Episode 4: Death and Logic (with Eric Schwitzgebel)

People say that two things in life are certain. The first is that no one gets out alive. The second is that if possibly necessarily P, then necessarily P. But, are death and logic really certainties? If, for example, there exists an infinite number of situations which each contain an individual who is intrinsically similar to you, aren't you effectively immortal? And is there a single best logic to use in assessing such possibilities? Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel joins Richard and Pete to tackle death and logic as well as topics concerning the reality of the past and proper role of common sense in science and philosophy. This is the first part of our conversation with Eric. The second part will appear in a future episode.

Episode Audio

Download: MP3 Audio (93MB)

Episode Notes and LinksEpisode Notes

People say that two things in life are certain. The first is that no one gets out alive. The second is that if possibly necessarily P, then necessarily P. But, are death and logic really certainties? If, for example, there exists an infinite number of situations which each contain an individual who is intrinsically similar to you, aren't you effectively immortal? And is there a single best logic to use in assessing such possibilities? Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel joins Richard and Pete to tackle death and logic as well as topics concerning the reality of the past and the proper role of common sense in science and philosophy. This is the first part of our conversation with Eric. The second part will appear in a future episode.

(The music in the episode is by our band, Quiet Karate Reflex. The song in the intro and outro is "SpaceTimeMind Theme Song" [link to music video] and the song in the mid-episode break is “Skinner Box." More of Quiet Karate Reflex's music can be heard here: http://quietkaratereflex.bandcamp.com/.)

 

(The video chat between Richard, Pete, and Eric that this episode's audio is drawn from is viewable on YouTube. For this episode's source content, see especially the first half of the linked video.)

LinksEric Schwitzgebel’s home page.Eric Schwitzgebel’s blogpost, “My Botzmann Continuants.”Eric Schwitzgebel’s paper “The Crazyist Metaphysics of Mind.” Eric Schwitzgebel’s paper “If Materialism Is True, the United States is Probably Conscious.”Garson, James. "Modal Logic” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Brow, Richard. "Logic and Death" post at the Philosophy Sucks! blog.