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Single Idea 3802

[filed under theme 10. Modality / D. Knowledge of Modality / 4. Conceivable as Possible / c. Possible but inconceivable ]

Full Idea

You say you cannot imagine that p, and therefore declare that p is impossible. Mightn't that be hubris?

Gist of Idea

Why pronounce impossible what you cannot imagine?

Source

Daniel C. Dennett (Elbow Room: varieties of free will [1984], §7.3)

Book Ref

Dennett,Daniel C.: 'Elbow Room - Free will worth wanting' [MIT 1999], p.170


The 10 ideas from 'Elbow Room: varieties of free will'

Awareness of thought is a step beyond awareness of the world [Dennett]
Foreknowledge permits control [Dennett]
Causal theories require the "right" sort of link (usually unspecified) [Dennett]
The active self is a fiction created because we are ignorant of our motivations [Dennett]
An overexamined life is as bad as an unexamined one [Dennett]
I am the sum total of what I directly control [Dennett]
You can be free even though force would have prevented you doing otherwise [Dennett, by PG]
Rationality requires the assumption that things are either for better or worse [Dennett]
Why pronounce impossible what you cannot imagine? [Dennett]
Can we conceive of a being with a will freer than our own? [Dennett]