Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.52685/cjp.26.77.5
The Transgender Experience and the Limits of Physiological Continuity Theories
Samuel Kahn
orcid.org/0000-0001-6597-7646
; Indiana University, Indianapolis, USA
Abstract
In this paper I want to address an issue at the intersection of the philosophy of personal identity and the philosophy of transgender identity: the fact that, on one influential way of framing the transgender experience, it is incompatible with, and therefore constitutes a challenge for, physiological continuity theories of personal identity. To see this, I begin by outlining the relevant part of physiological continuity theories. Then I turn to the relevant thesis about the transgender experience. After explaining why these are in tension, I conclude with two alternate ways of moving forward, arguing that, although both approaches face challenges, either suffices to avoid this tension.
Keywords
Transgender identity; personal identity; physiological continuity.
Hrčak ID:
348985
URI
Publication date:
19.5.2026.
Visits: 0 *