In the essay "Philosophy and the Meaning of Life," found within the book "Philosophical Explanations," Robert Nozick proposes that the key to comprehending how theistic religions can impart meaning to human existence lies in the concept of God's boundless nature. This unlimited quality is an expansive backdrop, capable of imbuing the comparatively finite lives of theists with profound meaning. Furthermore, Nozick argues that meaningful lives are not restricted solely to the theistic realm defined by God's boundlessness because, paradoxically, God's boundlessness (...) imposes a limitation upon itself. This perspective emerges from Nozick's theory of "limited transcendence," which involves transcending our inherent limitations to connect with a broader context that possesses limitations but imparts meaning to our lives—albeit within defined boundaries (Nozick, 25). In essence, Nozick's theory suggests that meaning can be found in life beyond the confines of theistic religion. (shrink)

In his work on Gender and Salvation, Jaini delves into the intricacies of Digambara arguments and Śvētāmbara objections regarding the possibility of women attaining moksha. At the heart of this debate lies the contentious issue of attire. Both Jain sects acknowledge that Mahāvīra and his early adherent mendicants practiced nudity. However, their perspectives diverge significantly. For Digambaras, the act of going naked is considered fundamental and indispensable in the pursuit of liberation. According to their beliefs, one cannot achieve moksha without (...) embracing this practice, which is seen as a manifestation of perfection in one of the three jewels of Jainism: right conduct. (shrink)

In the sixth chapter of her work “Principle,” Anne Conway advances a compelling argument in favor of the soul’s immortality. She posits that the soul, which she defines as an individual's essence, persists through time. It is noteworthy, however, that Conway also asserts elsewhere in her metaphysical discourse that her system does not necessitate the existence of immaterial entities. Consequently, she characterizes the nature of the soul as fundamentally material. This assertion raises a series of intriguing questions and challenges. One (...) commonly held assumption is that the physical body consists of matter, inherently associated with mortality due to its propensity to decay over time. Conversely, another widely accepted notion suggests a clear distinction between the soul and the body. According to this perspective, the soul is typically perceived as immaterial, lacking material substance. Given its immaterial nature, it is commonly believed to possess the attribute of immortality, as immaterial entities are thought not to succumb to the ravages of time. Thus, a perplexing conundrum arises: How can Conway reconcile her concept of a material soul with the expectation of its immortality? (shrink)

This paper examines Paul Strand’s “Swastika (a.k.a. Hitlerism)” through Robert Orsi’s concept of the holy, exploring how the swastika’s sacred origins contrast with its appropriation as a Nazi symbol. Strand’s depiction of a skeletal Christ on an inverted swastika invites reflection on the limits of reducing sacred symbols to historical associations. Drawing on Orsi’s view that the holy transcends social and historical categories, I explore how the swastika, viewed through a sacred lens, retains complex meanings beyond its Nazi connotations. Comparing (...) Strand’s work to Robert Moskowitz’s “Untitled” calls for a broader understanding of the sacred as resisting simple categorization. (shrink)

This paper examines how time functions as an active subject in the works of Mark Doty and Edmund de Waal, mainly through their reflections on still life and material objects. Doty’s meditations on a still life painting and De Waal’s exploration of his family’s netsuke collection reveal an inversion of our typical understanding of time, where instead of us moving through time, time itself shapes, preserves, or erodes people, places, and things. By closely observing these objects—Doty’s “things of the world” (...) and De Waal’s family heirlooms—each author recognizes how time acts upon them, turning seemingly permanent elements into transient reflections. This study argues that, in both accounts, time is a subjugating force and a silent reminder of impermanence. In this way, the paper invites readers to adopt a “close-looking” perspective, recognizing time’s invisible yet profound impact on memory, materiality, and the passage of life itself. (shrink)

