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22Neither Humean nor (fully) Kantian be: Reply to CuypersJournal of Philosophy of Education 39 (3). 2005.In this paper I reply to Stefaan Cuypers' explication and critique of my views on rationality and critical thinking (Cuypers, 2004). While Cuypers' discussion is praiseworthy in several respects, I argue that it (1) mistakenly attributes to me a Humean view of (practical) reason, and (2) unsuccessfully argues that my position lacks the resources required to defend the basic claim that critical thinking is a fundamental educational ideal. Cuypers' analysis raises deep issues about the motivationa…Read more
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22Arguing with ArgumentsInformal Logic 43 (4): 465-526. 2024.‘Argument’ has multiple meanings and referents in contemporary argumentation theory. Theorists are well aware of this but often fail to acknowledge it in their theories. In what follows, I distinguish several senses of ‘argument’ and argue that some highly visible theories are largely correct about some senses of the term but not others. In doing so, I hope to show that apparent theoretical rivals are better seen as collaborators or partners, rather than rivals, in the multi-disciplinary effort …Read more
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20Epistemology, critical thinking, and critical thinking pedagogyArgumentation 3 (2): 127-140. 1989.
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19Epistemology in Excess? A Response to WilliamsJournal of Philosophy of Education 50 (4). 2016.Emma Williams’ ‘In Excess of Epistemology’ admirably endeavours to open the way to an account of critical thinking that goes beyond the one I have defended ad nauseum in recent decades by developing, via the work of Charles Taylor and Martin Heidegger, ‘a radically different conception of thinking and the human being who thinks’, one that ‘does more justice to receptive and responsible conditions of human thought.’ In this response I hope to show that much of Williams’ alternative approach is co…Read more
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19Knowledge and Truth54In Richard Bailey (ed.), The Sage Handbook of Philosophy of Education, Sage Publication. pp. 283. 2010.
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19Rescher on the Justification of RationalityInformal Logic 14 (1). 1992.In his recent book Rationality, Nicholas Rescher offers a provocative attempt to justify rationality. In this paper I critically assess that attempt. After clarifying the philosophical problem at issue, I examine Rescher's effort to solve it. I argue that Rescher's justification succeeds, but that he mistakenly characterizes it as pragmatic. It succeeds only if it is understood non-pragmatically. Consequently, Rescher must give up either his justificatory argument, or his commitment to a pragmat…Read more
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19Justification by BalancePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 52 (1): 27-46. 1992.A critique of reflective equilibrium as an account of epistemic justification
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19Dangerous Dualisms or Murky Monism? A Reply to Jim GarrisonJournal of Philosophy of Education 35 (4): 577-595. 2001.Jim Garrison’s recent criticisms of what he refers to as ‘dangerous dualisms’ in my theory of critical thinking are unsuccessful. They fail, in large part, because of misinterpretations of my view, but also because of Garrison’s systematic reliance on problematic aspects of Dewey’s terminology and philosophy.
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18Justifying conceptual development claims: Response to Van HaaftenJournal of Philosophy of Education 27 (1). 1993.This paper is a response to van Haaften's attempt to build ‘a natural bridge from “is” to “ought”’ and in doing so to provide a general account of how, in developmental theory, a claim that ‘a later stage in conceptual development is somehow better or more adequate than preceding ones’ can itself be justified. The account by van Haaften violates the ‘seems justified/is justified’ distinction and embroils him in a problematic form of relativism. This paper offers an alternative account of such cl…Read more
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17Philosophical Naturalism (review)Review of Metaphysics 49 (4): 938-939. 1996.David Papineau's Philosophical Naturalism offers an energetic, fast-paced trip through several familiar philosophical landscapes. He treats central issues in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mathematics. The unifying theme across this broad range is Papineau's articulation and defense of a coherent naturalistic stance.
