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Loading... Reality : Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy (2022)by David J. Chalmers
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A massive exploration of "technophilosophy" in which each of the 24 chapters has a question as its title. The early chapters introduce such ideas as the simulation hypothesis and the argument in its favor, the general nature of reality, and the contention that entities in virtual worlds should be regarded as real. All 557 pages are well worth reading, but the topics covered in the middle and later chapters are too numerous and varied for me to be able to comment on them concisely. One incidental point is the repeated mentioning of the imagined possibility of mind uploading: Chalmers is one of the few authors who appreciate that a process of gradual replacement (not copying) would be required for there to be any hope of preservation of personal identity. Online supplement: consc.net/reality Covers a lot of ground and provides a useful new lens through which to look at the problems of philosophy. Some of the arguments are speculative and hand-wavy and most of the examples feature audiovisual perception. This is easier than explaining how virtual food will actually nourish your body with what it needs. no reviews | add a review
"A leading philosopher takes a mind-bending journey through virtual worlds, illuminating the nature of reality and our place within it. Virtual reality is genuine reality. That's the central thesis of Reality+. In a highly original work of "technophilosophy," David J. Chalmers argues that virtual worlds generated by computers are not second-class worlds. We can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be living in a computer simulation already-and if we are, that's not so bad. What is reality, anyway? How do we know there's an external world? What's the relation between mind and body? How can we lead a good life? Is there a god? In Reality+, Chalmers conducts a grand tour of philosophy, using virtual worlds to illuminate all of these questions and to provide new answers to many of them. Studded with illustrations that bring philosophical issues to life, Reality+ is a major statement that will shape discussion of philosophy and technology for years to come"-- No library descriptions found. |
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David Chalmers’ Reality+ explores this new angle on philosophy. It covers: the nature of knowledge (i. e. how we know about the outside world) and how far we can trust that knowledge; the nature of the world (or universe) we are looking at; the nature of the instrument (mind) doing the looking; God (as creator of that universe, and possible nature of); value (what is “good”, what is “right”)…all squinted at through the newfangled lens of the Simulation Hypothesis. In addition, there’s something even newer too—virtual reality—and, while still unwieldy at present (headset, gloves and so on), it’s certain to become ever more subtle and invasive. Much of this book is about VR and what it may already be telling us about the relationship between mind and world. Running through it is what Chalmers calls “Simulation realism”, his contention that virtual objects are real—i.e. things which are part of a virtual world are real in the fullest sense of that word; and that if something (or someone) is part of a simulation, that doesn’t make it (or them) any less real.
Chalmers, a philosopher himself, makes his case very well, and one particular chapter out of the book’s twenty-four contained an idea so striking I’ve been mulling it over myself ever since. As for the Simulation Hypothesis itself though, I’m not, so far, persuaded by that. But it is like opening a window and letting some fresh clean air into the musty atmosphere of a philosophy class; and what’s also obvious to me is that, as we begin to design and run simulated universes ourselves, it’s going to let in a whole lot more. ( )