David Chalmers’ book Reality+, which as I mentioned in an earlier post, is a most thorough discussion of the simulation hypothesis, and also one of the best discussions of skeptical doubts about the reality of the external world. In connection with the book, I thought I would mention two items of my own. One is …
January 25: I encountered a review of David Chalmers new book Reality+ about the simulation hypothesis. I immediately purchased a copy and send him a note about some of my earlier work on virtual reality, published in obscure journals, where I move toward similar conclusions about the “reality” of experiences and objects in virtual environments. …
This is the first post of three where I reflect on the history of science. I’m starting with projectile motion, a phenomenon that nagged at Aristotle’s Physics. It was not long after Aristotle’s death that members of his school began to comment on the weakness of his explanation for projectile motion. Projectile motion occurs when …
1.) It is fairly well known that Aristotle’s science could not well explain projectile motion (the flight of arrows, thrown stones, and, later, cannonballs). It is not so well known that the rival Greek atomists could not explain it either. I’ll explore the reasons why both failed, and why the medieval theory of impetus began …
Coming Soon: Two topics in the history of science Read More »
I have an account with academia.edu, an aggregation site for scientists and humanists. I don’t post essays there; I favor ResearchGate and PhilPapers. But academia.edu sends me weekly requests: they have found a list of references to my name and would I please indicate whether these references really are to me. I had been ignoring …
The video which I posted a while back discussing Parkinson’s disease and Stoicism and me ran about an hour and 1/2. I thought it might be better to replace it with a series of shorter videos made by cutting up the original. But this proved a daunting task so I settled for adding to the …
This week I’ve been thinking about a talk I’ll be giving in July on Plato and democracy. Why does Plato think that democracy tends towards tyranny? Should we be afraid he might be right? In previous talks on this topic I told Plato’s story how a democracy can change into a tyranny, with disturbing parallels …
I have released a video of a talk about philosophy, PD, stoicism and me. The talk was given at OLLI UO in February.
There is another theme in this blog: Parkinson’s disease. In 2016 I wrote a short book reflecting on my experience as a philosopher descending into Parkinson’s disease (A Shaky Walk Downhill : A Philosopher Moves into Parkinson’s World). It’s time for a five year update: alas, nothing has changed for the better. My symptoms have …
So why am I trying a blog at age 82? I do have good examples of a successful blog from Robert Paul Wolff, whose forthright opinions are most refreshing. There are fine examples of blogs by retired philosophers: Robert Paul Wolff, Hans Sluga, and others. Then there is Austin Kleon’s book Share Your Work, where …