The Self and the Bundle Theory

Is there a persisting self that owns our experiences, or are we just bundles of experiences with no underlying subject?

Definition

The bundle theory holds that the self is nothing over and above a collection of perceptions and mental states bundled together, denying a separate persisting subject, whereas ego theories posit a continuing self that has those states.

Scope

This topic covers the metaphysics of the self: the ego or substance view of a persisting subject, Hume's bundle theory and the no-self tradition, the concept of the person, and Parfit-style reductionism about the self. It addresses whether a unified self is real or constructed.

Core questions

• Is there a persisting subject that owns experiences, or only the experiences themselves?
• Can introspection reveal a self distinct from particular perceptions?
• What unifies a stream of experiences into one mind?
• Is the self a fundamental entity or a useful construction?

Key concepts

• ego theory
• bundle theory
• no-self
• person
• subject of experience
• reductionism

Key theories

Bundle theory of the self

Introspection reveals only particular perceptions and never a separate self, so the mind is a bundle of perceptions with no underlying subject.

Reductionism about the self

Persons just consist in interrelated mental and physical events; the existence of a person is not a deep further fact beyond these.

History

Hume's (1739) bundle theory denied that introspection reveals any persisting self, echoing earlier no-self traditions. Strawson (1959) analyzed the concept of a person as basic, while Parfit (1984) defended a reductionist view on which the self is no deep further fact, prompting deflationary responses such as Olson's (1998).

Debates

Bundle versus ego theory

Whether experiences require a persisting subject that has them or whether the self reduces to the bundle of experiences.

Is there a problem of the self at all?

Whether questions about the self mark a genuine metaphysical problem or dissolve once persons are understood as ordinary beings.

Key figures

• David Hume
• Derek Parfit
• P. F. Strawson
• Eric Olson

Seminal works

• hume1739
• strawson1959
• parfit1984

Frequently asked questions

What is the bundle theory of the self?

It is the view, associated with Hume, that the self is not a separate persisting thing but simply a collection or bundle of changing perceptions and experiences.