiy nauchnyy vestnik. Ser. Obshchestvo. Istoriya. Sovremennost’. Omsk Scientific Bulletin. Series Society. History. Modernity. 2024. Vol. 9, no. 3. P. 110–117. DOI: 10.25206/25420488-2024-9-3-110-117. EDN: IIAVTR. (In Russ.).
4. Parfit D. My – nechelovecheskiye sushchestva [We Are Not Human Beings] / trans. from Engl. U. V. Dobronravova // Omskiy nauchnyy vestnik. Ser. Obshchestvo. Istoriya. Sovremennost’. Omsk Scientific Bulletin. Series Society. History. Modernity. 2020. Vol. 5, no. 4. P. 82–95. DOI: 10.25206/2542-0488-2020-5-4-82-95. EDN: IPDBNV. (In Russ.).
5. Nozick R. Philosophical Explanations. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981. 764 p. (In Engl.).
6. Hidalgo J. Vyzhivaniye pri teleportatsii [You Survive Teletransportation] / trans. from Engl. A. V. Nekhaev // Omskiy nauchnyy vestnik. Ser. Obshchestvo. Istoriya. Sovremennost’. Omsk Scientific Bulletin. Series Society. History. Modernity. 2024. Vol. 9, no. 1. P. 97–101. DOI: 10.25206/2542-0488-2024-9-1-97- EDN: RAUEJE. (In Russ.).
7. Bourget D., Chalmers D. Philosophers on Philosophy: The 2020 PhilPapers Survey // Philosophers’ Imprint. 2023. Vol. 23, no. 11. P. 1–53. DOI: 10.3998/phimp.2109. (In Engl.).
8. The 2020 PhilPapers Survey / Eds. D. Bourget, D. Chalmers. URL: https://survey2020.philpeople.org/ (accessed: 16.06.2024). (In Engl.).
9. Bourget D., Chalmers D. What Do Philosophers Believe? // Philosophical Studies. 2014. Vol. 170, no. 3. P. 465–500. DOI: 10.1007/s11098-013-0259-7. (In Engl.).
10. The 2009 PhilPapers Survey Results, Analysis and Discussion / Eds. D. Bourget, D. Chalmers. URL: https:// philpapers.org/surveys (accessed: 16.06.2024). (In Engl.).
11. Elliot R. Personal Identity and the Causal Continuity Requirement // The Philosophical Quarterly. 1991. Vol. 41, no. 162. P. 55–75. DOI: 10.2307/2219786. (In Engl.).
12. Kolak D., Martin R. Personal Identity and Causality: Becoming Unglued // American Philosophical Quarterly. 1987. Vol. 24, no. 4. P. 339–347. (In Engl.).
13. Ord T. Implications of Fission, Fusion and Teletransportation to a View of Personal Identity Through Psychological Continuity. 2002. URL: https://www.academia.edu/20255492/Implications_of_fission_fusion_and_teletransportation_to_a_view_of_personal_identity_through_psychological_continuity (accessed: 16.06.2024). (In Engl.).
14. Campbell S. Is Causation Necessary for What Matters in Survival? // Philosophical Studies. 2005. Vol. 126, no. 3. P. 375– 396. DOI: 10.1007/s11098-004-7786-1. (In Engl.).
15. Ehring D. Why Parfit Did Not Go Far Enough // Philosophical Studies. 2013. Vol. 165, no. 1. P. 133–149. DOI: 10.1007/s11098-012-9921-8. (In Engl.).
16. Vasilyev V. V., Volkov D. B. Vyzhivet li lichnost’ v teleporte? A esli zagruzit’ eye v robota? [Will a Person Survive in the Teletransporter? What Will If He Uploaded into a Robot?] // Podkast «Neiskusstvennyy intellekt» [NonArtificial Intelligence Podcast]. URL: https://youtu.be/JsmY1-J1mXI?si=MTLSBCJr6c8iFC_c (accessed: 16.06.2024). (In Russ.).
17. Kochnev R. L. Teleport i drugiye nepriyatnosti [Teletransporter and Other Troubles] // Omskiy nauchnyy vestnik. Ser. Obshchestvo. Istoriya. Sovremennost’. Omsk Scientific Bulletin. Series Society. History. Modernity. 2024. Vol. 9, no. 2. P. 106–111. DOI: 10.25206/2542-0488-2024-9-2-106-111. EDN: EGQNVC. (In Russ.).