During the 19th century, Emily Dickinson likely grappled with the intricate philosophical and theological responses to the metaphysical quandary of the body-soul duality. Philosophers constructed their arguments on empirical reasoning, contending that our bodies' existence equates to our existence. The soul, however, presented a challenge in terms of empirical evidence. Conversely, theologians championed the concept of the soul as an explanatory framework for the intricacies of the human mind. Their stance emphasized that just because the soul remains imperceptible does not (...) negate its existence; faith in both the soul and God was paramount. These two camps, philosophers and theologians, engaged in a spirited discourse. Theologians disapproved of what they perceived as the philosophers' reliance on mere intellectual speculation, while philosophers were disheartened by what they saw as fervent religious zealotry. Within this intellectual landscape, thinkers like Charles Peirce and William James engaged in lively debates at nearby Harvard University during Emily Dickinson's lifetime. In this paper, I argue that, in "I am Afraid to Own a Body," Emily Dickinson takes her speaker and readers on a transcendent journey, surpassing the limits of even the most eloquent philosophical discourse or theological teachings. (shrink)

Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice" is a profound fable, delivering a poignant moral lesson: suppressing one's desires can lead to distortion and an unhealthy, obsessive attachment. This, in turn, may trigger frantic and perverse attempts to obtain the initial object of desire. Aschenbach's inability to confront and satisfy his sexual urges ultimately becomes his undoing. This moral framework enables me to delve deeper into Aschenbach's actions, shedding light on the underlying animal instincts that drive his inner struggle. As a character, (...) Aschenbach embodies the archetype of the rational individual who endeavors to govern his primal, carnal urges. However, when his intellectual defenses crumble in the face of his raw desires, the battle between restraint and longing escalates into a whirlwind of uncontrollable actions. These actions catch Aschenbach off guard, and he never anticipated falling victim to them, nor did he mistrust his ability to control them. Paradoxically, he regains a semblance of control through his commitment to literary honor and morality. (shrink)

In the poem "Reuben Bright," the speaker initially harbors a prejudiced view of Reuben, a butcher, but this prejudice transforms into awe as the speaker observes Reuben's profound change following the death of his wife. The poem delves into the theme of loss experienced by a wife and the ensuing pain endured by her husband, resulting in a profound and shattering event that triggers significant personal growth. The central focus of the poem lies in the consequential changes that Reuben undergoes (...) as a result of this tragic event. Despite the dramatic context, the reader is guided through the poem by a distanced speaker who consistently refers to Reuben in the third person. This distancing creates two layers of separation between the reader and Reuben: one between the speaker and Reuben and another between the reader and the speaker. This sense of detachment is evident in the poem's sestet, part of an Italian sonnet, and contains symbolic imagery in the form of chopped-up cedar boughs, alluding to Reuben's spiritual transformation. Additionally, the communal change in perception of Reuben is highlighted in the only two instances where the lyric "I" of the speaker appears in the poem, emphasizing the shift in the speaker's viewpoint from prejudice towards Reuben to a profound sense of awe. (shrink)

In a chapter from his book, "Confrontation with the Reaper," Feldman critiques Epicurus' assertion that nothing inherently negative befalls us after death. However, it is essential to note that the Epicurean argument is more nuanced than Feldman suggests. In this chapter, Feldman undertakes a comprehensive revision of the Epicurean argument, incorporating numerous assumptions supported by evidence to comprehend it. This multiplicity of revisions makes it challenging to trace how Feldman distorts the original Epicurean argument. In this paper, I will endeavor (...) to reconstruct Feldman's line of reasoning, focusing on his conclusion, which posits that death, by depriving the deceased of the intrinsic value of life, introduces an extrinsic evil. According to this view, had death not occurred, the person would have continued to enjoy the intrinsic value of life. However, it is arguable that death does not deprive a person of the intrinsic good inherent in life because, without death, one would still have the opportunity to experience the intrinsic value of life. This perspective finds support in the examples I present to counter Feldman's conclusion: the cases of a cancer patient, a devout Christian, and a Buddhist philosopher who all met their demise. (shrink)

In this paper, I aim to explore the intricate interplay between slavery and the concept of evil, ultimately seeking a deeper understanding of their relationship. While critically evaluating these notions, I posit that solely relying on a historical analysis of contingent acts of evil, as proposed by Steven Mintz in his work "The Problem of Evil: Slavery, Freedom, and the Ambiguities of American Reform," falls short of providing a comprehensive moral perspective on the evil-slavery connection. To enhance the scope of (...) this thesis, I advocate for including philosophical and theological perspectives—those that Mintz attempts to exclude. Such a multifaceted approach is essential because every contingency is inherently linked to some form of necessity. By acknowledging this link, we can gain more insight into contingent acts of evil, such as slavery. Thus, a holistic understanding of the relationship between evil and slavery necessitates historical analysis and philosophical and theological explanations regarding the underlying necessities that give rise to evil. (shrink)

