Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

Author: David J. Chalmers

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2022-01-25

Total Pages: 544

ISBN-13: 0393635813

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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 gives a compelling analysis of our technological future. He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds, and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be in a virtual world already. Along the way, Chalmers conducts a grand tour of big ideas in philosophy and science. He uses virtual reality technology to offer a new perspective on long-established philosophical questions. How do we know that there’s an external world? Is there a god? What is the nature of reality? What’s the relation between mind and body? How can we lead a good life? All of these questions are illuminated or transformed by Chalmers’ mind-bending analysis. Studded with illustrations that bring philosophical issues to life, Reality+ is a major statement that will shape discussion of philosophy, science, and technology for years to come.


Book Synopsis Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy by : David J. Chalmers

Download or read book Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy written by David J. Chalmers and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2022-01-25 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 gives a compelling analysis of our technological future. He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds, and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be in a virtual world already. Along the way, Chalmers conducts a grand tour of big ideas in philosophy and science. He uses virtual reality technology to offer a new perspective on long-established philosophical questions. How do we know that there’s an external world? Is there a god? What is the nature of reality? What’s the relation between mind and body? How can we lead a good life? All of these questions are illuminated or transformed by Chalmers’ mind-bending analysis. Studded with illustrations that bring philosophical issues to life, Reality+ is a major statement that will shape discussion of philosophy, science, and technology for years to come.

The World Philosophy Made

The World Philosophy Made

Author: Scott Soames

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-11-16

Total Pages: 458

ISBN-13: 069122918X

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How philosophy transformed human knowledge and the world we live in Philosophical investigation is the root of all human knowledge. Developing new concepts, reinterpreting old truths, and reconceptualizing fundamental questions, philosophy has progressed—and driven human progress—for more than two millennia. In short, we live in a world philosophy made. In this concise history of philosophy's world-shaping impact, Scott Soames demonstrates that the modern world—including its science, technology, and politics—simply would not be possible without the accomplishments of philosophy. Firmly rebutting the misconception of philosophy as ivory-tower thinking, Soames traces its essential contributions to fields as diverse as law and logic, psychology and economics, relativity and rational decision theory. Beginning with the giants of ancient Greek philosophy, The World Philosophy Made chronicles the achievements of the great thinkers, from the medieval and early modern eras to the present. It explores how philosophy has shaped our language, science, mathematics, religion, culture, morality, education, and politics, as well as our understanding of ourselves. Philosophy's idea of rational inquiry as the key to theoretical knowledge and practical wisdom has transformed the world in which we live. From the laws that govern society to the digital technology that permeates modern life, philosophy has opened up new possibilities and set us on more productive paths. The World Philosophy Made explains and illuminates as never before the inexhaustible richness of philosophy and its influence on our individual and collective lives.


Book Synopsis The World Philosophy Made by : Scott Soames

Download or read book The World Philosophy Made written by Scott Soames and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How philosophy transformed human knowledge and the world we live in Philosophical investigation is the root of all human knowledge. Developing new concepts, reinterpreting old truths, and reconceptualizing fundamental questions, philosophy has progressed—and driven human progress—for more than two millennia. In short, we live in a world philosophy made. In this concise history of philosophy's world-shaping impact, Scott Soames demonstrates that the modern world—including its science, technology, and politics—simply would not be possible without the accomplishments of philosophy. Firmly rebutting the misconception of philosophy as ivory-tower thinking, Soames traces its essential contributions to fields as diverse as law and logic, psychology and economics, relativity and rational decision theory. Beginning with the giants of ancient Greek philosophy, The World Philosophy Made chronicles the achievements of the great thinkers, from the medieval and early modern eras to the present. It explores how philosophy has shaped our language, science, mathematics, religion, culture, morality, education, and politics, as well as our understanding of ourselves. Philosophy's idea of rational inquiry as the key to theoretical knowledge and practical wisdom has transformed the world in which we live. From the laws that govern society to the digital technology that permeates modern life, philosophy has opened up new possibilities and set us on more productive paths. The World Philosophy Made explains and illuminates as never before the inexhaustible richness of philosophy and its influence on our individual and collective lives.

