I agree that challenging the axioms of a hypothetical can be understood as equivalent to changing the topic.
But it simply doesn't follow from this that the proper way to respond to a hypothetical is never to change the topic! That's a patent logical fallacy. Your article is correct in most of its analysis, but the normative conclusion in the title is just not justified.
Do you really propose that the way to respond to Chalmers' Zombie hypothetical is to accept the axioms? But the axioms are ridiculous, and that's the problem!
In general, given a sufficiently strong set of axioms, a hypothetical can be constructed to irrefutably argue for any conclusion at all, with... (read more)
I agree that challenging the axioms of a hypothetical can be understood as equivalent to changing the topic. But it simply doesn't follow from this that the proper way to respond to a hypothetical is never to change the topic! That's a patent logical fallacy. Your article is correct in most of its analysis, but the normative conclusion in the title is just not justified.
Do you really propose that the way to respond to Chalmers' Zombie hypothetical is to accept the axioms? But the axioms are ridiculous, and that's the problem!
In general, given a sufficiently strong set of axioms, a hypothetical can be constructed to irrefutably argue for any conclusion at all, with... (read more)