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?

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?

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?