MCAS's Annual Lecture

The Annual Lecture of the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies (Universität Hamburg) will take place on 26 October 2021, at 18:00 (local time). Vivian Liska (Universiteit Antwerpen) will present the paper “Holy Doubts: Language Scepticism in German-Jewish Modernism.” You'll find complete information here.

Skepticism Lecture Series: Session IX

Session IX: Thursday, 21st October 2021, 12:00-13:30 Central Time Zone (United States and Canada) (= 11:00-12:30 Mountain Time Zone = 17:00-18:30 GMT). (Time Zones in North America take account of Daylight Saving Time.)

Speaker: John Pittard (Yale University)

Title: “How Should We Respond to Evidence of Boltzmann Brain Superabundance?”

Abstract: A “Boltzmann Brain” is a “brain” that forms by chance in an otherwise disordered region of space. Some leading cosmological models predict that in the future history of the universe, there are sure to be numerous Boltzmann Brains that pass through a sequence of physical states that mirror states of your own brain over the last several seconds. Plausibly, these Boltzmann Brains would have an episode of conscious experience that is phenomenally equivalent to your recent experience. In this paper, I assess the skeptical challenge posed by scientific support for Boltzmann Brain superabundance. I begin by critiquing a recent treatment of Boltzmann Brain skepticism by Dogramaci, explaining why his response has absurd implications and is not germane to the most formidable skeptical worry posed by predictions of Boltzmann Brains. I then consider other responses, including an argument articulated by Kotzen and Chalmers that says that the coherence of one’s present experience provides strong evidence against theories predicting Boltzmann Brains. While this argument has promise, it depends on controversial principles of “observation selection theory” that can be used to support dubious positions such as an anthropocentric theory of consciousness.

To join the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88352861727

Information about past and upcoming sessions can be found here: https://skepticismnetwork.weebly.com/skepticism-lecture-series.html

Arcesilaus's Attack on Stoic Metaphysics

Those working on Academic skepticism might be interested in the following recent book:

Charles Snyder, Beyond Hellenistic Epistemology: Arcesilaus and the Destruction of Stoic Metaphysics. Bloomsbury Academic, 2021.

More information can be found here.

Issue 11.3 of IJSS

The third issue of volume 11 (2021) of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism has been published and can be found here. It includes articles by François-Xavier de Peretti and Marin Geier, discussions by Ryan McCoy and Howard Sankey, and book reviews by Stéphane Marchand and Roger Clarke.