Games

Games

Author: C. Thi Nguyen

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 0190052082

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"Games are a unique art form. The game designer doesn't just create a world; they create who you will be in that world. They tell you what abilities to use and what goals to take on. In other words, they specify a form of agency. Games work in the medium of agency. And to play them, we take on alternate agencies and submerge ourselves in them. What can we learn about our own rationality and agency, from thinking about games? We learn that we have a considerable degree of fluidity with our agency. First, we have the capacity for a peculiar sort of motivational inversion. For some of us, winning is not the point. We take on an interest in winning temporarily, so that we can play the game. Thus, we are capable of taking on temporary and disposable ends. We can submerge ourselves in alternate agencies, letting them dominate our consciousness, and then dropping them the moment the game is over. Games are, then, a way of recording forms of agency, of encoding them in artifacts. Our games are a library of agencies. And exploring that library can help us develop our own agency and autonomy. But this technology can also be used for art. Games can sculpt our practical activity, for the sake of the beauty of our own actions. Games are part of a crucial, but overlooked category of art - the process arts. These are the arts which evoke an activity, and then ask you to appreciate your own activity. And games are a special place where we can foster beautiful experiences of our own activity. Because our struggles, in games, can be designed to fit our capacities. Games can present a harmonious world, where our abilities fit the task, and where we pursue obvious goals and act under clear values. Games are a kind of existential balm against the difficult and exhausting value clarity of the world. But this presents a special danger. Games can be a fantasy of value clarity. And when that fantasy leaks out into the world, we can be tempted to oversimplify our enduring values. Then, the pleasures of games can seduce us away from our autonomy, and reduce our agency."--


Book Synopsis Games by : C. Thi Nguyen

Download or read book Games written by C. Thi Nguyen and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Games are a unique art form. The game designer doesn't just create a world; they create who you will be in that world. They tell you what abilities to use and what goals to take on. In other words, they specify a form of agency. Games work in the medium of agency. And to play them, we take on alternate agencies and submerge ourselves in them. What can we learn about our own rationality and agency, from thinking about games? We learn that we have a considerable degree of fluidity with our agency. First, we have the capacity for a peculiar sort of motivational inversion. For some of us, winning is not the point. We take on an interest in winning temporarily, so that we can play the game. Thus, we are capable of taking on temporary and disposable ends. We can submerge ourselves in alternate agencies, letting them dominate our consciousness, and then dropping them the moment the game is over. Games are, then, a way of recording forms of agency, of encoding them in artifacts. Our games are a library of agencies. And exploring that library can help us develop our own agency and autonomy. But this technology can also be used for art. Games can sculpt our practical activity, for the sake of the beauty of our own actions. Games are part of a crucial, but overlooked category of art - the process arts. These are the arts which evoke an activity, and then ask you to appreciate your own activity. And games are a special place where we can foster beautiful experiences of our own activity. Because our struggles, in games, can be designed to fit our capacities. Games can present a harmonious world, where our abilities fit the task, and where we pursue obvious goals and act under clear values. Games are a kind of existential balm against the difficult and exhausting value clarity of the world. But this presents a special danger. Games can be a fantasy of value clarity. And when that fantasy leaks out into the world, we can be tempted to oversimplify our enduring values. Then, the pleasures of games can seduce us away from our autonomy, and reduce our agency."--

Out of this World

Out of this World

Author: Peter Hallward

Publisher: Verso

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 9781844670796

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A controversial critique of an iconic philosopher.


Book Synopsis Out of this World by : Peter Hallward

Download or read book Out of this World written by Peter Hallward and published by Verso. This book was released on 2006 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A controversial critique of an iconic philosopher.