In this paper, I delve into the methodologies employed by scholars such as Otto Schrader, Krishna Belvalkar, Franklin Edgerton, and Vishwa Adluri to substantiate the potential existence of a Kashmiri recension of the Bhagavad Gita through the application of the lectio principle. The lectio difficilior, or "harder reading," posits that a more complex and challenging reading in a text is likely to be the older and superior one, as scribes tend to simplify intricate passages into more straightforward forms, known as (...) the lectio facilior, in later versions of a text. The lectio principle prominently shapes the discourse of these scholars regarding the plausibility of a Kashmiri recension of the Bhagavad Gita. (shrink)

In this paper, I contend that Socrates' four arguments for the soul's immortality fail to provide conclusive proof. Instead, these arguments can be seen as attempts to infer the most plausible explanation. However, a closer examination reveals that Socrates' best explanation relies on a sequence of informal fallacies and ambiguities, ultimately resulting in inconsistencies within his comprehensive argument. These fallacies, ambiguities, and inconsistencies will become evident as we delve into Socrates' four arguments for soul immortality in the Phaedo.

This paper primarily focuses on a pivotal argument within "The Great Learning" between Chu Hsi and Wang Yang-ming. Specifically, this argument revolves around whether one should prioritize investigating things before cultivating the sincerity of will or vice versa. In simpler terms, does genuine sincerity need to precede the exploration of a matter one deeply cares about, or does sincerity naturally evolve due to the initial investigation of the issue? Through thoroughly exploring various issues stemming from Chu Hsi's perspective, I contend (...) that Wang Yang-ming's stance, asserting that the sincerity of one's will should precede the investigation of things, appears more compelling than Chu Hsi's viewpoint. Furthermore, I extend this argument to draw parallels with Śaṅkara's "A Thousand Teachings," which similarly underscores the necessity of sincerity of will preceding the examination of matters, given Śaṅkara's stringent criteria for his students. (shrink)

In Taber's work, "A Hindu Critique of Buddhist Epistemology," Kumārila tackles the concept of perception in MS 1.1.4 and asserts that perception cannot serve as a means to comprehend Dharma. His argument revolves around the idea that perception apprehends objects in the present, while Dharma's outcomes lie in the future. This distinction holds significance because, according to Kumārila, only the Veda can be a valid means of understanding Dharma. However, I contend that the definition of perception presented in MS 1.1.4 (...) can be a viable method for comprehending Dharma. Kumārila defends the Veda's eternality, resulting in a unique Vedic concept of time that amalgamates past, present, and future into an ever-existing present. Given this perspective, when perception, as defined in MS 1.1.4, apprehends an object in the present, it extends the possibility of grasping the outcomes of Dharma in the future. This is possible because the Vedic conception of time posits an eternal continuum where past, present, and future coexist. Consequently, the proposed definition of perception in MS 1.1.4 can be a legitimate means of gaining knowledge about Dharma. (shrink)

In his work "Treatise on the Negation of the Person," Vasubandhu presents an argument that challenges the conventional understanding of the self, asserting that it can be conceptually and ontologically reduced to the aggregates. This stance is a direct response to the beliefs of Buddhist Personalists, who argue that while a self may be conceptually dependent on the aggregates, it cannot be ontologically reduced to them, as it points to something beyond the aggregates. At the heart of this debate lies (...) the profound conviction that adherence to the self generates attachments, giving rise to desires that ultimately lead to suffering. The key objective is to seek a resolution to this suffering, as encapsulated in the idea that "negative affections arise from grasping-as-self" (Kapstein 350). In my perspective, the Buddhist Personalists offer a more accurate but somewhat incomplete understanding of the self. This is because Vasubandhu's argument, advocating for the conceptual and ontological reduction of the self to the aggregates, does not convincingly demonstrate how unconscious aggregates alone can account for the conscious unification of experiences. (shrink)

