Thought Experiments

Thought Experiments

Why asking yourself questions about made-up stories is philosophically useful
 

Suppose there was a machine you could connect your brain to, which would simulate the perfect life – everything according to your wishes. You wouldn’t notice that it was all virtual. If you connect you stay connected for the rest of your life. Would you connect yourself? Why (not)? And why do philosopers ask questions like this anyway?

The Problem of Evil III

The Problem of Evil III

If god allows evil for a reason, why wouldn’t he tell us what it is?
 

It seems that God would let us know why he allowed so much evil if he existed and had good reasons for allowing it. Not doing so might cause unnecessary suffering, doubt, and uncertainty among believers. This can be turned into an argument against God’s existence.

Chronicles of the Zombie Wars II

Chronicles of the Zombie Wars II

From zombies to modal epistemology
 

The mere possibility of zombies is enough to refute physicalism about the mind. The anti-physicalist, however, cannot simply start with the possibility of zombies as a premise without begging the question against physicalism. How can we assess whether zombies are possible on impartial grounds?

Chronicles of the Zombie Wars I

Chronicles of the Zombie Wars I

The role of zombies and ghosts in the philosophy of mind
 

Despite initial plausibility, physicalism about consciousness is a controversial view. It has come under heavy attack from two unlikely opponents in an academic debate, namely ghosts and zombies.

What Is Consciousness?

What Is Consciousness?

Getting a handle on the amazing inner movie all of us enjoy
 

What makes the brain really special is not its complicated function. It is what may deserve to be called our biggest scientific surprise: the brain’s performing these various functions is accompanied by an amazing “inner movie”.

Verbal Disputes II

Verbal Disputes II

False positives and fake explanations
 

In Verbal Disputes I we had a look at a tool for detecting verbal disputes so we can avoid them, namely the method of elimination. How good is this method? Is it perfectly reliable or does it sometimes lead to false positives or negatives?

What Is Reductionism?

What Is Reductionism?

How Laplace’s demon knows about Eddington’s table
 

In 1927, the physicist Arthur Stanley Eddington gave the Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh. In his introduction he talked about his two tables. First, the table of his everyday experience, the kind of table we’re all acquainted with through ordinary sensory experience…

Sphexishness

Sphexishness

A wasp’s attack on free will
 

Douglas Hofstadter has coined the term “Sphexishness” after the digger wasp Sphex ichneumoneus. This wasp usually exhibits sophisticated and apparently intelligent behavior, but can easily be tricked into an action loop, where the wasp mindlessly repeats the same action without end…

What Is Life?

What Is Life?

“Life” is what you make it
 

For the sake of neatness we could arbitrarily stipulate specific criteria for what qualifies as “life”. We could then draw a sharp line between life and non-life, but we would not thereby learn anything new. We would only clarify our vocabulary…

Verbal Disputes I

Verbal Disputes I

How words confuse us
 

Here is an ancient philosophical puzzle (in slightly modernized form): Cartman is captain of a pirate ship. To motivate his crew he swore that even if the ship sinks he will remain loyal and stay on the ship, and, if it comes down to it, drown with it…

The Problem of Evil II

The Problem of Evil II

Why your headache constitutes evidence against god’s existence
 

What if there are some great goods which can only be achieved by allowing some evils? Due to this objection to the logical argument from evil, attention has shifted from logical or deductive arguments to evidential arguments from evil…

The Problem of Evil I

The Problem of Evil I

Does your headache disprove god’s existence?
 

The argument from evil is perhaps the strongest and most compelling argument against God’s existence. It is part of the debate on the problem of evil, the attempt of reconciling God’s existence with that of tremendous suffering and evil. The argument from evil is intended to show that…