The Paradox of Fission: Common Sense vs. Logic?

The fission of a person involves what common sense describes as a single person surviving as two different people. Thus, say most metaphysicians, this paradox shows us that common sense is inconsistent with the transitivity of identity. Those attempting to resolve the paradox deny common sense and argue that the resolution rests upon embracing a particular metaphysics. I disagree on both counts. First, we must recognize that natural language quantifiers are in fact temporally relativized. Second, we must get straight on the semantics of talk of persons, for in cases of fission, we think a single person will exist at two different places after the fission. Properly understood, this does not bring the undesirable consequences one would expect. Thus, with the correct semantics in hand, we can save common sense. Moreover, because this dissolution relies solely on semantics, we can remain neutral with respect to the metaphysics.