In his essay, “The End of Philosophy and the Task of Thinking,” Heidegger proposes the existence of uncharted avenues for intellectual exploration that transcend the confines of metaphysical philosophy. He articulates a more contemplative form of thinking, distinct from the incessant rationalization that permeates traditional discourse, transcending the dichotomy of rational and irrational thought. 2 In typical Heideggerian fashion, this paper lacks a central thesis but embarks on a journey to delve into Heidegger's relentless pursuit of novel modes of thought. (...) Along this path, it also addresses the enduring bias within the realm of philosophy towards non-Western philosophies, specifically those rooted in the Indic tradition. This inquiry encompasses three essential facets: Andrea Nightingale's examination of Plato's role in shaping the philosophical discipline, Steven Burik's exploration of the link between early and later Heidegger's assertions about the culmination of philosophy and comparative philosophical thought, and Mehta's illuminating juxtaposition of Heideggerian Being with the concept of Vedāntic Brahman. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that Callicles presents plausible reasons to accuse Socrates of employing subtle rhetorical maneuvers concerning the concepts of nature and convention. The central focus here is not whether Callicles' accusation against Socrates holds, but rather, it is an exploration of how Plato, through the dialogue between Socrates and Callicles, reveals the compelling rationale behind Callicles' belief in his correctness. Initially, Socrates treats Callicles as a worthy opponent in the conventional sense, engaging in dialectic discourse. However, as (...) Socrates' philosophical approach fails to resonate with Callicles, it becomes apparent that Socrates holds a different perspective on Callicles than he initially expressed. To support this thesis, this paper will closely examine Callicles' Great Speech and Socrates' concise speeches preceding and following it. (shrink)

Boyd and Crosby's article "Zoroastrianism: Dualistic or Monotheistic?" explores various perspectives on this question. In their work, the authors delve into the dualistic and monotheistic aspects of Zoroastrianism, considering six different responses. These responses are subjected to rigorous philosophical examination, primarily focusing on how they address the challenge of evil. Ultimately, Boyd and Crosby propose a seventh response, which they find more compelling and philosophically robust than the previous six alternatives, aligning more closely with their criteria for rigorous scrutiny. This (...) paper delves into the seven versions put forth by Boyd and Crosby and evaluates their efficacy in responding to Epicurus' formulation of the problem of evil mentioned earlier. Epicurus' formulation, structured as questions demanding answers, prompts an active engagement with its inquiries. I contend that while Boyd and Crosby's version does possess certain philosophical advantages over the others, it cannot ensure humanity's salvation. This limitation arises from their perspective, which allows for the possibility of viewing the world as progressively improving, a perspective that humanity may be hesitant to relinquish entirely. In the subsequent sections, I will (1) reconstruct the seven versions as presented by Boyd and Crosby, (2) subject each of them to the questions raised by Epicurus, (3) summarize the overarching analysis, and (4) conclude with some final remarks. (shrink)

Margaret Macdonald was at the institutional heart of analytic philosophy in Britain in the mid-twentieth century. However, her views on the nature of philosophical theories diverge quite considerably from those of many of her contemporaries. In this article, I focus on Macdonald’s provocative 1953 paper, “Linguistic Philosophy and Perception,” in which she argues that the value of philosophical theories is more akin to that of poetry or art than science or mathematics. I do so for two reasons. First, it reveals (...) just how far Macdonald’s metaphilosophical views diverged from those of many of her contemporaries. Second, the discussion in her article preempts recent literature on the nature of philosophical inquiry and the efficacy of philosophical arguments. Indeed, Macdonald’s paper is just as likely to provoke discussion today as it was in the 1950s. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that the quest for identifying Dionysus' Indian counterpart is a challenging endeavor, one that can only bear fruit when we shift our focus towards understanding Dionysus as a divine force of nature, which manifests in various ways, aligning with the essence conveyed in the Rig Veda verse mentioned earlier. Drawing from Nietzsche's perspective, where he perceives the Dionysian as an inherent force of nature within humanity, it becomes a more plausible hypothesis to establish a connection (...) between Dionysus and India through the lens of Indo-European comparative mythology and philology. (shrink)