18. Nagel T. The View from Nowhere. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. 244 p. (In Engl.).
19. Unger P. Identity, Consciousness and Value. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. 344 p. (In Engl.).
20. Inwagen P. Materialism and the Psychological-Continuity Account of Personal Identity // Noыs. 1997. Vol. 31, no. s11. P. 305–319. DOI: 10.1111/0029-4624.31.s11.14. (In Engl.).
21. Wiggins D. Sameness and Substance Renewed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 257 p. (In Engl.).
22. Agar N. Functionalism and Personal Identity // Noыs. 2003. Vol. 37, no.1. P. 52–70. DOI: 10.1111/1468-0068.00428. (In Engl.).
23. Hershenov D. B. Can There Be Spatially Coincident Entities of the Same Kind? Canadian Journal of Philosophy. 2003. Vol. 33, no. 1. P. 1–22. DOI: 10.1080/00455091.2003.10716533. (In Engl.).
24. Kardash A. M. Teleport i origami [Teletransporter and Origami] // Omskiy nauchnyy vestnik. Ser. Obshchestvo. Istoriya. Sovremennost’. Omsk Scientific Bulletin. Series Society. History. Modernity. 2024. Vol. 9, no. 1. P. 102–107. DOI: 10.25206/25420488-2024-9-1-102-107. EDN: LQDSOS. (In Russ.).
25. Bennett C. H., Brassard G., Crepeau C. [et al.]. Teleporting an Unknown Quantum State via Dual Classical and EinsteinPodolsky-Rosen Channels // Physical Review Letters. 1993. Vol. 70, no. 13. P. 1895–1899. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.70.1895. (In Engl.).
26. Bouwmeester D., Pan J.-W., Mattle K. [et al.]. Experimental Quantum Teleportation // Nature. 1997. Vol. 390, no. 6660. P. 575–579. DOI: 10.1038/37539. (In Engl.).
27. Boschi D., Branca S., De Martini F. [et al.]. Experimental Realization of Teleporting an Unknown Pure Quantum State via Dual Classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Channels // Physical Review Letters. 1998. Vol. 80, no. 6. P. 1121–1125. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.1121. (In Engl.).
28. Furusawa A., Sшrensen J. L., Braunstein S. L. [et al.]. Unconditional Quantum Teleportation // Science. 1998. Vol. 282, no. 5389. P. 706–709. DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5389.706. (In Engl.).
29. Yi H. Delayed Fission and the Standard Psychological View of Personal Identity // Organon F. 2013. Vol. 20, no. 2. P. 173–191. (In Engl.).
30. Langford S., Ramachandran M. The Products of Fission, Fusion, and Teletransportation: An Occasional Identity Theorist’s Perspective // Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 2013. Vol. 91, no. 1. P. 105–117. DOI: 10.1080/00048402.2011.647826. (In Engl.).
31. Wootters W. K., Zurek W. H. A Single Quantum Cannot Be Cloned // Nature. 1982. Vol. 299, no. 5886. P. 802–803. DOI: 10.1038/299802a0. (In Engl.).
32. Yudkowsky E. Identity Isn’t in Specific Atoms. 2008. URL: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/RLScTpwc5W2gGGrL9/identity-isn-t-in-specific-atoms (accessed: 16.06.2024). (In Engl.).
33. Braunstein S. L., Kimble H. J. A posteriori Teleportation // Nature. 1998. Vol. 394, no. 6696. P. 840–841. DOI: 10.1038/29674. (In Engl.).
34. Graham T. M., Bernstein H. J., Wei T.-C. [et al.]. Teleportation Using Hyperentangled Photons // Nature Communications. 2015. Vol. 6, no. 1. P. 1–9. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8185. (In Engl.).
35. Marzolino U., Buchleitner A. Performances and Robustness of Quantum Teleportation with Identical Particles // Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 2016. Vol. 472, no. 2185. P. 32316–32335. DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2015.0621. (In Engl.).
36. Hu X.-M., Guo Y., Liu B.-H. [et al.]. Progress in Quantum Teleportation // Nature Reviews Physics. 2023. Vol. 5, no. 6. P. 339–353. DOI: 10.1038/s42254-023-00588-x. (In Engl.).
37. Coburn R. Identity and Spatio-Temporal Continuity // Identity and Individuation / Ed. M. K. Munitz. New York: New York University Press, 1971. P. 51–101. (In Engl.).
38. Burke M. B. Cohabitation, Stuff and Intermittent Existence // Mind. 1980. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 355. P. 391–405. DOI: 10.1093/mind/LXXXIX.355.391. (In Engl.).
39. Brennan A. Conditions of Identity: A Study in Identity and Survival. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988. 375 p. (In Engl.).
