Customer Reviews

First Person Plural : Multiple Personality and the Philosophy of Mind

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Dr. Braude's book is a thoughtful discussion of philosophical issuesconcerning the concept of multiple personality disorder (ordissociative identity disorder). He also distinguishes between MPD andrelated but distinct conditions such as hypnotic trance and mediumship. The final chapter is a blistering and soundly reasoned attack on the logical blunders committed by some of the prominent people who claim the existence of a "false memory syndrome." The fact that this book was written by a philosopher should not lead the reader to view Dr. Braude as a "dissociation dilettante." He is quite familiar with the clinical literature on DID, and he has a rich understanding of the experiences that people with DID describe. Dr. Braude's book is a unique contribution to the literature on dissociative disorders.

An informative and thought-provoking study of multiple personality. Not always an easy read philosophically, but it makes an interesting case for the unity of consciousness underlying dissociation.

This book provides in-depth information for readers interested in expanding their knowledge of multiple personality. "First Person Plural" is interesting in its own right but also it's a valuable complement to the more clinically focused literature on the subject. The author includes an extensive bibliography.

This is a very good academic book on MPD/DID by a philosopher of science, Professor Stephen E. Braude. I have read this book and several other books on MPD/DID. I wonder whether researches in this field have ever compared the fingerprints between alters of MPD of a particular subject, if not comparison of DNA samples. Even in the case of Eve, the initial doctors who took care of Eve did not specifically mention in this regard. Is this because no difference was detected or simply no comparison was made? When I read chap. 11 of Mrs. Sizemore (Eve)'s "A Mind of My Own (1989)," in which she describes her meeting at her home with initially a young gentleman, Mr. Vijna, who appeared an old man when he bided her good-bye, I asked the question. A very elementally physical experiment researchers must do is the comparison of the fingerprints of alters of the MPD subject. I have never found descriptions of this point in relevant books. Again, I repeat the question: Is this simply because there is no difference detected or never tried to detect because of preoccupation?

I was expecting a DID book and this book was helpful. But, the phrasing was difficult. if you don't have a background in philosophy, you may have trouble.