In this paper, I have constructed one likely relation between Schiller’s views on sexual desire and his general aesthetic value theory. I argue that beauty ennobles sexual desire when one rationally realizes that one did not choose to live in a state solely dominated by sexual desire. By allowing oneself to be in this state of aesthetic freedom, sexual desire grows into affection, and one experiences individual freedom. This thesis results from integrating Matherne and Riggle’s reconstruction of Schiller’s theory of (...) aesthetic value in “Schiller on Freedom and Aesthetic Value” with my construction of Schiller’s relation of sexual desire to his theory of aesthetic value. In what follows, I will (1) present Matherne and Riggle’s reconstruction of Schiller’s theory, (2) extract the main arguments about sexual desire from letters three and twenty-seven, (3) combine both main arguments into Schiller’s unstated but likely argument for how one should ennoble sexual desire not only in kind but by beauty, (4) relate this major argument of Schiller’s views on sexual desire to his theory of aesthetic value, and then (5) conclude with final remarks. (shrink)

Throughout Herman Hesse's "Demian," the strategic use of verbal irony is a powerful tool to shed light on Sinclair's arduous journey in navigating his immaturity and eventual growth. Sinclair's initial hesitancy to confront his callowness is evident as he cautiously explores his evolving sense of self through interactions with friends and family. He often cloaks his true feelings in indirect speech, avoiding confrontations with the consequences of his immaturity. As Sinclair matures, he finds himself straddling the delicate balance between the (...) security of his familial cocoon and the intimidating outside world. He grapples with the fear that speaking his unfiltered thoughts and facing the repercussions might jeopardize the comfort of his closest relationships, guiding him on his path. Despite his awareness of the existential loneliness and isolation that awaits him beyond these relationships, he yearns for personal growth, even if it entails enduring solitude and pain. The use of verbal irony plays a pivotal role in illuminating the gradual transformation Sinclair undergoes as he shifts from callousness to a budding acceptance of his existential reality, ultimately coming to terms with his true self. This transformation is evident in moments such as when Demian chastises him for attempting to offer money to Kromer, when he grapples with the guilt of hurting Pistorius, and when his father confronts him during his time at the boarding school. (shrink)

Short Papers on Al-bayunniyah's "Principles of Sufism," Hafiz's "Faces of Love," Ibn Tufayl's "Hayy Ibn Yaqzan," and Watt's "Islamic Creeds.".

In the late 18th and early to mid-19th century, the secular approach of certain German scholars towards the study of Sanskrit in Europe significantly impacted the creation of the Wales Professorship of Sanskrit at Harvard. This influence stood in stark contrast to the religious concerns of some English scholars. While these English academics were focused on assisting in converting Hindus to Christianity, their German counterparts were pioneering the field of comparative philology. This dynamic led to the establishment of the Boden (...) Professorship of Sanskrit at Oxford, the dominance of German scholars in teaching Sanskrit on the European continent, and the mentorship provided by German academics to early American scholars interested in studying India. These developments underscore the interplay between the secular, scholarly approach of German academics and the religious concerns of their English counterparts in the study of Sanskrit. (shrink)

In her 1966 essay "Against Interpretation," Susan Sontag vehemently opposes specific methods of analyzing artworks that reduce them to mere examinations of their content. Sontag contends that interpretation often seeks to inject more meaning into the content than the artwork inherently possesses in its form. Consequently, she argues that interpretations that focus on content tend to devalue the significance of the artwork's form. Sontag asserts that content comprises the artwork's "prescriptive" ideas (12), which serve as a pathway for the viewer (...) to grasp the artist's "picture of reality" or "statement" (4). This is achieved through an interpretation of the artwork's form. On the other hand, form encompasses the "descriptive" elements of the artwork (12), including figures, colors, and lines. These elements, in themselves, should suffice to evoke a response in the viewer. (shrink)

In his work "The Religion of the Future," Unger categorizes various philosophical perspectives under the term "Overcoming the World" (hereafter referred to as OW). However, this approach presents a significant issue, as Unger puts forth several metaphysical and epistemological claims about OW without clearly specifying which of these distinct philosophies align with his arguments. Notably, Unger includes Vedānta under the umbrella of OW without distinguishing between two closely related yet distinct traditions within Vedānta: Advaita and Dvaita Vedāntas. This lack of (...) differentiation is problematic because Unger predominantly critiques the views of Advaita Vedānta, which, while sharing similarities with Buddhism, are not entirely synonymous. Dvaita Vedānta, on the other hand, holds positions that contradict many of Unger's assumptions about Vedānta. Consequently, Unger's presentation can mislead readers into assuming that Advaita and Dvaita Vedāntas are identical. While this paper will not delve into the motivations behind Unger's approach, it aims to introduce and elucidate some distinctive features within the Dvaita Vedānta tradition. These unique aspects shed light on why Unger's critique of Vedānta, in favor of his vision for a future religion, may be problematic and biased. (shrink)

This essay examines the thematic exploration of the writer’s journey in Toni Morrison’s Burn This Book, a collection of essays by notable authors reflecting on the dualities they navigate as writers—balancing personal identity with the demands of the external world. Through close readings of contributions by Nadine Gordimer, Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, Pico Iyer, and David Grossman, the essay highlights how each writer contends with the tension between private inwardness and public engagement. These essays illustrate that the journey to becoming (...) a writer involves a process of self-discovery, evolving perspectives, and the maturity to witness the outer world without becoming burdened by it. From Gordimer’s reflections on inner agency to Grossman’s experience of personal loss and resilience, each author reveals the complex journey required to transform outward events into profound inner insights. In doing so, Burn This Book underscores the transformative power of writing and the essential inner clarity that enables writers to bear witness to the world’s tragedies while maintaining their own voice. (shrink)

The relationship of part to whole is one of the most fundamental there is; this is the first and only full-length study of this concept. This book shows that mereology, the formal theory of part and whole, is essential to ontology. Peter Simons surveys and criticizes previous theories, especially the standard extensional view, and proposes a more adequate account which encompasses both temporal and modal considerations in detail. 'Parts could easily be the standard book on mereology for the next (...) twenty or thirty years.' Timothy Williamson, Grazer Philosophische Studien. (shrink)

You don't say much about who you are teaching, or what subject you teach, but you do seem to see a need to justify what you are doing. Perhaps you're teaching underprivileged children, opening their minds to possibilities that might otherwise never have occurred to them. Or maybe you're teaching the children of affluent families and opening their eyes to the big moral issues they will face in life — like global poverty, and climate change. If you're doing something like (...) this, then stick with it. Giving money isn't the only way to make a difference. (shrink)

Peter Ludlow shows how word meanings are much more dynamic than we might have supposed, and explores how they are modulated even during everyday conversation. The resulting view is radical, and has far-reaching consequences for our political and legal discourse, and for enduring puzzles in the foundations of semantics, epistemology, and logic.

Not only the direct physical experiences of deployment can severely harm soldiers’ mental health. Witnessing violations of their moral principles by the enemy, or by their fellow soldiers and superiors, can also have a devastating impact. It can cause soldiers’ moral disorientation, increasing feelings of shame, guilt, or hate, and the need for general answers on questions of right and wrong. Various attempts have been made to keep soldiers mentally sane. One is to provide convincing causes for their deployment, which (...) risks an “end justifies the means” way of thinking. The good cause can provide a moral justification for horrible atrocities. Another method, introduced in the USA, Canada, and Australia, aims to strengthen military personnel’s resistance by promoting and maintaining a happy, optimistic state of mind through the use of positive psychology. Alongside making soldiers “morally fit” for all kinds of situations, the focus could also be on moral recovery and forgiveness. Such a care-based military ethics approach, aimed at mutual understanding and interdependence, could help soldiers handle the emotional impact of moral conflicts. This demands that military units reflect on their organizational culture and rethink oaths and codes of conduct that focus mainly on efficiency and readiness, as well as the soldierly self-image with its seemingly still deeply rooted warrior ethos. Today, resilience and positive psychology in the military is apparently mainly geared to assuring its soldiers’ readiness. An appropriate set of virtues and understanding of virtue ethics that are less centered on self-perfection and autonomy could point to a different form of character-building and lead to a better understanding of others. (shrink)

