Open individualism

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Open individualism is a theory of personal identity according to which all conscious beings share a single, numerically identical subject of experience, despite having different bodies, memories and experiences. The theory holds that differences between individual organisms and their psychological histories do not necessarily establish boundaries between distinct subjects of consciousness. The term was used by philosopher Daniel Kolak in I Am You: The Metaphysical Foundations for Global Ethics (2004). Kolak contrasted open individualism with two other theories of personal identity: closed individualism, according to which individuals have separate identities that persist over time, and empty individualism, according to which there is no enduring subject of experience. A related theory was developed by philosopher Arnold Zuboff, who calls his position "universalism".

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