Abstract

Early psychical research was marked by an interest in hypnosis, in whose history, Braude says, there were developments that facilitated the recognition of multiple personality. Several philosophers concerned with psychical research have written about multiple personality, including Broad, who regards it as abnormal rather than paranormal. The work of some of then is briefly described, and Parfit's work also is mentioned. Braude is the most recent philosopher with a professional interest in psychical research to write on multiple personality, and his 1991 First Person Plural, a hook devoted entirely to the topic, is examined at length. Particular attention is paid to Braude's account of persons; his concepts of apperceptive center, indexical state, and autobiographical state; the relation between multiplity and mediumship; and his argument that in those with multiple personality disorder, a deep unity is a precondition for the multiplicity.