Why you don’t want to get in the box with schrödinger's cat

Analysis 63 (1):51–58 (2003)
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Abstract

By way of an example, Lewis imagines your being invited to join Schrödinger’s cat in its box for an hour. This box will either fill up with deadly poison fumes or not, depending on whether or not some radioactive atom decays, the probability of decay within an hour being 50%. The invitation is accompanied with some further incentive to comply (Lewis sets it up so there is a significant chance of some pretty bad but not life-threatening punishment if you don’t get in the box). Lewis argues that the many minds theory implies that you should get in the box with the cat, despite this making it 50% likely you will die.

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Author's Profile

David Papineau
King's College London

References found in this work

How Many Lives Has Schrodinger's Cat?David Lewis - 2004 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 82 (1):3-22.
Probability as a guide to life.Helen Beebee & David Papineau - 2003 - In David Papineau (ed.), The Roots of Reason. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 217-243.
Probability as a guide to life.Helen Beebee & David Papineau - 1997 - Journal of Philosophy 94 (5):217-243.

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