The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

How should we undertand the role of norms—especially epistemic norms—governing assertive speech acts? Mitchell Green (2009) has argued that these norms play the role of handicaps in the technical sense from the animal signals literature. As handicaps, they then play a large role in explaining the reliability—and so the stability (the continued prevalence)—of assertive speech acts. But though norms of assertion conceived of as social norms do indeed play this stabilizing role, these norms are best understood as deterrents and not (...) as handicaps. This paper explains the stability problem for the maintenance of animal signals, and so human communication, for we are animals too, after all; the mechanics of the handicap principle; the role of deterrents and punishments as an alternative mechanism; and the role of social norms governing assertion for the case of human communication. (shrink)

This paper provides a philosophical evaluation of the concept of handedness prevalent but largely unspoken in the scientific literature. This literature defines handedness as the preference or ability to use one hand rather than the other across a range of common activities. Using the philosophical discipline of phenomenology, I articulate and critique this conceptualization of handedness. Phenomenology shows defining a concept of handedness by focusing on hand use leads to a right hand biased concept. I argue further that a phenomenological (...) model based in spatial orientation rather than hand use provides a more inclusive concept of handedness. (shrink)

According to the Fine-Tuning Argument, the existence of life in our universe confirms the Multiverse Hypothesis. A standard objection to FTA is that it violates the Requirement of Total Evidence. I argue that RTE should be rejected in favor of the Predesignation Requirement, according to which, in assessing the outcome of a probabilistic process, we should only use evidence characterizable in a manner available before observing the outcome. This produces the right verdicts in some simple cases in which RTE leads (...) us astray, and, when applied to FTA, it shows that our evidence does confirm HM. (shrink)

An action-oriented perspective changes the role of an individual from a passive observer to an actively engaged agent interacting in a closed loop with the world as well as with others. Cognition exists to serve action within a landscape that contains both. This chapter surveys this landscape and addresses the status of the pragmatic turn. Its potential influence on science and the study of cognition are considered (including perception, social cognition, social interaction, sensorimotor entrainment, and language acquisition) and its impact (...) on how neuroscience is studied is also investigated (with the notion that brains do not passively build models, but instead support the guidance of action). A review of its implications in robotics and engineering includes a discussion of the application of enactive control principles to couple action and perception in robotics as well as the conceptualization of system design in a more holistic, less modular manner. Practical applications that can impact the human condition are reviewed (e.g., educational applications, treatment possibilities for developmental and psychopathological disorders, the development of neural prostheses). All of this foreshadows the potential societal implications of the pragmatic turn. The chapter concludes that an action-oriented approach emphasizes a continuum of interaction between technical aspects of cognitive systems and robotics, biology, psychology, the social sciences, and the humanities, where the individual is part of a grounded cultural system. (shrink)

We argue that recent empirical findings and theoretical models shed new light on the nature of attention. According to the resulting amplification view, attentional phenomena can be unified at the neural level as the consequence of the amplification of certain input signals of attention-independent perceptual computations. This way of identifying the core realizer of attention evades standard criticisms often raised against sub-personal accounts of attention. Moreover, this approach also reframes our thinking about the function of attention by shifting the focus (...) from the function of selection to the function of amplification. (shrink)

This book explores the idea that all of logic can be reduced to two very simple rules that are sensitive to logical polarity. The authors show that this idea has profound consequences for our understanding of the nature of human inferential capacities, and for some of the key issues in contemporary linguistics.

