Philosophy, Physics and Phantasy

So far, all that has flowed out of my head and through my fountain pen has been fantasy, in one form or another.  Sometimes it has manifested itself on the page as a variation of Swordplay and Sorcery.  With no elves!  Sometimes it has been a mutation of Magical Realism.  But in my novels, I’ve tried to avoid ‘abracadabra’ as the final explanation of bizarre events.  There are times when the ultimately unexplainable is unavoidable and one has to default to ‘presto! change-o!’.  But I tried, especially in ‘Sun Valley, Moon Mountains’ (SVMM), to provide a basis for the story which was founded on a worldview that was legitimate, if debatable. So there is an epistemology, a theory of how we come to ‘know’ things, that is advanced and provides an explanation for all of the weirdness.  In SVMM, it is the Rationalism of Descartes and Berkeley.  Now I, like my character Jaq, don’t really buy into Rationalism, but in the end he’s forced to accept it, if grudgingly.  And Rationalism does have some very strong arguments.

I also had fun tying Rationalism to Quantum Theory.  Maybe it’s all nonsense, but you will have to be the judge.  And there is a connection between the Philosophy and the Physics.  In any event, this Blog is for those who would like to explore the major theories of knowledge: Rationalist, Empiricist, Kantian or any other that you find compelling; and to discuss and argue how, or even whether, a Quantum description of reality, or many of the bizarre Cosmologies advanced, in ‘Sun Valley, Moon Mountains’ or in the series, make sense.    I’m not an authority on Philosophy of Mind, and I’m certainly not a physicist.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t all debate and defend our own worldviews.  Trust me, the experts don’t have the answers-yet.

So have a go at what I consider to be a few of the foundational works in Epistemology, and check out a few of what I consider some of the better works for laymen, by experts, on Quantum Theory and Cosmology, the Multiverse and ‘other worlds’.  I’m sure many of you have read them already and probably have your own favorites you might share, along with your ‘worldview’.

N.B.  If you have never read 17th or 18th century philosophers, or any philosophy for that matter, you might find the style and some of the text off-putting.  Descartes has a tendency to bloviate, so if you want to get to the heart of Rationalism, read Discourse IV, which posits the famous ‘Cogito’, “I think, therefore I am.” Reading Kant, as one of my professors said, is “like gargling with razorblades.”  But the Prolegomena is short and worth the effort.  By and large, Berekely and, especially, Hume are pretty accessible.

Epistemology:

Descartes:  Discourse and Meditations

Berkeley:  Principles of Human Knowledge

Kant:  Prolegomena

Kant:  Critique of Pure Reason

David Hume:  An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Quantum Q’osmology:

Brian Greene:  The Hidden Reality

Michio Kaku:  Parallel Worlds

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