David J. Chalmers is een filosoof wiens werk zich verdiept in de filosofie van de geest, bewustzijn en fundamentele vraagstukken in de cognitieve wetenschap en fysica. Hij onderzoekt kritisch de diepgaande problemen van de geest en de relatie ervan met de fysieke wereld. Chalmers richt zich op de aard van bewustzijn zelf, naast filosofische vraagstukken over betekenis en mogelijkheid. Zijn benadering verbindt filosofie met cognitieve wetenschap en fysica, en biedt een uniek perspectief op deze ingewikkelde domeinen.
David J. Chalmers constructs a highly ambitious and original picture of the world, from a few basic elements. He returns to Rudolf Carnap's attempt to do the same, and adopts the idea of scrutability—according to which reasoning from a limited class of basic truths yields all truths about the world—to address central themes in philosophy.
The author of this text offers a theory of consciousness. He proposes that conscious experience must be understood as an irreducible entity similar to such physical properties as time, mass, and space that exists at a fundamental level and cannot be understood as the sum of its parts.
From one of our leading thinkers, a dazzling philosophical journey through virtual worlds In the coming decades, the technology that enables virtual and augmented reality will improve beyond recognition. Within a century, world-renowned philosopher David J. Chalmers predicts, we will have virtual worlds that are impossible to distinguish from non-virtual worlds. But is virtual reality just escapism? In a highly original work of 'technophilosophy', Chalmers argues categorically, no: virtual reality is genuine reality. Virtual worlds are not second-class worlds. We can live a meaningful life in virtual reality - and increasingly, we will. What is reality, anyway? How can we lead a good life? Is there a god? How do we know there's an external world - and how do we know we're not living in a computer simulation? In Reality+, Chalmers conducts a grand tour of philosophy, using cutting-edge technology to provide invigorating new answers to age-old questions. Drawing on examples from pop culture, literature and film that help bring philosophical issues to life, Reality+ is a mind-bending journey through virtual worlds, illuminating the nature of reality and our place within it.