Anthony fisher talks about the distinctive way that David lewis argued for his metaphysical views. He says there's no identity of people across different possible worlds. There's only similarities between us and people in other worlds, he argues. Counterpart theory solves the problem of trans world identity,. Plus one for lewis. Minus one for him. No argument was no picture captured everything. All you had was competing pictures with their pluses and their minuses. And once all the pictures were on the table, the best view is the one we should believe.
In 1968, David Lewis decides that one truth can unify every theory he's had about the nature of the universe. It is the truth that every possible world is equally real. Lewis not only argues for this view, but devises a distinctive way of arguing for it, a method of doing philosophy that is as influential as his views. Meanwhile, a soon-to-be colleague and rival, Saul Kripke, reads Lewis' paper and fires off eight objections, and on the other side of the world, an entire continent becomes enamored with the life and works of David Kellogg Lewis, an admiration that survives to this day. Guest voices include Frank Jackson, Alan Hajek, John Bigelow, Helen Beebe, Anthony Fischer, Peter Anstey, and David Lewis.
This episode brought to you by Betterhelp, online therapy and counseling. Get 10% of your first month and support this show by going to betterhelp.com/nation/
This episode is brought you by Scribd, for ebooks, sheet music, podcasts, and magazines. Get a free 60-trial to the entire library at https://try.scribd.com/hiphi
To support Hi-Phi Nation, please sign up for Slate Plus at www.slate.com/hiphiplus. Slate Plus members get to listen to every Slate podcast with no ads and bypass the paywall on Slate.com. For a limited time only, you can get $25 off your first year.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices