A short life of the author
Eric Schwitzgebel is an American philosopher at the University of California, Riverside, whose research focuses on the philosophy of mind, consciousness, and the reliability of introspection — i.e., whether we actually know what we are thinking and experiencing.
Major Works
Perplexities of Consciousness (2011, MIT Press) argues, through a series of vivid thought experiments and empirical studies, that our knowledge of our own conscious experience is far less reliable than we typically assume. We are bad at reporting whether we dream in colour, what our emotional states feel like, or whether we experience visual imagery.
The Weirdness of the World (2024, Princeton University Press) makes the case that reality is fundamentally stranger than any philosophical or scientific theory can fully capture — a position Schwitzgebel calls “crazyism.”
His influential blog, The Splintered Mind, has made him one of the most accessible academic philosophers in the English-speaking world.
Collecting Schwitzgebel
Perplexities of Consciousness (2011, MIT Press) is the primary collectible, priced at $30–$60 for first editions. His books are academic publications with modest print runs. Schwitzgebel is collected by philosophers and cognitive scientists rather than by the general rare-book market.