<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>I defend a how-possibly argument for Kantian (or Kant<sup>*</sup>-ian) transcendental idealism, drawing on concepts from David Chalmers, Nick Bostrom, and the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. If we are artificial intelligences living in a virtual reality instantiated on a giant computer, then the fundamental structure of reality might be very different than we suppose. Indeed, since computation does not require spatial properties, spatiality might not be a feature of things as they are in themselves but instead only the way that things necessarily appear to us. It might seem unlikely that we are living in a virtual reality instantiated on a non-spatial computer. However, understanding this possibility can help us appreciate the merits of transcendental idealism in general, as well as transcendental idealism’s underappreciated skeptical consequences.</p></abstract>

I defend a how-possibly argument for Kantian (or Kant*-ian) transcendental idealism, drawing on concepts from David Chalmers, Nick Bostrom, and the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. If we are artificial intelligences living in a virtual reality instantiated on a giant computer, then the fundamental structure of reality might be very different than we suppose. Indeed, since computation does not require spatial properties, spatiality might not be a feature of things as they are in themselves but instead only the way that things necessarily appear to us. It might seem unlikely that we are living in a virtual reality instantiated on a non-spatial computer. However, understanding this possibility can help us appreciate the merits of transcendental idealism in general, as well as transcendental idealism’s underappreciated skeptical consequences.

Kant Meets Cyberpunk

Disputatio

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Kant Meets Cyberpunk"}

I defend a how-possibly argument for Kantian (or Kant*-ian) transcendental idealism, drawing on concepts from David Chalmers, Nick Bostrom, and the cyberpunk...

Kant Meets Cyberpunk

Published Online: Jun 08, 2020

Page range: 411 - 435

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/disp-2019-0006

Keywords
Materialism, space, structuralism, artificial intelligence, computation

© 2019 Eric Schwitzgebel, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Kant Meets Cyberpunk

Published Online: Jun 08, 2020

Page range: 411 - 435

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/disp-2019-0006

KeywordsMaterialism, space, structuralism, artificial intelligence, computation

© 2019 Eric Schwitzgebel, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Materialism, space, structuralism, artificial intelligence, computation