Philosophy Workshop: Can I turn into a cockroach and still be me?

Have you ever pondered the question of whether you’d still be the same person if you lost your memory, received a brain transplant, or became a cockroach? Join Professor Lisa Bortolotti to explore the long considered question of what really constitutes your identity.

This workshop will introduce participants to debates about personal identity. Philosophers have been interested in what makes one person the same person across time: what is in common between you as a baby, you as a young adult and you at 70 years of age?

Participants will discuss what contributes to their identity by revisiting some classic thought experiments used in philosophy and science fiction.

Professor Lisa Bortolotti is based in the Philosophy Department at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her main research interests are in belief, agency, and mental health. She is the author of Why Delusions Matter (Bloomsbury 2023) and the editor in chief of Philosophical Psychology.

*Tickets for this talk include free admission to Winterbourne House and Garden. There is a limited number of tickets available and they must be pre-booked.

This talk is funded by The Royal Institute of Philosophy.