The Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination is honored to welcome the celebrated philosopher David Chalmers (NYU) for a virtual conversation about the philosophical implications of virtual and augmented reality, in honor of his soon-to-be-released book Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy. The conversation itself will take place in the metaverse, with Dr. Chalmers and host Dr. Cassandra Vieten (Director of Research and Development, Clarke Center) convening in virtual reality. The conversation will be livestreamed to Zoom for the wider audience.
Reality+: A Conversation with David Chalmers
January 27, 2022
5:00–6:00 PM (PST)
Zoom Webinar
Free and open to the public
Virtual reality is genuine reality; that’s the central thesis of Reality+. In a highly original work of “technophilosophy,” David J. Chalmers gives a compelling analysis of our technological future. He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds, and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be in a virtual world already.
Along the way, Chalmers conducts a grand tour of big ideas in philosophy and science. He uses virtual reality technology to offer a new perspective on long-established philosophical questions. How do we know that there’s an external world? Is there a god? What is the nature of reality? What’s the relation between mind and body? How can we lead a good life? All of these questions are illuminated or transformed by Chalmers’ mind-bending analysis.
