Eric T. Olson is an American philosopher

American philosophy

American philosophy is the philosophical activity or output of Americans, both within the United States and abroad. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that while American philosophy lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevertheless be seen as both reflecting and...

 who specializes in metaphysics

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...

 and philosophy of mind

Philosophy of mind

Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...

. Olson is most famous for his research in the field of personal identity, namely animalism

Animalism (philosophy)

In philosophy, animalism is a theory about personal identity according to which personal identity is a biological property of human beings, just as it is for other animals. Animalism is not a theory about personhood, that is, a theory about what it means to be a person...

. Olson received a BA from Reed College

Reed College

Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...

 and a PhD

PHD

PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 from Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

. Olson is currently a professor of philosophy at the University of Sheffield

University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...

, a position he has held since 2003, and previously held a lectureship at Cambridge University.

Articles

• "Is Psychology Relevant to Personal Identity?" Australasian Journal of Philosophy 72: 173-86, 1994
• "Human People or Human Animals?" Philosophical Studies 80: 159-81, 1995
• "Why I Have no Hands." Theoria 61: 182-197, 1995
• "Composition and Coincidence." Pacific Philosophical Quarterly.77: 374-403, 1996
• "Dion's Foot." Journal of Philosophy 94: 260-65, 1997
• "Was I Ever a Fetus?" Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 57: 95-110, 1997.
• "Relativism and Persistence." Philosophical Studies 88: 141-62, 1997
• "The Ontological Basis of Strong Artificial Life." Artificial Life 3: 29-39, 1997
• "Human Atoms." Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 76: 396-406, 1998
• "Reply to Lynne Rudder Baker." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 59: 161-66, 1999
• "There is no Problem of the Self." Journal of Consciousness Studies 5: 645-57, 1998, and in S. Gallagher and J. Shearer, eds., Models of the Self, Imprint Academic 1999.
• "A Compound of Two Substances." In K. Corcoran, ed., Soul, Body, and Survival Cornell University Press, 2001: 73-88
• "Material Coincidence and the Indiscernibility Problem." Philosophical Quarterly 51: 337-55, 2001
• "Personal Identity and the Radiation Argument." Analysis 61: 38-43, 2001
• "What does Functionalism Tell Us about Personal Identity?" Noûs 36: 682-98, 2002
• "Thinking Animals and the Reference of 'I.'" Philosophical Topics 30: 189-208, 2002
• "An Argument for Animalism." In R. Martin and J. Barresi, eds., Personal Identity. Blackwell 2003: 318-34.
• "Personal Identity." In S. Stich & T. Warfield, eds., The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Mind. Blackwell 2003: 352-68.
• "Lowe's Defence of Constitutionalism." Philosophical Quarterly 53: 92-95, 2003
• "Was Jekyll Hyde?" Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 66: 328-348, 2003
• "Warum Wir Tiere Sind." In K. Petrus, ed., On Human Persons. Ontos Verlag, 2003: 11-22
• "Animalism and the Corpse Problem." Australasian Journal of Philosophy 82: 265-74, 2004
• "Imperfect Identity." Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 104: 81-98, 2006
• "There a Bodily Criterion of Personal Identity?" In F. MacBride, ed., Identity and Modality. Oxford University Press, 2006
• "Temporal Parts and Timeless Parthood." Noûs 40: 738-752, 2006
• "The Paradox of Increase." The Monist 89: 390-417, 2006
• "What Are We?" Journal of Consciousness Studies 14: 37-55, 2007, and in A. Laitinen and H. Ikäheimo, eds., Dimensions of Personhood (Imprint Academic, 2007)
• "Was I Ever a Fetus?" (new version) In R. Nichols et al., eds., Philosophy Through Science Fiction, Routledge 2008.
• "The Rate of Time's Passage." Analysis 69: 3-9, 2009
• "The Passage of Time." in R. LePoidevin et al., eds., The Routledge Companion to Metaphysics 2009: 440-48