Status Updates From Thinking It Through: An Int...

Descartes' view has one surprising immediate consequence.
Some sentences-- such as "Nothing is both in New York and not in New York at the same time"-- couldn't be false, and they are called "necessary truths."

But were I persuaded that there was nothing at all in the world, that there was no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies; would I also be persuaded that I did no exist? No, surely, I would exist, without doubt!

How can it be that a world made of the sorts of things and governed by the sorts of laws that physicists now believe in should give rise to the astonishing range of experiences that each of us has every day?

If we have mental states that are private, the argument (Wittgenstein infinite regress argument) shows that we can't talk about them, even ourselves!

From the epistemologist's point of view, other people's minds and the "minds" of computers are in the same boat.

From the epistemologist's point of view, other people's minds and the "minds" of computers are the same boat.

Philosophy is much about deepening our understanding of a question as it is about finding an answer.