Terence Rajivan Edward

This document briefly summarizes several objections to Thomas Kuhn on science, including by Feyerabend, Davidson, and Fodor.

This paper reconstructs the argument that Raymond Tallis objects to and presents what I take to be quite an obvious response.

This paper uses Douglas L. Kriner's work on presidential unilateral action to develop an example challenging the conception of a law as an instruction, or order, from the state involving a punishment by the state if it is not followed: a fine, imprisonment, community service, etc.

A worry that was once raised about anthropology at home is that the anthropologist will end up producing a report that is uninformative. In this paper, I draw a parallel between this worry and the paradox of analysis, from the analytic tradition of philosophy. I reveal that a solution to the latter would also address the former.

A poem by Laura Riding provides a counterexample to Jacques Derrida's claim that speech has been privileged over writing.

Andrei Marmor’s premise-by-premise reconstruction omits a premise, which I draw attention to and contest.

This is a brief summary of 18 well-known objections to utilitarianism. It is meant to be able to function as a 2 page handout, so the reference list is limited to objectors.

This paper responds to two seemingly contradictory views that Jeanette Edwards identifies in an article on the impact of new reproductive technologies in the northwest of England. I argue that they are probably not contradictory. But I do so by modifying how the views are formulated and reflect on the significance of this for anthropology at home.

In this paper, I present a way in which John Rawls’s original position thought experiment can be brought closer to nationalism. The social science laws can be taken from a nation’s heritage.

This document summarizes Robert Nozick's objections to John Rawls in chapter 7, part 2, of Anarchy, State and Utopia. A number of other objections apart from the most well-known ones are identified.

This document summarizes ten objections to John Rawls's difference principle. The objections are less well-known ones.

This paper responds to Margaret Masterman’s legendary “The Nature of a Paradigm,” which aims to identify 21 different uses of “paradigm” in Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. I propose that he should have used, or at least introduced, the term in another sense or attempted sense, absent from her list, and explain why.

This is a one page handout reconstructing the paradox and identifying four solutions in the literature, as well as some concerns about them.

This paper contests a point that Jacques Derrida and John Searle actually agree on, within their infamous debate: that a sign must be repeatable. I focus on a situation involving dissent when evaluating this claim.

This document gathers together, in summary form, objections scattered across many papers and multiple online databases. Nevertheless, it omits some objections, notably complicated ones. (NOTE: please go to view version history, if you have problems downloading.)

A brief handout summarizing Andrew Lang's criticisms of Frazer.

This is a handout identifying twenty objections that have been made to the reflective equilibrium method.

This paper argues for the significance of kinship because of government policies to deal with declining populations.

I raise a worry that Shashi Tharoor’s criticism that “much of Narayan’s prose reads like a translation” is inconsistent with his criticism “the ABC of bad writing – archaisms, banalities and cliches – abounded” because these things tend to be worded in a way that exploits local linguistic features, such as alliteration, making translation difficult. I also flag another inconsistency worry, but earlier in this paper.

The paradox of an island, we are told, is at once to be isolated from and open to the rest of the world. It seems the paradox is easily solved by clarifying isolated and open to the rest of the world.

Why do a conceptual analysis on a word that we already know how to use? Marilyn Strathern provides some information on garden cities and suburbs which suggests a novel solution to me.

Joseph Raz criticizes John Rawls for a procedure supporting a non-adaptable constitution. This paper considers how a non-adaptable constitution can seem not so counterintuitive and also when.

This paper describes a kind of poem which reveals an exception to the instruction to know thyself.

Jacques Derrida's claim that the Western tradition has privileged speech over writing runs into an objection from the history of British anthropology: the functionalist rejection of oral history.

This paper proposes a solution to a puzzle regarding when people switch from one skilled area of specialization to another, in which they have had little training. Certain analogies between the previous area and the area switched to enable this. I use Susan Carey as an example.

T.H. Irwin characterizes the reflective equilibrium procedure as one which should not involve ruthless surgery, in a metaphorical sense. I argue that many people will find avoiding this difficult, because they do not conceive or go in for subtle options.

This paper presents two definitions to cover temptations as objects external to persons.