Noo is noo come. Hi, I'm Peter Adamson, and you're listening to the History of Philosophy Podcast, brought to you with the support of the philosophy department at King's College London and the LMU in Munich. Online at

W.W.

History of Philosophy. net.

Today's episode, One of a Kind, Gilbert of Poitier on Individuation. Faithful listeners know a lot about me by now, my love of giraffes and classic film, my baldness,

my support for Arsenal Football Club.

You may also have noticed that I'm rather keen on the history of philosophy.

But here's something that I haven't mentioned yet. I'm an identical twin.

Unlike my sister, my twin brother is very much existent.

In fact, he runs a museum in Manhattan,

the Museum of Art and Design on Columbus Circle,

please drop by if you're in the neighborhood,

and it doesn't get much more existent than that.

Perhaps it's because I grew up as a twin that I've always been fascinated by the philosophical problem of

individuation. What makes two things of the same type different from one another?

As children, my brother and I were constantly confronted with adults who seemed to have difficulty with this concept.

I hated being called the twins, as if the two of us were

entirely interchangeable. And I still bear a grudge against a teacher who was going through an attendance

list one morning and called out, Adamsons, apparently unaware that one of us might

be present without the other. But you don't have to be a twin to be concerned with the problem

of individuation.

Consider another set of siblings who were considerably more famous,

despite their lack of podcasting and museum directing exploits,

...