Is Reality a Simulation?: The Philosophy, Arguments, and Implications of the Simulation Hypothesis (Philosophy Without Footnotes: Reality & Existence) - Softcover

Aiguafreda, Quim

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798193826576

Publisher: Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

What if everything you see, touch, remember, and believe is taking place inside a simulation?

The idea sounds like science fiction, but the questions behind it are much older—and much more difficult. Philosophers have spent centuries wondering whether we can trust our senses, whether the external world is what it appears to be, and what it would even mean for something to be “real.” Modern computing has simply given those old problems a particularly fashionable new costume.

Is Reality a Simulation? examines the strongest arguments for and against the idea that our universe could be simulated. It explores Nick Bostrom’s famous simulation argument, Bayesian reasoning, anthropic reasoning, consciousness, artificial minds, the limits of computation, quantum mechanics, supposed “glitches,” and the uncomfortable question of whether simulated beings could be every bit as conscious—and morally important—as biological ones.

Along the way, the book asks what evidence for a simulation could actually look like, whether mathematics or the laws of physics tell us anything about the universe’s underlying nature, who the hypothetical simulators might be, and whether calling our world “simulated” would really make it less real.

Could we be living in a simulation? Possibly. Do we have good reason to believe that we are? That is where things become interesting.

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798193826576
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 202