On the Substantive Irrelevance of Reductionism about Persons

The contrast between reductionist and anti-reductionist views of persons (respectively also known as “complex” and “simple” views) has shaped the metaphysical debate about personal identity over the last decades, the idea being that no difference between views of persons can be more crucial and important than their reductionist (or anti-reductionist) attitude. I want to argue that the substantive importance of reductionism about persons has been overestimated. However important the contrast between simple and complex views of persons may be on a meta-metaphysical level, it has surprisingly little bearing on the substantive issue of the nature of persons and of their identity conditions across time.