Multiple Universes and Self-Locating Evidence

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10696330
AutoresYoaav Isaacs (0000-0002-7288-1850, Baylor University), John Hawthorne (0000-0002-6340-0242, University of Southern California and Australian Catholic University), Jack S Russell (0000-0003-3135-8120, University of Southern California), Jeffrey Sanford Russell
Año2022
Volumen131
Número3
Páginas241-294
Fecha de publicación2022-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Philosophical Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0031-8108 • E-ISSN: 1558-1470
EditorialDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/00318108-9743809
OpenAlexW4312761792
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas48

Is the fact that our universe contains fine-tuned life evidence that we live in a multiverse? Ian Hacking and Roger White influentially argue that it is not. We approach this question through a systematic framework for self-locating epistemology. As it turns out, leading approaches to self-locating evidence agree that the fact that our own universe contains fine-tuned life indeed confirms the existence of a multiverse (at least in a suitably idealized setting). This convergence is no accident: we present two theorems showing that, in this setting, any updating rule that satisfies a few reasonable conditions will have the same feature. The conclusion that fine-tuned life provides evidence for a multiverse is hard to escape

Computer security · Convergence (economics) · Economics · Epistemology · Feature (linguistics) · Hacker · Linguistics · Physics · Quantum mechanics · Theoretical physics · Universe · Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms · Computer Science · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Quantum Mechanics and Applications