diff --git a/Proof_of_OI.md b/Proof_of_OI.md deleted file mode 100644 index eb07629..0000000 --- a/Proof_of_OI.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,115 +0,0 @@ -# Formal Proof: Open Individualism Necessarily Follows from EMR and PSR - -## Front Matter - -### Definitions - -- **Open Individualism (OI):** The metaphysical view that there is only one subject of experience — all conscious beings, across all space, time, and modality, are numerically the same experiencer. - -- **Closed Individualism (CI):** The view that each person is a separate, distinct subject of experience. You are only your body and not anyone else. - -- **Empty Individualism (EI):** The view that each moment of consciousness is a distinct experiencer. There is no enduring self — only a sequence of isolated experiential events. - -- **Extended Modal Realism (EMR):** The metaphysical view that all possible, impossible, and even incoherent worlds exist. Modal existence is total — nothing is arbitrarily excluded. - -- **Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR):** The principle that every fact must have a sufficient, non-arbitrary reason for why it is so and not otherwise. This includes identity facts. - ---- - -## Assumptions - -- EMR is true: all minds in all forms exist across all modal realities. -- PSR is true: no fact, including personal identity, can be brute or arbitrary. -- We are not attempting to prove EMR or PSR in this document — only what follows from them. - ---- - -## Step-by-Step Proof - -### Step 1: EMR implies that all minds — including identical and near-identical ones — exist. - -- There exist minds in different bodies and worlds that are phenomenally identical to your own. -- Some of these duplicates are exact copies; others differ by small degrees. - -### Step 2: PSR requires that distinctions between minds have sufficient reason. - -- If two minds are phenomenally and structurally identical, there can be no non-arbitrary basis to say one is “you” and the other is not. -- Any attempt to do so would violate PSR by positing an unexplained identity difference. - -### Step 3: Therefore, identical conscious states must correspond to the same subject. - -- The “you” experiencing Mind A must also be the “you” experiencing Mind B if there is no reason to distinguish them. -- The only non-arbitrary solution is numerical identity of subject across instantiations. - -### Step 4: This principle generalizes to all minds. - -- Minds form a continuum across all modal realities. -- If two minds differ, they do so gradually and by degree — but boundaries between “subjects” remain arbitrary unless grounded. -- PSR disallows such brute boundary-making. - -### Step 5: Therefore, Open Individualism is the only theory of identity compatible with EMR and PSR. - -- CI fails because it posits brute separateness. -- EI fails because it posits brute fragmentation of subjecthood at every moment. -- OI alone requires no brute distinctions in assigning subjective identity. - -✅ **Q.E.D.** - ---- - -## Rejection of Competing Theories - -### ❌ Closed Individualism (CI) - -- Treats each body as a separate subject. -- Under EMR, there are many identical bodies and minds — yet only one “you.” -- Assigning “you” to only one version is arbitrary unless justified. -- CI therefore violates PSR. - -### ❌ Empty Individualism (EI) - -- Treats each moment of experience as a distinct subject. -- Fails to account for continuity of experience — treats successive moments as fundamentally unconnected. -- Introduces brute numerical identity distinctions across time with no justification. -- EI therefore violates PSR. - ---- - -## Rebuttals to Common Objections - -### Objection 1: “I only feel like I am this body — not all others.” - -**Response:** -This is an epistemic limitation, not a metaphysical one. You don’t feel your past self directly either, but you still consider it to be “you.” Introspective feeling does not justify metaphysical distinctness. - ---- - -### Objection 2: “It’s absurd to say I am everyone.” - -**Response:** -Absurdity is not the same as incoherence. The conclusion may be counterintuitive, but it is logically required by EMR + PSR. Rejecting it requires accepting brute facts, which violates PSR. - ---- - -### Objection 3: “But different minds have different thoughts and experiences — how can they be one?” - -**Response:** -Differences in experience do not imply differences in the experiencer. A single subject can undergo varying states without fragmenting into multiple subjects. Just as you are still “you” when you wake up with different thoughts than yesterday. - ---- - -### Objection 4: “Personal identity must be tied to physical continuity.” - -**Response:** -This is a physicalist assumption that cannot account for modal duplicates. In EMR, there are exact replicas with no causal link to “your” body. Without PSR-justified boundaries, physical continuity cannot ground unique subjecthood. - ---- - -## Conclusion - -- EMR ensures that all minds — including duplicates and variants — exist. -- PSR ensures that distinctions between them must be non-arbitrary and justified. -- Only Open Individualism avoids brute identity facts and fully satisfies both. -- Therefore, Open Individualism is necessarily true given EMR and PSR. - -✅ **Final Conclusion: OI is the only metaphysically coherent theory of personal identity under EMR and PSR.**