Although Robert Nozick has argued that libertarianism is compatible with the justice of a minimal state—even if does not arise from mutual consent—few have been persuaded. I will outline a different way of establishing that a non-consensual libertarian state can be just. I will show that a state can—with a few important qualifications—justly enforce the rights of citizens, extract payments to cover the costs of such enforcement, redistribute resources to the poor, and invest in infrastructure to overcome market failures. Footnotesa (...) For very helpful comments, I am indebted to Dani Attas, Ellen Frankel Paul, Robert Johnson, Brian Kierland, Mike Otsuka, Eric Roark, and the other contributors to this volume. (shrink)

We take up the challenge of developing an international network with capacity to survey the world's scientists on an ongoing basis, providing rich datasets regarding the opinions of scientists and scientific sub-communities, both at a time and also over time. The novel methodology employed sees local coordinators, at each institution in the network, sending survey invitation emails internally to scientists at their home institution. The emails link to a ‘10 second survey’, where the participant is presented with a single statement (...) to consider, and a standard five point Likert scale. In June 2023, a group of 30 philosophers and social scientists invited 20,085 scientists across 30 institutions in 12 countries to participate, gathering 6,807 responses to the statement 'Science has put it beyond reasonable doubt that COVID-19 is caused by a virus'. The study demonstrates that it is possible to establish a global network to quickly ascertain scientific opinion on a large international scale, with high response rate, low opt-out rate, and in a way that allows for significant (perhaps indefinite) repeatability. Measuring scientific opinion in this new way would be a valuable complement to currently available approaches, potentially informing policy decisions and public understanding across diverse fields. (shrink)

Book Symposium on The Territories of Science and Religion (University of Chicago Press, 2015). The author responds to review essays by John Heilbron, Stephen Gaukroger, and Yiftach Fehige.

For synergistic interactions between humans and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, AI outputs often need to be explainable to people. Explainable AI (XAI) systems are commonly tested in human user studies. However, whether XAI researchers consider potential cultural differences in human explanatory needs remains unexplored. We highlight psychological research that found significant differences in human explanations between many people from Western, commonly individualist countries and people from non-Western, often collectivist countries. We argue that XAI research currently overlooks these variations and that (...) many popular XAI designs implicitly and problematically assume that Western explanatory needs are shared cross-culturally. Additionally, we systematically reviewed over 200 XAI user studies and found that most studies did not consider relevant cultural variations, sampled only Western populations, but drew conclusions about human-XAI interactions more generally. We also analyzed over 30 literature reviews of XAI studies. Most reviews did not mention cultural differences in explanatory needs or flag overly broad cross-cultural extrapolations of XAI user study results. Combined, our analyses provide evidence of a cultural bias toward Western populations in XAI research, highlighting an important knowledge gap regarding how culturally diverse users may respond to widely used XAI systems that future work can and should address. (shrink)

We present a formal semantics for epistemic logic, capturing the notion of knowability relative to information (KRI). Like Dretske, we move from the platitude that what an agent can know depends on her (empirical) information. We treat operators of the form K_AB (‘B is knowable on the basis of information A’) as variably strict quantifiers over worlds with a topic- or aboutness- preservation constraint. Variable strictness models the non-monotonicity of knowledge acquisition while allowing knowledge to be intrinsically stable. Aboutness-preservation models (...) the topic-sensitivity of information, allowing us to invalidate controversial forms of epistemic closure while validating less controversial ones. Thus, unlike the standard modal framework for epistemic logic, KRI accommodates plausible approaches to the Kripke-Harman dogmatism paradox, which bear on non-monotonicity, or on topic-sensitivity. KRI also strikes a better balance between agent idealization and a non-trivial logic of knowledge ascriptions. (shrink)

We often speak as if there are merely possible people—for example, when we make such claims as that most possible people are never going to be born. Yet most metaphysicians deny that anything is both possibly a person and never born. Since our unreflective talk of merely possible people serves to draw non-trivial distinctions, these metaphysicians owe us some paraphrase by which we can draw those distinctions without committing ourselves to there being merely possible people. We show that such paraphrases (...) are unavailable if we limit ourselves to the expressive resources of even highly infinitary first-order modal languages. We then argue that such paraphrases are available in higher-order modal languages only given certain strong assumptions concerning the metaphysics of properties. We then consider alternative paraphrase strategies, and argue that none of them are tenable. If talk of merely possible people cannot be paraphrased, then it must be taken at face value, in which case it is necessary what individuals there are. Therefore, if it is contingent what individuals there are, then the demands of paraphrase place tight constraints on the metaphysics of properties: either (i) it is necessary what properties there are, or (ii) necessarily equivalent properties are identical, and having properties does not entail even possibly being anything at all. (shrink)