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143Molyneux's Question: The Irish DebatesIn Brian Glenney Gabriele Ferretti (ed.), Molyneux’s Question and the History of Philosophy, Routledge. pp. 122-135. 2020.William Molyneux was born in Dublin, studied in Trinity College Dublin, and was a founding member of the Dublin Philosophical Society (DPS), Ireland’s counterpart to the Royal Society in London. He was a central figure in the Irish intellectual milieu during the Early Modern period and – along with George Berkeley and Edmund Burke – is one of the best-known thinkers to have come out of that context and out of Irish thought more generally. In 1688, when Molyneux wrote the letter to Locke in which…Read more
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250The Irish Context of Berkeley's 'Resemblance Thesis'Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 88 7-31. 2020.In this paper, we focus on Berkeley's reasons for accepting the ‘resemblance thesis’ which entails that for one thing to represent another those two things must resemble one another. The resemblance thesis is a crucial premise in Berkeley's argument from the ‘likeness principle’ in §8 of the Principles. Yet, like the ‘likeness principle’, the resemblance thesis remains unargued for and is never explicitly defended. This has led several commentators to provide explanations as to why Berkeley acce…Read more
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608From Pantalaimon to Panpsychism: Margaret Cavendish and His Dark MaterialsIn Paradox Lost: His Dark Materials and Philosophy. 2020.
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46In this paper, I compare Margaret Cavendish’s argument for the view that colours of objects are inseparable from their ‘physical’ qualities with George Berkeley’s argument for the view that secondary qualities of objects are inseparable from their primary qualities. By reconstructing their respective arguments, I show that both thinkers rely on the ‘inconceivability principle’: the claim that inconceivability entails impossibility. That is, both premise their arguments on the claim that it is im…Read more
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23Interview with Invited Speaker Michela Massimi, Philosophy as a Way of LifePerspectives 8 (1): 31-34. 2018.Michela Massimi is a Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Edinburgh and was the keynote speaker for Philosophy as a Way of Life. She is currently the PI for an ERC-funded project ʽPerspectival Realism. Science, Knowledge, and Truth from a Human Vantage Point.ʼ Massimi has extensive experience working on interdisciplinary projects and has frequently engaged in public philosophy. In this interview, she discusses the future of research in the UK post-Brexit, the challenges and re…Read more
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365Reid and Berkeley on Scepticism, Representationalism, and IdeasJournal of Scottish Philosophy 17 (3): 191-210. 2019.Both Reid and Berkeley reject ‘representationalism’, an epistemological position whereby we perceive things in the world indirectly via ideas in our mind, on the grounds of anti-scepticism and common sense. My aim in this paper is to draw out the similarities between Reid and Berkeley's ‘anti-representationalist’ arguments, whilst also identifying the root of their disagreements on certain fundamental metaphysical issues. Reid famously rejects Berkeley's idealism, in which all that exists are id…Read more
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412Knowing Me, Knowing You: Berkeley on Self-Knowledge and Other MindsThe Self and Self-Knowledge in Early Modern Philosophy. 2020.
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61Berkeley on the Relation Between Abstract Ideas and Language in Alciphron VIIRuch Filozoficzny 74 (4): 51. 2019.
Peter West
Northeastern University London
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Northeastern University LondonAssistant Professor
Trinity College, Dublin
PhD, 2020
Areas of Specialization
17th/18th Century Philosophy |
17th/18th Century British Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
17th/18th Century Philosophy |
Metaphysics |
Perception |
Intentionality |