-
49True EnoughMIT Press. 2017.Science relies on models and idealizations that are known not to be true. Even so, science is epistemically reputable. To accommodate science, epistemology should focus on understanding rather than knowledge and should recognize that the understanding of a topic need not be factive. This requires reconfiguring the norms of epistemic acceptability. If epistemology has the resources to accommodate science, it will also have the resources to show that art too advances understanding
-
1094Emotion and UnderstandingIn G. Brun, U. Dogluoglu & D. Kuenzle (eds.), Epistemology and Emotions, . 2008.
-
55Indeterminacy, underdetermination, and the anomalism of the mentalSynthese 45 (2). 1980.Davidson's token-Token identity theory is based on the indeterminacy of translation. I argue that psychological theories, Like other theories, Are underdetermined by the evidence, And that their reduction, Like other reductions, Is subject to the indeterminacy of translation. This does not invalidate reduction, But it does raise epistemic difficulties. Accepting a claim as law-Like involves uncertainty and risk. There are ideological reasons for thinking that psychophysical reduction involves ri…Read more
-
Paul Gochet, Introduction 249 Hourya Sinaceur, Du formalisme à la constructivité: le finitisme 251 Michael Detlefsen, Hilbert's Formalism 285 Yvon Gauthier, Hilbert et la logique interne des mathématiques 305 (review)Revue Internationale de Philosophie 47 247. 1993.
-
30The Epistemic Normativity of Knowing-HowIn Astrid Wagner & Ulrich Dirks (eds.), Abel Im Dialog: Perspektiven der Zeichen- Und Interpretationsphilosophie, De Gruyter. pp. 483-498. 2018.
-
12Representation, Comprehension, and CompetenceSocial Research: An International Quarterly 51. 1984.
-
23Richard Foley's Intellectual Trust in Oneself and Others (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 68 (3): 724-734. 2004.Descartes’ demon is a crafty little devil. Despite centuries of effort by exceedingly clever thinkers, he continues to elude our clutches. Skepticism endures. The reason, Richard Foley thinks, is not hard to discover. It is simply impossible to break through the Cartesian circle. Our only means of vindicating a claim to knowledge or rational belief is to show that it is produced or sustained by our best epistemic methods, that it satisfies the best standards we can devise for rational belief. Th…Read more
-
144Construction and CognitionTheoria 24 (2): 135-146. 2009._The Structure of Appearance_ presents a phenomenalist system which constructs enduring visible objects out of qualia. Nevertheless Goodman does not espouse phenomenalism. Why not? In answering this question this paper explicates Goodman’s views about the nature and functions of constructional systems, the prospects of reductionism, and the character of epistemology.
-
12Philosophical Inquiry: Classic and Contemporary Readings (edited book)Hackett Publishing Company. 2007.This meticulously edited anthology provides a comprehensive, problems-oriented entree to philosophy. Substantial readings from major classical and contemporary thinkers--featuring many of Hackett's widely acclaimed translations--are supported by a general introduction, engaging introductions to each major topic, and a glossary of important philosophical terms.
-
22Art and educationIn Harvey Siegel (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Education, Oxford University Press. pp. 319. 2009.
-
13Nominalism, constructivism, and relativism in the work of Nelson Goodman (edited book)Garland. 1997.A challenger of traditions and boundaries A pivotal figure in 20th-century philosophy, Nelson Goodman has made seminal contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, and the philosophy of language, with surprising connections that cut across traditional boundaries. In the early 1950s, Goodman, Quine, and White published a series of papers that threatened to torpedo fundamental assumptions of traditional philosophy. They advocated repudiating analyticity, necessity, and prior assumptions…Read more
-
250"The Legacy of" Two Dogmas"American Philosophical Quarterly 48 (3): 267. 2011.W. V. Quine is famous, or perhaps infamous, for his repudiation of the analytic/synthetic distinction and kindred dualisms—the necessary/contingent dichotomy and the a priori/a posteriori dichotomy. As these dualisms have come back into vogue in recent years, it might seem that the denial of the dualisms is no part of Quine's enduring legacy. Such a conclusion is unwarranted—not only because the dualisms are deeply problematic, but because "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" haunts even those who want to…Read more
-
113Interpretation and Identity: Can the Work Survive the World?Critical Inquiry 12 (3): 564-575. 1986.Predictions concerning the end of the world have proven less reliable than your broker’s recommendations or your fondest hopes. Whether you await the end fearfully or eagerly, you may rest assured that it will never come—not because the world is everlasting but because it has already ended, if indeed it ever began. But we need not mourn, for the world is indeed well lost, and with it the stultifying stereotypes of absolutism: the absurd notions of science as the effort to discover a unique, prep…Read more
-
4Exemplification, idealization, and scientific understandingIn Mauricio Suárez (ed.), Fictions in Science: Philosophical Essays on Modeling and Idealization, Routledge. pp. 77-90. 2009.
-
Between the Absolute and the ArbitraryRevue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 189 (2): 237-238. 1999.
-
34Nelson Goodman's philosophy of art (edited book)Garland. 1997.A challenger of traditions and boundaries A pivotal figure in 20th-century philosophy, Nelson Goodman has made seminal contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, and the philosophy of language, with surprising connections that cut across traditional boundaries. In the early 1950s, Goodman, Quine, and White published a series of papers that threatened to torpedo fundamental assumptions of traditional philosophy. They advocated repudiating analyticity, necessity, and prior assumptions…Read more
-
203. Metaphor and ReferenceIn Zdravko Radman (ed.), From a Metaphorical Point of View: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Cognitive Content of Metaphor, De Gruyter. pp. 53-72. 1995.
-
194Take it from me: The epistemological status of testimonyPhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 65 (2): 291-308. 2002.Testimony consists in imparting information without supplying evidence or argument to back one's claims. To what extent does testimony convey epistemic warrant? C. J. A. Coady argues, on Davidsonian grounds, that (1) most testimony is true, hence (2) most testimony supplies warrant sufficient for knowledge. I appeal to Grice's maxims to undermine Coady's argument and to show that the matter is more complicated and context-sensitive than is standardly recognized. Informative exchanges take place …Read more
-
153TrustworthinessPhilosophical Papers 37 (3): 371-387. 2008.I argue that trustworthiness is an epistemic desideratum. It does not reduce to justified or reliable true belief, but figures in the reason why justified or reliable true beliefs are often valuable. Such beliefs can be precarious. If a belief's being justified requires that the evidence be just as we take it to be, then if we are off even by a little, the belief is unwarranted. Similarly for reliability. Although it satisfies the definition of knowledge, such a belief is not trustworthy. We oug…Read more
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Epistemology |
Aesthetics |
Areas of Interest
Metaphysics and Epistemology |