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Full Idea
I believe it is worth considering imaginary cases (such as Teletransportation), as we can use them to discover, not what the truth is, but what we believe.
Gist of Idea
Imaginary cases are good for revealing our beliefs, rather than the truth
Source
Derek Parfit (The Unimportance of Identity [1995], p.293)
Book Ref
'Personal Identity', ed/tr. Martin,R /Barresi,J [Blackwells 2003], p.293
A Reaction
The trouble is that we might say that IF I were suddenly turned into a pig, then I would come to believe in dualism, but that will not and cannot happen, because dualism is false. It seems essential to accept the natural possibility of the case.
5515 | Imaginary cases are good for revealing our beliefs, rather than the truth [Parfit] |
15164 | We seem to base necessities on thought experiments and imagination [Sidelle] |
4735 | Just as maps must simplify their subject matter, so thought has to be reductionist about reality [O'Grady] |
20183 | So-called 'though experiments' are just philosophers observing features of the world [Cappelen] |