This chapter explores the interconnected concepts of identity and reality, questioning the boundaries that define individuality and the narrative surprises that emerge. It delves into metaphysical discussions, blending elements of monism, idealism, and fantastical storytelling to challenge the pursuit of truth. The conversation navigates through philosophical paradoxes, heretical ideas, and the influence of beliefs on shaping perceived reality.
In the famous words of the idealist philosopher George Berkeley, “To exist is to be perceived.” Our ideas and perceptions are the fundamental objects in the universe; there is no real world beyond them. Hume wrote (I think) that Berkeley’s arguments don’t admit of the slightest refutation, and they don’t inspire the slightest conviction. On Earth, that may be true. On Tlön, it’s false – the people there are “congenital idealists.” Their language, philosophy, literature, and religion presuppose idealism. It’s their common sense. And their philosophy starts to encroach on their reality. But what happens when we read and hear about Tlön – can their idealism invade our “real” world? Will we start to lose our metaphysical bearings? David and Tamler talk about Borges’s invasive, unsettling story “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.” Please listen so we can exist!
(And speaking of things that may or may not exist, we also discuss the metaphysics of holes.)
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