Letters

Abstract

Thank you for publishing the article, “Direct Intervention in the Brain: Ethical Issues Concerning Personal Identity” by F. Focquaert and D. DeRidder in the November 2009 issue. It led me to rethink what personal identity is about, vis-á-vis my own history of who I am as context for this refl ection, combined with research leading to the French philosopher, Paul Ricoeur, and his writings, especially his three volume opus, Time and Narrative (1983-1985). Th ough this work is certainly pertinent to the article’s topic, neither these books nor any other of his works were cited in the article mentioned. My main point in response to the authors, though: Th eir perspective is not global enough for their conclusion to be convincing, “Overall, from a cost/benefi t perspective, the possible benefi ts of DBS [deep brain stimulation] for treatment-resistant neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders outweigh the possible harm of narrative identity change.”