Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: How does one’s racialized experience affect whether a person persists over time? Several philosophers have explored this question with respect to numerical personal identity. However, Derek Parfit famously objected to the focus on personal identity, instead arguing that Relation-R mattered for continued existence. If Parfit was correct, then how does one’s racialized experience affect Relation-R? In this paper, I contend that one’s racialized experience can affect the extent to which one persists over time. I consider three cases—those involving changes to one’s racial identity, those involving changes to how one is racialized, and those involving a mismatch between one’s racial identity and how one is racialized—in which one’s racialized experience affects the extent to which one persists. I then consider various objections to my view.
Source: Synthese
Author: Ezekiel Vergara
Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
Funder: Fordham University
OpenAlex ID: W7154457494