[ExI] agency-based personal identity

[gts]

On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:59:24 -0400, Jef Allbright <jef at jefallbright.net>  
wrote:

> [the newborn] certainly acts on its environment relative to its values  
> so there
> is agency, not yet in its own mind, but assigned in the minds of other
> observers.

If the newborn is not the agent of its own will and thus a unique identity  
unto itself, as I suggest is the case, then who is it exactly who is  
sucking on the nipple if the mother is unconscious and if there are no  
other observers? There is still a person there in the absence of  
observers, yes?

I say the newborn's identity arises not from the thoughts of others, or  
even from its own thoughts. Rather, it arises from its will to live, as  
evidenced by its will to nurse.

-gts