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16Arguing with ArgumentsInformal Logic 43 (4): 465-526. 2023.‘Argument’ has multiple meanings and referents in contemporary argumentation theory. Theorists are well aware of this but often fail to acknowledge it in their theories. In what follows, I distinguish several senses of ‘argument’ and argue that some highly visible theories are largely correct about some senses of the term but not others. In doing so, I hope to show that apparent theoretical rivals are better seen as collaborators or partners, rather than rivals, in the multi-disciplinary effort …Read more
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16Instrumental Rationality and Naturalized Philosophy of SciencePhilosophy of Science 63 (5). 1996.In two recent papers, I criticized Ronald N. Giere's and Larry Laudan's arguments for 'naturalizing' the philosophy of science. Both Giere and Laudan replied to my criticisms. The key issue arising in both interchanges is these naturalists' embrace of instrumental conceptions of rationality, and their concomitant rejection of non-instrumental conceptions of that key normative notion. In this reply I argue that their accounts of science's rationality as exclusively instrumental fail, and conseque…Read more
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16Neither Humean Nor (Fully) Kantian Be: Reply to CuypersJournal of Philosophy of Education 39 (3): 535-547. 2005.In this paper I reply to Stefaan Cuypers’ explication and critique of my views on rationality and critical thinking (Cuypers, 2004). While Cuypers’ discussion is praiseworthy in several respects, I argue that it (1) mistakenly attributes to me a Humean view of (practical) reason, and (2) unsuccessfully argues that my position lacks the resources required to defend the basic claim that critical thinking is a fundamental educational ideal. Cuypers’ analysis raises deep issues about the motivationa…Read more
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14Autonomy, Critical Thinking and the Wittgensteinian Legacy: Reflections on Christopher Winch, Education, Autonomy and Critical Thinking (review)Journal of Philosophy of Education 42 (1): 165-184. 2008.In this review of Christopher Winch’s new book, Education, Autonomy and Critical Thinking (2006), I discuss its main theses, supporting some and criticising others. In particular, I take issue with several of Winch’s claims and arguments concerning critical thinking and rationality, and deplore his reliance on what I suggest are problematic strains of the later Wittgenstein. But these criticisms are not such as to upend Winch’s powerful critique of antiperfectionism and ‘strong autonomy’ or his …Read more
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14Knowledge and certainty: Feminism, postmodernism, and multi-culturalismIn Wendy Kohli (ed.), Critical conversations in philosophy of education, Routledge. pp. 190--200. 1995.
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14Rational Thinking and Intellectually Virtuous Thinking: Identical, Extensionally Equivalent, or Substantively Different?Informal Logic 43 (2): 204-223. 2023.(1) Is the rational person eo ipso intellectually virtuous? (2) Is the intellectually virtuous person eo ipso rational? In what follows I answer both questions in the negative.
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12Review of Nel Noddings, Philosophy of Education (review)Educational Studies 28 (1): 55-88. 1997.
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12Arguing with ArgumentsInformal Logic 44 (1): 465-526. 2024.‘Argument’ has multiple meanings and referents in contemporary argumentation theory. Theorists are well aware of this but often fail to acknowledge it in their theories. In what follows, I distinguish several senses of ‘argument’ and argue that some highly visible theories are largely correct about some senses of the term but not others. In doing so, I hope to show that apparent theoretical rivals are better seen as collaborators or partners, rather than rivals, in the multi-disciplinary effort …Read more
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12Consideraciones en torno a la pragma-dialécticaLogos: Revista de Lingüística, Filosofía y Literatura 24 (2): 193-201. 2015.El presente trabajo complemenJa las referencias a la lengua aut6ctona de los día guitas chilenos, en la encrucijada histórica de la conquista hispana en el siglo Xlll , cuya primera parte se publicó en WGOS N 2 l.En este número conJrastamos las hipó tesis de don Ricardo Latcham con la crftica de don Jorge /ribarren; se ofrece, aderruís, un suscinJo panorama de la situación lingüística en el noroeste argenJino, y las anota ciones espedficamenJe lingüísticas sobre el "cacán" de Antonio Tovar, C…Read more
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12Argumentation, Arguing, and Arguments: Comments on Giving ReasonsTheoria 26 (3): 279-287. 2011.While we applaud several aspects of Lilian Bermejo-Luque's novel theory of argumentation and especially welcome its epistemological dimensions, in this discussion we raise doubts about her conception of argumentation, her account of argumentative goodness, and her treatments of the notion of “giving reasons” and of justification.
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11On Some Recent Challenges to the Ideal of ReasonInquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 15 (4): 2-16. 1996.
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11Rational Thinking and Intellectually Virtuous Thinking: Identical, Extensionally Equivalent, or Substantively Different?Informal Logic 44 (1): 204-223. 2023.(1) Is the rational person _eo ipso_ intellectually virtuous? (2) Is the intellectually virtuous person _eo ipso_ rational? In what follows I answer both questions in the negative.
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10Review of Clifford Alan Hooker: Reason, Regulation, and Realism: Towards a Regulatory Systems Theory of Reason and Evolutionary Epistemology (review)British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 48 (1): 121-125. 1997.
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9‘Radical’ Pedagogy Requires ‘Conservative’ EpistemologyJournal of Philosophy of Education 29 (1): 33-46. 1995.Many defences of multiculturalist educational initiatives conjoin a‘liberal’ or ‘radical’ moral/political view—that education should endeavour to treat students with respect, and that respecting non-dominant,‘marginalised’ students requires protecting them from the hegemonic domination of the dominant culture—with what appears to be an equally radical epistemological view, according to which respecting minority students and cultures requires respecting their culturally specific epistemologies, w…Read more
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9Rationality, Morality, and Rational Moral Education: Further Response to FreemanEducational Philosophy and Theory 12 (1): 37-47. 1980.
Coral Gables, Florida, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Epistemology |
Philosophy of Physical Science |
Areas of Interest
Metaphilosophy |
Philosophy of Religion |
Other Academic Areas |