Is That the Same Person? Case Studies in Neurosurgery

Abstract

Do neurosurgical procedures ever result in the patient prior to the procedure not being identical with the individual who wakes up postsurgery in the hospital bed? We address this question by offering an analysis of the persistence of persons that emphasizes narrative, rather than numerical, identity. We argue that a narrative analysis carries the advantage of highlighting what matters to patients in their ordinary lives, explaining the varying degrees of persistence of personal identity, and enhancing our understanding of patients' experiences. We illustrate these points in cases involving temporal lobectomy for treatment of refractory epilepsy and deep brain stimulation for refractory Parkinson's disease.

Keywords:

• bioethics
• brain–computer interfaces
• deep brain stimulation
• neurosurgery
• personal identity
• philosophy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This paper was presented in 2017 at the XXXV International Congress on Law and Mental Health in Prague. Special thanks to Steve G for sharing his story and to Francois Baylis and anonymous reviewers of the journal for helpful feedback. ▪