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42The limited belief in chanceStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 22 (3): 499-513. 1991.In a rarely quoted paper, published in 1958 in the American Journal of Physics, T. Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa introduced the idea that the concept of chance as employed in physics is subject to what she called a ‘Limited Belief in Chance’. In this paper I elaborate the latter concept and the distinction between absolute chance and relative randomness, where the latter, but not the former, is governed by the theory of probability. I argue that in the twentieth century virtually nobody believes serious…Read more
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2Conventions In NamingPhilosophy Research Archives 8 243-277. 1982.Conventions in the use of names are discussed, particularly names of linguistic expressions. Also the reference of measure terms like ‘kg’ is discussed, and it is found analogous in important respects to expression names. Some new light is shed on the token-type distinction. Applications to versions of the liar paradox are shown. The use of quotation marks is critically examined.
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32Kleur: Een exosomatisch orgaan?Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 64 (2): 299-324. 2002.According to the state of the art in psychology and philosophy, colour sensations are located in a 'quality space'. This space has three dimensions: hue , saturation , and brightness. This space is structured further via a small number of primitive hues or landmark colours, usually four or six . It has also been suggested that there are eleven semantic universals — the six colours previously mentioned plus orange, pink, brown, purple, and grey. Against the standard view, we argue that colour mig…Read more
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560No Need to Speak the same Language? Review of Ramberg, Donald Davidson's Philosophy of LanguageDialectica, Vol. 50, No.1, 1996, Pp. 63-71 50 (1): 63-72. 1996.The book is an “introductory” reconstruction of Davidson on interpretation —a claim to be taken with a grain of salt. Writing introductory books has become an idol of the tribe. This is a concise book and reflects much study. It has many virtues along with some flaws. Ramberg assembles themes and puzzles from Davidson into a more or less coherent viewpoint. A special virtue is the innovative treatment of incommensurability and of the relation of Davidson’s work to hermeneutic themes. The weaknes…Read more
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3Filosofie van de wetenschappenD. Coutinho. 1988.Inleiding in de wetenschapsfilosofie, bedoeld voor filosofiestudenten.
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The philosophy of chemistry: From infancy towards maturityIn Davis Baird, Eric R. Scerri & Lee C. McIntyre (eds.), Philosophy of Chemistry: Synthesis of a New Discipline, Springer. 2006.
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4De-essentialising Across the Board: No Need to Speak the Same LanguageNetherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy 3 263-284. 2006.status: published.
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29The analysis of sensations as the foundation of all sciencesBehavioral and Brain Sciences 16 (1): 163-164. 1993.
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87On the neglect of the philosophy of chemistryFoundations of Chemistry 1 (2): 111-174. 1999.In this paper I present a historiography of the recent emergence of philosophy of chemistry. Special attention is given to the interest in this domain in Eastern Europe before the collapse of the USSR. It is shown that the initial neglect of the philosophy of chemistry is due to the unanimous view in philosophy and philosophy of science that only physics is a proper science (to put in Kant's words). More recently, due to the common though incorrect assumption that chemistry can in principle be r…Read more
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22Art and science as ways of worldmakingIn Paul Weingartner & Gerhard Schurz (eds.), Proceedings of the 11th International Wittgenstein Symposium, Hölder-pichler-tempsky. 1987.
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86Is Our Universe a Mere Fluke? The Cosmological Argument and Spinning the UniversesPSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1988 75-82. 1988.Recent discussions about the anthropic principle and the argument from design can perhaps be summarized as follows : The world is very unusual, so it must have been made by an intelligent creator. The world is very unusual, but unusual things do occur by chance. Both and , in their ordinary interpretations, have been labelled probabilistic fallacies. In my paper I will discuss in particular the following two aspects: The contemporary relevance of Cicero's discussions on chance. The fact that any…Read more
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30A Theory of Interpretation for Comparative and Chinese PhilosophyDao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 15 (4): 575-589. 2016.Why should interpretation of conceptual schemes and practices across traditions work at all? In this paper we present the following necessary conditions of possibility for interpretation in comparative and Chinese philosophy: the interpreter must presuppose that there are mutually recognizable human practices; the interpreter must presuppose that “the other” is, on the whole, sincere, consistent, and right; the interpreter must be committed to certain epistemic virtues. Some of these necessary c…Read more
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38Natural Kinds and Manifest Forms of LifeDialectica 46 (3‐4): 243-261. 1992.SummaryIn this paper I try to make sense of and give provisional answers to question like: Are there interesting theories about natural kinds ? Are some classifications or categorisations more natural than others? Does it matter whether or not there are natural kinds? To get an initial feel for the subject let's consider some suggestions from the literature as to what might count as a candidate for a natural kind or natural kind term
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Eliminativisme gereduceerd tot pragmatismeAlgemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 85 (1): 113-127. 1993.
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30Telematic Life FormsTechné: Research in Philosophy and Technology 4 (3): 208-219. 1999.status: published.
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47Consciousness is not a natural kindBehavioral and Brain Sciences 18 (2): 269-270. 1995.Blocks distinction between “phenomenal feel” consciousness and “thought/cognition” consciousness is a cultural construction. Consciousness (and its “subspecies”) is not a natural kind. Some crosscultural data are presented to support this.
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43Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of ChemistryHyle: International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry 20 (1): 11-57. 2014.In this paper I assess the relation between philosophy of chemistry and philosophy of science, focusing on those themes in the philosophy of chemistry that may bring about major revisions or extensions of current philosophy of science. Three themes can claim to make a unique contribution to philosophy of science: first, the variety of materials in the world; second, extending the world by making new stuff; and, third, specific features of the relations between chemistry and physics.
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8A multiculture of veridicalitiesBehavioral and Brain Sciences 21 (4): 481-482. 1998.Edelman's target article purports to be about veridical representations. I argue that it would be a mistake to think it has much to do with veridicality as normally understood.
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36Out of the Ge-stell? The Role of the East in Heidegger’s das andere DenkenPhilosophy East and West 64 (3): 527-562. 2014.Modern technology (Technik, la technique) has constituted the gears on which the wheels of the modern world keep turning. The later Heidegger devotes sustained reflection to this unprecedented phenomenon in human history. It is notable that, compared with other figures from twentieth-century continental philosophy, Heidegger has served as the most frequent reference point in current philosophy of technology (Technikphilosophie). This field of philosophy came into being after the so-called empiri…Read more
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23Heidegger on Zhuangzi and Uselessness: Illustrating Preconditions of Comparative PhilosophyJournal of Chinese Philosophy 41 (3-4): 387-406. 2014.In this article, I look at those passages in the Zhuangzi usually associated with “uselessness.” I discuss in what way these passages may have been suggestive to Martin Heidegger to explain his ideas of the necessity of the other thinking and of the “waiting people” being entirely unusable to others. Then I make some brief comments concerning basic conditions of interpretation, using examples taken from the Zhuangzi passages discussed. These conditions include family resemblance across the board…Read more
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102Interdiscourse or supervenience relations: The primacy of the manifest imageSynthese 106 (2). 1996.Amidst the progress being made in the various (sub-)disciplines of the behavioural and brain sciences a somewhat neglected subject is the problem of how everything fits into one world and, derivatively, how the relation between different levels of discourse should be understood and to what extent different levels, domains, approaches, or disciplines are autonomous or dependent. In this paper I critically review the most recent proposals to specify the nature of interdiscourse relations, focusing…Read more
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C. S. Peirce: Categories to Constantinople — Proceedings of the International Symposium on PeirceTransactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 36 (1): 187-192. 2000.