Reality: A Very Short Introduction

by Jan Westerhoff

Overview

Is matter real? Are persons real? Is time real? This Very Short Introduction discusses what, if anything, is "real" by looking at a variety of arguments from philosophy, physics, and cognitive science. Jan Westerhoff shows that the question "what is real?" is not some esoteric puzzle that only philosophers ponder. Scientists also ask this question when they investigate whether candidates for the fundamental constituents of matter are actually "out there" or just a mere abstraction from a successful theory and cognitive scientists ask it when trying to find out which set of the bewildering array of data processed by our brain could constitute the basis for the self.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199594412
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/13/2012
Series:	Very Short Introductions
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	1,114,355
Product dimensions:	4.30(w) x 6.80(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Jan Westerhoff is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Durham.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations xi

Introduction 1

1 Dreams and simulations 3

2 Is matter real? 30

3 Are persons real? 56

4 Is time real? 81

Concluding remarks 106

References and further reading 111

Index 121