ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Dean Zimmerman (philosopher)

Dean Zimmerman is a smart grown-up who thinks and writes a lot about a thing called philosophy. Philosophy is like thinking about thinking, asking big questions about things like what is right and wrong, what exists in the world, and how we should live our lives.

Dean Zimmerman is interested in a special type of philosophy called metaphysics. This means he thinks about big questions like what is real, what exists in the world, and what causes things to happen. He tries to understand the deep nature of things and what makes them the way they are.

One of the things that Dean Zimmerman is famous for thinking about is something called "substance dualism". This is the idea that people are made up of two different things – our bodies and our souls. Our bodies are like machines that help us move and interact with the world, but our souls are the things that make us who we are, our personalities and thoughts and feelings.

Dean Zimmerman also thinks a lot about religion and how it relates to philosophy. He believes in God and thinks that God is the reason for everything that exists in the world. He argues that the existence of God can be proven through philosophical reasoning, even though we can't necessarily see or touch him.

Overall, Dean Zimmerman is a really smart person who thinks and writes a lot about big questions in philosophy, like what is real and what makes us who we are. He is especially interested in the deep nature of things and how they relate to beliefs in God or religion.