Markus Gabriel - The Meaning of Thought

1 Cover

2 Dedication Dedication For Leona Maya

3 Title Page The Meaning of Thought Markus Gabriel Translated by Alex Englander and Markus Gabriel polity

4 Copyright Originally published in German as Der Sinn des Denkens © Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin. Published in 2018 by Ullstein Verlag This English edition © 2020 by Polity Press The translation of this work was funded by Geisteswissenschaften International – Translation Funding for Humanities and Social Sciences from Germany, a joint initiative of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the German Federal Foreign Office, the collecting society VG WORT and the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers & Booksellers Association) Excerpt from: Durs Grünbein, Zündkerzen. Gedichte. © Suhrkamp Verlag Berlin 2017. Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 101 Station Landing Suite 300 Medford, MA 02155, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3837-9 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

5 Acknowledgements Notes

6 Preface Notes

7 Introduction Notes

8 1 The Truth about ThoughtComplexity without end What is thinking? Humans are not the only thinkers The scope of the universe Aristotle’s senses Common sense made sensible The meaning of ‘sense’, or: the many ways of being wrong The loneliness of cosmic exile Not all objects are things Are there (really) any red bottle caps? Thinking is not an irritation of the nervous system Nothing but the truth The world as a wish list Frege’s thoughts Information and fake news Our sixth sense Notes

9 2 Thought EngineeringThe map and the territory Can computers speak Chinese? Photos don’t remember Crete An ant is crawling on a patch of sand, and why this has nothing to do with Winston Churchill The god of the internet Civilization and its discontents Emotional intelligence and hidden values in the digital labyrinth A religion called ‘functionalism’ Thought is not a vending machine … … and the soul is not a pile of beer cans Pacemakers for the brain? The idea of technology, or: how do I build a house? Total mobilization Society is not a video game The Achilles heel of functionalism Notes

10 3 The Digital Transformation of SocietyIt’s perfectly logical, isn’t it? Some set-theoretical ping-pong Everything crashes eventually Do computers really know anything? Heidegger’s murmurings One miracle too many In the age of ‘complete orderability’ Trapped in The Circle? A fleeting visit to Winden – society as nuclear power plant One consciousness to go, please! Who has a problem here? Notes

11 4 Why Only Animals ThinkThe nooscope On souls and index card boxes ‘And now come, thou well-worn broom’ Illuminated brains Consciousness first – Tononi meets Husserl Inside, outside or nowhere A slimy and intricate piece of reality Notes

12 5 Reality and Simulation Mental cinema meets smartphone The unavoidable Matrix In memoriam: Jean Baudrillard Horror and hunger (games) Beautiful new world – welcome to The Sims Are you awake or trapped in your dreams? Do you know Holland? Matter and ignorance What is reality? A hybrid reality Fish, fish, fish The shimmering spectrum of reality Caesar’s hairs, India’s manhole covers and Germany Frege’s elegant theory of facts On the limits of our knowledge Do thoughts lurk within the skull? The difference between cauliflower, cognac and the thought of thought Human AI The end of humanity – tragedy or comedy? Notes

13 The End of the Book – a Pathos-Laden Final Remark

14 Glossary

15 Index

16 End User License Agreement

1 Cover

2 Table of Contents

3 Dedication Dedication For Leona Maya

4 Title Page The Meaning of Thought Markus Gabriel Translated by Alex Englander and Markus Gabriel polity

5 Copyright Originally published in German as Der Sinn des Denkens © Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin. Published in 2018 by Ullstein Verlag This English edition © 2020 by Polity Press The translation of this work was funded by Geisteswissenschaften International – Translation Funding for Humanities and Social Sciences from Germany, a joint initiative of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the German Federal Foreign Office, the collecting society VG WORT and the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers & Booksellers Association) Excerpt from: Durs Grünbein, Zündkerzen. Gedichte. © Suhrkamp Verlag Berlin 2017. Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 101 Station Landing Suite 300 Medford, MA 02155, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3837-9 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

6 Acknowledgements

7 Preface

8 Introduction

9 Begin Reading

10 The End of the Book – a Pathos-Laden Final Remark

11 Glossary

12 Index

13 End User License Agreement

1 ii

2 iii

3 iv

4 v

5 ix

6 x

7 xi

8 xii

9 xiii

10 xiv

11 xv

12 xvi

13 1

14 2

15 3

16 4

17 5

18 6

19 7

20 8

21 9

22 10

23 11

24 12

25 13

26 14

27 15

28 16

29 17

30 18

31 19

32 20

33 21

34 22

35 23

36 24

37 25

38 26

39 27

40 28

41 29

42 30

43 31

44 32

45 33

46 34

47 35

48 36

49 37

50 38

51 39

52 40

53 41

54 42

55 43

56 44

57 45

58 46

59 47

60 48

61 49

62 50

63 51

64 52

65 53

66 54

67 55

68 56

69 57

70 58

71 59

72 60

73 61

74 62

75 63

76 64

77 65

78 66

79 67

80 68

81 69