ABSTRACT
The author argues that “X’s are perfectly real; they just aren’t what you think they are” is often the best response to philosophical questions about the reality of such things as consciousness, free will, dollars, and colors. Often, the problem cases involve a concept that is undergoing a slow historical evolution, and instead of a timeless theory we need a temporary explanation that will keep confusion at bay until the dust settles. The example of money is particularly transparent: we no longer need the imagination-crutch of dollar bills or the idea of exchanging currency for gold or silver; perfectly real dollars by the trillions exist without any reliance, except for tradition, on the gold in Fort Knox. Our concepts of belief and pain are undergoing a similar, if more difficult to grasp, transformation. And the concept of free will is slowly being separated from its ancient and mythical reliance on doctrines of indeterminism that can be seen to be irrelevant to any sense of free will that is worth wanting.