40. Berkeley G. Traktat o printsipakh chelovecheskogo znaniya, v kotorom issledovany glavnyye prichiny zabluzhdeniy i zatrudneniy v naukakh, a takzhe osnovaniya skeptitsizma, ateizma i bezveriya [A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, wherein the Chief Causes of Error and Difficulty in the Sciences, with the Grounds of Scepticism, Atheism, and Irreligion, are inquired into] // Sochineniya [Essays]. Moscow, 1978. P. 149–247. (In Russ.).
41. Kim J. Concepts of Supervenience // Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 1984. Vol. 45, no. 2. P. 153–176. DOI: 10.2307/2107423. (In Engl.).
42. Kim J. ‘Strong’ and ‘Global’ Supervenience Revisited // Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 1987. Vol. 48, no. 2. P. 315–326. DOI: 10.2307/2107631. (In Engl.).
43. Kim J. Supervenience for Multiple Domains // Philosophical Topics. 1988. Vol. 16, no. 1. P. 129–150. DOI: 10.5840/philtopics19881615. (In Engl.).
44. Paull R. C., Sider T. In Defense of Global Supervenience // Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 1992. Vol. 52, no. 4. P. 830–845. DOI: 10.2307/2107913. (In Engl.).
45. McLaughlin B. P. Supervenience, Vagueness, and Determination // Noыs. 1997. Vol. 31, no. s11. P. 209–230. DOI: 10.1111/0029-4624.31.s11.10. (In Engl.).
46. Sider T. Global Supervenience and Identity Across Times and Worlds // Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 1999. Vol. 59, no. 4. P. 913–937. DOI: 10.2307/2653562. (In Engl.).
47. Horgan T. Supervenience and Microphysics // Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. 1982. Vol. 63, no. 1. P. 29–43. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0114.1982.tb00084.x. (In Engl.).
48. Leuenberger S. Supervenience in Metaphysics // Philosophy Compass. 2008. Vol. 3, no. 4. P. 749–762. DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-9991.2008.00150.x. (In Engl.).
49. Steinberg A. Defining Global Supervenience // Erkenntnis. 2014. Vol. 79, no. 2. P. 367–380. DOI: 10.1007/s10670-013-9498-4. (In Engl.).
50. Bacon J. Supervenience, Necessary Coextension, and Reducibility // Philosophical Studies. 1986. Vol. 49, no. 2. P. 163–176. DOI: 10.1007/BF00354332. (In Engl.).
51. Petrie B. Global Supervenience and Reduction // Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 1987. Vol. 48, no. 1. P. 119–130. DOI: 10.2307/2107710. (In Engl.).
52. Shagrir O. Global Supervenience, Coincident Entities and Anti-Individualism // Philosophical Studies. 2002. Vol. 109, no. 2. P. 171–196. DOI: 10.1023/A:1016224703009. (In Engl.).
53. Bennett K. Global Supervenience and Dependence // Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 2004. Vol. 68, no. 3. P. 501–529. DOI: 10.1111/j.1933-1592.2004.tb00364.x. (In Engl.).
54. Leuenberger S. What Is Global Supervenience? // Synthese. 2009. Vol. 170, no. 1. P. 115–129. DOI: 10.1007/s11229008-9360-4. (In Engl.).
55. Lowe E. J. Subjects of Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 209 p. (In Engl.).
56. Olson E. T. Human Atoms // Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 1998. Vol. 76, no. 3. P. 396–406. DOI: 10.1080/00048409812348521. (In Engl.).
57. Inwagen P. Material Beings. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990. 300 p. (In Engl.).
58. Albrecht A., Sorbo L. Can Universe Afford Inflation? // Physical Review D. 2004. Vol. 70, no. 6. P. 1–10. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.70.063528. (In Engl.).
59. Dainton B. From Phenomenal Selves to Hyperselves // Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement. 2015. Vol. 76: Mind, Self and Person. P. 161–197. DOI: 10.1017/S1358246115000065. (In Engl.).
60. Carroll S. Boltzmann’s Anthropic Brain // Discover (August 1, 2006). URL: https://www.discovermagazine.com/ the-sciences/boltzmanns-anthropic-brain (accessed: 16.06.2024). (In Engl.).
61. Carroll S. Why Boltzmann Brains Are Bad // arXiv:1702.00850 (February 2, 2017). DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.1702.00850. (In Engl.).
62. Loew C. Boltzmannian Immortality // Erkenntnis. 2017. Vol. 82, no. 4. P. 761–776. DOI: 10.1007/s10670-016-9842-6. (In Engl.).
