The brain in a vat

By Dr Peter Critchley 2011

Critchley, P., 2011. The Brain in a Vat. [e-book] Available through: Academia web ite !htt":##i$de"e$de$t.academia. %du#PeterCritchley#Pa"er

'Imagine that a human being has been subjected to an operation by an evil scientist. he person's brain has been removed !rom the body and placed in a vat o! nutrients "hich #eeps the brain alive. he nerve endings have been connected to a super$scienti!ic computer "hich causes the person to have the illusion that everything is per!ectly normal. here seem to be people% objects% the s#y% etc.& but really all the person is e'periencing is the result o! electronic impulses travelling !rom the computer to the nerve endings.'

his may appear to be a !uturistic nightmare% a "or# o! science$!iction% but it raises very real (uestions concerning the relation o! mind and body in the here and no". )ven i! the brain o! a human being "as in a vat rather than a s#ull% the e'perience "ould be e'actly the same as i! living in connection to a real body in a real "orld. he *real+ "orld one e'periences , the pen you "rite "ith% the chair you sit on and table you lean on% the boo# you "rite in% the !ingers you "rite "ith $ are all part o! an illusion% the thoughts and sensations !ed into your disembodied brain. -! course% in the main% people don't act li#e they believe that they are no more than brains !loating in a vat. .nd it "ould be di!!icult to !ind one

philosopher "ho believes that people are brains in vats. But that is "hat you "ould e'pect i! people are !ully part o! the illusion , they are unable to perceive the reality. /o" can anyone be certain that they are not a brain in a vat0 I! the possibility that people are just brains in a vat cannot be ruled out% this means that all the things that they thin# they #no" about the "orld could "ell be !alse. .nd just this possibility , not even its certainty , means that people don't really #no" anything at all. "orld. he mere possibility is su!!icient to undermine human claims to #no"ledge about the e'ternal

1o is there any escape !rom the vat0

he brain$in$a$vat story above "as given by the .merican philosopher /ilary Putnam in his 1231 boo# Reason, Truth, and History. /o"ever% this is not a ne" problem. .s#ing "hether there is an escape !rom the vat is no di!!erent to as#ing "hether the prisoners can escape !rom Plato+s cave o! illusion. Putnam's brain in a vat is a modern version o! the evil demon in Descartes+ Meditations on First Philosophy 415617. In this "or#% Descartes sought to establish the certain !oundations on "hich to build the edi!ice o! human #no"ledge. /e employed the 'method o! doubt' to identi!y and discard any belie!s susceptible to the slightest degree o! uncertainty. he senses are unreliable and dreams are con!using. hen there is the evil demon8 'I shall suppose . . . that some malicious demon of the utmost power and cunning has employed all his energies in order to deceive me. I shall think that the sky, the air, the earth, colours, shapes, sounds and all e ternal things are merely the delusions of dreams which he has devised to ensnare my !udgment."

1urveying the "rec#age o! !ormer belie!s and opinions unable to "ithstand the method o! doubt% Descartes !inds the one thing he cannot doubt. #ogito ergo sum , *I am thin#ing% there!ore I am+. It is on this sure !oundation that Descartes sets about reconstructing the edi!ice o! human #no"ledge. But there are many "ho thin# that Descartes is more success!ul in stating the problem than in solving it. /aving set the problem so "ell% Descartes struggles to e'tricate himsel! !rom it. he mere !act that *I am thin#ing+ denotes the capacity to see through illusion. It is also a capacity to continue to see only the illusion and mista#e it !or reality.

Putnam is no more success!ul. 9elying on his o"n causal theory o! meaning% Putnam sets out to demonstrate that the brain$in$a$vat scenario is incoherent. .ll that he achieves is the semantic triumph that a brain in a vat could not e'press the thought that it "as a brain in a vat. .ll that this proves is that the condition o! being a brain$in$a$vat is invisible and incapable o! being described !rom "ithin. But this does not establish the !oundations !or #no"ledge.

Ideas li#e the envatted brain and Plato+s cave are thought$provo#ing and suggestive "ith respect to the (uestions o! "hat reality is and "hat our relations to and #no"ledge o! that reality is. he 1222 !ilm The Matri stars :eanu 9eaves as the computer hac#er ;eo "ho discovers that the *real "orld+ is actually a virtual simulation created by an updated version o! Descartes+ malign demon% a cyber$intelligence. /uman beings are all #ept "ithin !luid$ !illed pods% "ired up to a vast computer. .ll the principal !eatures o! the envatted brain are present.

