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34Physical Causation (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 67 (1): 244-248. 2003.In Physical Causation, Phil Dowe proposes a Conserved Quality account of causation and offers criticisms of several alternatives, including Humean, counter-factual, and mark transmission accounts. Dowe eschews “conceptual analysis” and instead offers his theory as an “empirical account of causation at it is in the actual world.” Dowe takes this as absolving him of the responsibility of giving an account of the essence of causation, threatening to turn his metaphysical account into a watered-down…Read more
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218Functionalism without physicalism: Outline of an emergentist programProgress in Complexity, Information, and Design 2 (3-3). 2003.The historical association between functionalism and physicalism is not an unbreakable one. There are reasons for finding some version of a functional account of the mental attractive that are independent of the plausibility of physicalism. I develop a non-physicalist version of func- tionalism and explain how this model is able to secure genuine emergence of the mental, despite Kim’s arguments that such emergence theories are incoherent. The kind of teleological emergence of the mental required …Read more
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44Bob and Carol and tess and AliSophia 45 (2): 117-122. 2006.Conflicting religious experiences in different traditions do not necessarily defeat the rationality of conflicting beliefs sustained by those experiences in those traditions. The circularity that protects religious beliefs from such mutual defeat is not vicious. Moreover, the lack of ‘epistemological humility’ exhibited by such believers poses no threat to world peace. In fact, a campaign for compulsory humility would itself constitute a much greater threat
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Vann McGee, Truth, Vagueness & Paradox: An Essay on the Logic of Truth (review)Philosophy in Review 12 118-123. 1992.
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69Theism and Ultimate Explanation: The Necessary Shape of Contingency, by Timothy O'ConnorMind 118 (471): 862-867. 2009.
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15Science and Belief in God: Concord, not ConflictIn Paul Copan & Paul K. Moser (eds.), The Rationality of Theism, Routledge. pp. 77. 2003.
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37Molinism: The Contemporary Debate, edited by Ken PerszykFaith and Philosophy 30 (3): 345-353. 2013.
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93Defeasible reasoning, special pleading and the cosmological argument: A reply to OppyFaith and Philosophy 18 (2): 192-203. 2001.This is a reply to a paper by Graham Oppy in the July, 1999 issue of this journal, “Koons’ Cosmological Argument.” Recent work in defeasible or nonmonotonic logic means that the cosmological argument can be cast in such a way that it does not presuppose that every contingent situation, without exception, has a cause. Instead, the burden of proof is shifted to the skeptic, who must produce positive reasons for thinking that the cosmos is an exception to the defeasible law of causality. I show how…Read more
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82Realism Regained: An Exact Theory of Causation, Teleology, and the MindOxford University Press. 2000.In this wide-ranging philosophical work, Koons takes on two powerful dogmas--anti-realism and materialism.
Austin, Texas, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Mind |
Philosophy of Religion |
Areas of Interest
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Religion |