The Actual and the Possible

The Actual and the Possible

Author: Mark Sinclair

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0198786433

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The Actual and the Possible presents new essays by leading specialists on modality and the metaphysics of modality in the history of modern philosophy from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. It revisits key moments in the history of modern modal doctrines, and illuminates lesser-known moments of that history. The ultimate purpose of this historical approach is to contextualise and even to offer some alternatives to dominant positions within the contemporary philosophy of modality. Hence the volume contains not only new scholarship on the early-modern doctrines of Baruch Spinoza, G. W. F. Leibniz, Christian Wolff and Immanuel Kant, but also work relating to less familiar nineteenth-century thinkers such as Alexius Meinong and Jan Lukasiewicz, together with essays on celebrated nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers such as G. W. F. Hegel, Martin Heidegger and Bertrand Russell, whose modal doctrines have not previously garnered the attention they deserve. The volume thus covers a variety of traditions, and its historical range extends to the end of the twentieth century, addressing the legacy of W. V. Quine's critique of modality within recent analytic philosophy.


Book Synopsis The Actual and the Possible by : Mark Sinclair

Download or read book The Actual and the Possible written by Mark Sinclair and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Actual and the Possible presents new essays by leading specialists on modality and the metaphysics of modality in the history of modern philosophy from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. It revisits key moments in the history of modern modal doctrines, and illuminates lesser-known moments of that history. The ultimate purpose of this historical approach is to contextualise and even to offer some alternatives to dominant positions within the contemporary philosophy of modality. Hence the volume contains not only new scholarship on the early-modern doctrines of Baruch Spinoza, G. W. F. Leibniz, Christian Wolff and Immanuel Kant, but also work relating to less familiar nineteenth-century thinkers such as Alexius Meinong and Jan Lukasiewicz, together with essays on celebrated nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers such as G. W. F. Hegel, Martin Heidegger and Bertrand Russell, whose modal doctrines have not previously garnered the attention they deserve. The volume thus covers a variety of traditions, and its historical range extends to the end of the twentieth century, addressing the legacy of W. V. Quine's critique of modality within recent analytic philosophy.

Masterpieces of World Philosophy

Masterpieces of World Philosophy

Author: Frank N. Magill

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 1991-08-19

Total Pages: 706

ISBN-13: 0062700510

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For many, philosophy is a difficult, almost unapproachable field--just understanding it seems to require more knowledge than most students and general readers could possible have. That's how Masterpieces of World Philosophy can help you to truly grasp the ideas of Aristotle and Aquinas, Confucius and Camus: it examines and summarizes nearly one hundred influential works through critical essays that focus on their themes and major points. Based on the award-winning, five-volume reference, World Philosophy, each essay explains the historical background of the work, the life of its author, and its influence on modern thought. Alternative views of the philosopher's ideas are provided through reviews of important critical works, and reading lists help you find sources for additional information. With Masterpieces of World Philosophy, the ideas that have shaped our world--from the ancients to the thinkers of our time--are at your fingertips.


Book Synopsis Masterpieces of World Philosophy by : Frank N. Magill

Download or read book Masterpieces of World Philosophy written by Frank N. Magill and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1991-08-19 with total page 706 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many, philosophy is a difficult, almost unapproachable field--just understanding it seems to require more knowledge than most students and general readers could possible have. That's how Masterpieces of World Philosophy can help you to truly grasp the ideas of Aristotle and Aquinas, Confucius and Camus: it examines and summarizes nearly one hundred influential works through critical essays that focus on their themes and major points. Based on the award-winning, five-volume reference, World Philosophy, each essay explains the historical background of the work, the life of its author, and its influence on modern thought. Alternative views of the philosopher's ideas are provided through reviews of important critical works, and reading lists help you find sources for additional information. With Masterpieces of World Philosophy, the ideas that have shaped our world--from the ancients to the thinkers of our time--are at your fingertips.