<hat is interesting to e'plore here is the e'tent to "hich the brain$in$the$vat scenario is an argument !or scepticism. he popularity o! the !ilm The Matri is

considered evidence o! a popular susceptibility to sceptical arguments. But remember that Descartes+ purpose "as to de!eat scepticism and establish the sure !oundations o! #no"ledge. .nd remember that Plato+s attempt to penetrate illusion in the cave "as part o! a project to get human beings% as prisoners o! illusion% to see the true reality beyond the senses. In other "ords% scepticism "ith regard to illusion is only the beginning o! the process by "hich human beings lose their captive status and apprehend the real "orld. he brain$in$the$ vat also o!!ers a real "orld , the !act that human beings are not !lesh and blood creatures but really just envatted brains. The Matri also o!!ers a real "orld% human beings "ithin !luid !illed pods and "ired up to a computer. <hereas Plato and Descartes o!!ered an attractive reality beyond the illusory senses% these nightmare scenarios ma#e the illusion more attractive. People living in "hat they call the *real "orld+ "ill no doubt pre!er their common sense to the sceptic's nightmarish vision% but "ho can be sure "here the balance o! truth lies0 he philosopher ;ic# Bostrom considers it highly probable that people are already living in a computer simulation= he scenario is this. .t the current rate o! scienti!ic advance% it is li#ely that civili>ation "ill attain a technological level "hich ma#es it possible to create incredibly sophisticated computer simulations o! human minds and o! "orlds !or those minds to inhabit. 1uch simulated "orlds "ill re(uire little by "ay o! resources. 1ince a single laptop computer could house thousands or millions o! simulated minds% it is highly probable that simulated minds "ill come to outnumber biological ones by a substantial margin. <ith it being impossible to distinguish bet"een e'periences% neither biological 4the minority7 nor simulated minds 4the over"helming majority7 "ill thin# that they are simulated. he (uestion is ho" is it possible to tell the simulated minds that they are mista#en about their true nature and are in !act simulated0 he argument is naturally presented in terms o! an hypothetical !uture% but o! course% i! it is possible% "ho can say this '!uture' doesn+t describe the current reality0 In other "ords% i! computer e'pertise ma#es this simulated "orld o! simulated minds possible% then it could already have ta#en place and minds have already been simulated. In "arning o! a !uture possibility could "e not be beginning to perceive our true condition0 he !act that no$one believes that "e are computer$simulated minds living in a

computer$simulated "orld could testi!y to (uality o! the programming. I! the logic o! Bostrom's argument is correct% then it could "ell be that our supposition is "rong= 1o "hat is scepticism0 he designation 'sceptic' applies to those "ho

have a tendency to doubt ideas or belie!s. In this simple sense% scepticism denotes a healthy and open$minded "illingness to subject vie"points and values to testing. 9especting empirical% rational and logical controls% such a state o! mind is a valuable sa!eguard against credulity and can validate the !oundations o! #no"ledge. <ithout those controls% the tendency to *doubt everything+ , ?ar'+s !avourite (uote !rom the 9oman poet erence , becomes a plain denial o! the possibility o! #no"ledge% irrespective o! the justi!ication !or doing so. . properly philosophical usage concerns this justi!ication.

@rom the perspective o! philosophy% scepticism doesn't involve the claim that "e #no" nothing. 1uch a vie" is obviously sel!$contradictory since i! it is true that "e #no" nothing% then it "ould be impossible to #no" that "e #no" nothing. he role o! the sceptic !rom the philosophical perspective is to test the claims to #no"ledge. /uman beings ma#e claims to #no" many things and% indeed% thin# that they #no" these things. But ho" can these claims be de!ended0 . speci!ic claim to #no"ledge needs to be supported by ade(uate grounds that justi!y the claim. /uman #no"ledge o! the e'ternal "orld is based on perceptions gained via our senses% mediated by our use o! reason. But the senses can mislead and reason could merely be illusion. Perception could there!ore be laden "ith error. I! "e cannot distinguish the dreaming e'perience !rom the "a#ing e'perience% then "e can never (uite be certain that something "e thin# to be real is in !act real. <e can believe something to be true but this is very di!!erent !rom #no"ing that it is in !act true. a#en to the limits% such doubt leads us to brains in vats% "ith no possibility o! escape. )pistemology is the branch o! philosophy concerned "ith #no"ledge8 determining "hat is #no"n% "hat can be #no"n and ho" it is #no"n. his

involves establishing the re(uired conditions !or something to be considered #no"ledge. )pistemology is there!ore an organised and systematic attempt to meet the challenge o! scepticism. /o" success!ul epistemology has been in de!eating scepticism depends upon the e'tent to "hich one applies the empirical% rational and logical controls. a#en to e'tremes% there may be no escape !rom the vat% "ith Plato+s cave continuing to cast a giant shado" over philosophy. But i! scepticism really has triumphed in this sense% "hy does the (uestion continue to be debated% "hy are people not content "ith their illusory e'perience and "hy are sceptics themselves so certain that the real doesn+t e'ist% de!ending the illusory "ith a certainty that indicates the possibility o! some !orm o! #no"ledge0