63. Hirsch E. The Concept of Identity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. 318 p. (In Engl.).
64. Unger P. There Are No Ordinary Things // Synthese. 1979. Vol. 41, no. 2. P. 117–154. DOI: 10.1007/BF00869568. (In Engl.).
65. Rosen G., Dorr C. Composition as a Fiction // The Blackwell Guide to Metaphysics / Ed. R. M. Gale. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2002. P. 151–174. (In Engl.).
66. Sider T. Against Parthood // Oxford Studies in Metaphysics. Vol. 8 / Eds. K. Bennett, D. W. Zimmerman. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. P. 236–293. (In Engl.).
67. Brenner A. Mereological Nihilism and Personal Ontology // The Philosophical Quarterly. 2017. Vol. 67, no. 268. P. 464– 485. DOI: 10.1093/pq/pqw084. (In Engl.).
68. Tallant J. Against Mereological Nihilism // Synthese. 2014. Vol. 191, no. 7. P. 1511–1527. DOI: 10.1007/s11229-0130343-8. (In Engl.).
69. Bennett K. Composition, Colocation, and Metaontology // Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology / Eds. D. Chalmers, D. Manley, R. Wasserman. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2009. P. 38–76. (In Engl.).
70. Olson E. Composition and Coincidence // Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. 1996. Vol. 77, no. 4. P. 374–403. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0114.1996.tb00177.x. (In Engl.).
71. Merricks T. Objects and Persons. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001. 203 p. (In Engl.).
72. Thunder S. D. Mereological Nihilism: Keeping It Simple // Thought: A Journal of Philosophy. 2017. Vol. 6, no. 4. P. 278–287. DOI: 10.1002/tht3.262. (In Engl.).
73. Schaffer J. From Nihilism to Monism // Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 2007. Vol. 85, no. 2. P. 175–191. DOI: 10.1080/00048400701343150. (In Engl.).
74. Rettler B. Mereological Nihilism and Puzzles about Material Objects // Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. 2018. Vol. 99, no. 4. P. 842–868. DOI: 10.1111/papq.12220. (In Engl.).
75. Lowe E. J. On the Identity of Artifacts // The Journal of Philosophy. 1983. Vol. 80, no. 4. P. 220–232. DOI: 10.2307/2026005. (In Engl.).
76. Smart B. How to Reidentify the Ship of Theseus // Analysis. 1972. Vol. 32, no. 5. P. 145–148. DOI: 10.1093/analys/32.5.145. (In Engl.).
77. Cartwright R. Scattered Objects // Analysis and Metaphysics: Essays in Honor of R. M. Chisholm / Ed. K. Lehrer. Dordrecht: Springer, 1975. P. 153–171. (In Engl.).
78. Hazlet A. Disassembly and Destruction // The Monist. 2006. Vol. 89, no. 3. P. 418–433. DOI: 10.5840/monist200689319. (In Engl.).
79. Chisholm R. M. Person and Object: A Metaphysical Study. La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishing Company, 1976. 230 p. (In Engl.).
80. Wiggins D. Mereological Essentialism and Chisholm on Parts, Wholes, and Primary Things // Continuants: Their Activity, Their Being and Their Identity. Twelve Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. P. 191–202. (In Engl.).
81. Chisholm R. M. Scattered Objects // On Being and Saying: Essays for Richard Cartwright / Ed. J. J. Tomson. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1987. P. 167–173. (In Engl.).
82. Steen M. Chisholm’s Changing Conception of Ordinary Objects // Grazer Philosophische Studien. 2008. Vol. 76, no. 1. P. 1–56. DOI: 10.1163/9789401206020_002. (In Engl.).
83. Hughes C. Same-Kind Coincidence and the Ship of Theseus // Mind. 1997. Vol. 106, no. 421. P. 53–69. DOI: 10.1093/mind/106.421.53. (In Engl.).
84. Hershenov D. Scattered Artifacts // The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 2002. Vol. 40, no. 2. P. 211–216. DOI: 10.1111/j.2041-6962.2002.tb01897.x. (In Engl.).
85. Carter W. R. Artifacts of Theseus: Fact and Fission // Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 1983. Vol. 61, no. 3. P. 248– 265. DOI: 10.1080/00048408312350021. (In Engl.).
Review
For citations:
Nekhaev A.V. Teleportation, Replication and Mereology. Omsk Scientific Bulletin. Series Society. History. Modernity. 2024;9(4):81-98. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25206/2542-0488-2024-9-4-81-98. EDN: GTSBTH
Views:
7
JATS XML
Email this article 