Possible Worlds

Possible Worlds

Author: Raymond Bradley

Publisher: Indianapolis : Hackett Publishing Company

Published: 1979-01-01

Total Pages: 391

ISBN-13: 9780915144594

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Sermons by a noted German theologian discuss what the Bible says about freedom, political power, fear, unity, and human rights


Book Synopsis Possible Worlds by : Raymond Bradley

Download or read book Possible Worlds written by Raymond Bradley and published by Indianapolis : Hackett Publishing Company. This book was released on 1979-01-01 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sermons by a noted German theologian discuss what the Bible says about freedom, political power, fear, unity, and human rights

Philosophy & This Actual World

Philosophy & This Actual World

Author: Martin Benjamin

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published: 2002-12-10

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1461665973

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Academic philosophy has become so technical and inbred that it often fails to connect with the questions and concerns of educated nonspecialists. Martin Benjamin aims to bridge this gap. Presupposing little or no formal background,Philosophy & This Actual World addresses general questions of knowledge, reality, mind, will, and ethics, as well as more specific questions about moral pluralism, assisted suicide, the nature of death, and life's meaning. At the same time, it incorporates the advances of academic philosophers like Wittgenstein, Rorty, Putnam, and Rawls, making it equally as valuable to the scholar as to the philosophically uninitiated.


Book Synopsis Philosophy & This Actual World by : Martin Benjamin

Download or read book Philosophy & This Actual World written by Martin Benjamin and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2002-12-10 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Academic philosophy has become so technical and inbred that it often fails to connect with the questions and concerns of educated nonspecialists. Martin Benjamin aims to bridge this gap. Presupposing little or no formal background,Philosophy & This Actual World addresses general questions of knowledge, reality, mind, will, and ethics, as well as more specific questions about moral pluralism, assisted suicide, the nature of death, and life's meaning. At the same time, it incorporates the advances of academic philosophers like Wittgenstein, Rorty, Putnam, and Rawls, making it equally as valuable to the scholar as to the philosophically uninitiated.

Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools

Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools

Author: Stefano Gualeni

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-07-14

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1137521783

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Who are we in simulated worlds? Will experiencing worlds that are not 'actual' change our ways of structuring thought? Can virtual worlds open up new possibilities to philosophize? Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools tries to answer these questions from a perspective that combines philosophy of technology with videogame design.


Book Synopsis Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools by : Stefano Gualeni

Download or read book Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools written by Stefano Gualeni and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who are we in simulated worlds? Will experiencing worlds that are not 'actual' change our ways of structuring thought? Can virtual worlds open up new possibilities to philosophize? Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools tries to answer these questions from a perspective that combines philosophy of technology with videogame design.

Philosophy in the Age of Science?

Philosophy in the Age of Science?

Author: Julia Hermann

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-06-09

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1538142848

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Current academic philosophy is being challenged from several angles. Subdisciplinary specialisations often make it challenging to articulate philosophy’s relevance for the societal questions of our day.Additionally, the success of the ‘scientific method’ puts pressure on philosophers to articulate their methods and specify how these can be successful. How does philosophical progress come about? What can philosophy contribute to our understanding of today’s world? Moreover, can it also contribute to resolving urgent societal challenges, such as anthropogenic climate change? This edited volume evaluates the place of philosophy in the age of science. It addresses three related sub-themes: philosophical progress, philosophical method and philosophy’s societal relevance. Fourteen authors engage with these sub-themes, focusing on the topics of their philosophical expertise, such as the philosophy of religion, evolutionary ethics and the nature of free will. In doing so, they explore their methods of enquiry, and look at how progress in their research comes about.


Book Synopsis Philosophy in the Age of Science? by : Julia Hermann

Download or read book Philosophy in the Age of Science? written by Julia Hermann and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-06-09 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Current academic philosophy is being challenged from several angles. Subdisciplinary specialisations often make it challenging to articulate philosophy’s relevance for the societal questions of our day.Additionally, the success of the ‘scientific method’ puts pressure on philosophers to articulate their methods and specify how these can be successful. How does philosophical progress come about? What can philosophy contribute to our understanding of today’s world? Moreover, can it also contribute to resolving urgent societal challenges, such as anthropogenic climate change? This edited volume evaluates the place of philosophy in the age of science. It addresses three related sub-themes: philosophical progress, philosophical method and philosophy’s societal relevance. Fourteen authors engage with these sub-themes, focusing on the topics of their philosophical expertise, such as the philosophy of religion, evolutionary ethics and the nature of free will. In doing so, they explore their methods of enquiry, and look at how progress in their research comes about.