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Forum for Philosophy

February 14th, 2018

What Is It Really Like to Be a Bat?

0 comments | 1 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Forum for Philosophy

February 14th, 2018

What Is It Really Like to Be a Bat?

0 comments | 1 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Alison Fairbrass/ Craig French

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Are bats conscious, and how can we tell? What is it like to use sound to navigate? In a classic paper called ‘What Is It Like to Be a Bat?’, Thomas Nagel used the bat’s capacity for echolocation to introduce philosophical problems concerning conscious experience. But the example is usually discussed in ignorance of what the lives of bats are actually like. This dialogue brings together a philosopher and a bat scientist to discuss the latest research into the minds of bats.

Speakers
Alison Fairbrass, Postgraduate researcher in biodiversity and the built environment, UCL
Craig French, Assistant Professor in Philosophy, University of Nottingham

Chair
Jonathan Birch, Fellow, The Forum; Assistant Professor of Philosophy, LSE

In association with the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, LSE

Recorded on 14 February 2018 at the LSE

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Forum for Philosophy

Science, politics, and culture from a philosophical point of view

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