Actually, thinking about this a little bit more, a “simpler” question might be whether it’s meaningful on this account to talk about minds existing. I think the answer is again that it isn’t, as I said about experiences above… models are aspects of a mind, and existence is an aspect of a subset of a model; to ask whether a mind exists is a category error.
If that’s the case, the question arises of whether (and how, if so) we can distinguish among logically possible minds, other than by reference to our own.
So perhaps I was too facile when I said above that the arguments for and against solipsism are the same for a realist and an instrumentalist. A realist rejects or embraces solipsism based on their position on the existence and moral value of other minds,, but an instrumentalist (I think?) rejects a priori the claim that other minds can meaningfully be said to exist or not exist, so presumably can’t base anything such (non)existence.
So I’m not sure what an instrumentalist’s argument rejecting solipsism looks like.
models are aspects of a mind, and existence is an aspect of a subset of a model; to ask whether a mind exists is a category error
Sort of, yes. Except mind is also a model.
So I’m not sure what an instrumentalist’s argument rejecting solipsism looks like.
Well, to a solipsist hers is the only mind that exists, to an instrumentalist, as we have agreed, the term exist does not have a useful meaning beyond measurability. For example, the near-solipsist idea of a Boltzmann brain is not an issue for an instrumentalist, since it changes nothing in their ontology. Same deal with dreams, hallucinations and simulation.
Actually, thinking about this a little bit more, a “simpler” question might be whether it’s meaningful on this account to talk about minds existing. I think the answer is again that it isn’t, as I said about experiences above… models are aspects of a mind, and existence is an aspect of a subset of a model; to ask whether a mind exists is a category error.
If that’s the case, the question arises of whether (and how, if so) we can distinguish among logically possible minds, other than by reference to our own.
So perhaps I was too facile when I said above that the arguments for and against solipsism are the same for a realist and an instrumentalist. A realist rejects or embraces solipsism based on their position on the existence and moral value of other minds,, but an instrumentalist (I think?) rejects a priori the claim that other minds can meaningfully be said to exist or not exist, so presumably can’t base anything such (non)existence.
So I’m not sure what an instrumentalist’s argument rejecting solipsism looks like.
Sort of, yes. Except mind is also a model.
Well, to a solipsist hers is the only mind that exists, to an instrumentalist, as we have agreed, the term exist does not have a useful meaning beyond measurability. For example, the near-solipsist idea of a Boltzmann brain is not an issue for an instrumentalist, since it changes nothing in their ontology. Same deal with dreams, hallucinations and simulation.