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144Imperfect epistemic duties and the justificational fecundity of evidenceSynthese 190 (18): 4065-4075. 2013.Mark Nelson argues that we have no positive epistemic duties. His case rests on the evidential inexhaustibility of sensory and propositional evidence—what he calls their ‘infinite justificational fecundity’. It is argued here that Nelson’s reflections on the richness of sensory and propositional evidence do make it doubtful that we ever have an epistemic duty to add any particular beliefs to our belief set, but that they fail to establish that we have no positive epistemic duties whatsoever. A t…Read more
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103Transcendental Arguments: Superfluity and ScepticismTheoria 71 (4): 333-367. 2005.The paper is a sustained analysis of some recent work on transcendental arguments with a view to assessing both its relevance to Kant's philosophy and its historical accuracy. Robert Stem's reading of Kant's philosophical aims is examined and criticized narrowly, and Barry Stroud's influential objection to transcendental arguments as a class is shown to be harmless. Kant is presented as a friend rather than a foe of scepticism, and his 'proto-verificationist' criterion of meaning is shown to und…Read more
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22Hume's Enquiry: Expanded and ExplainedRoutledge. 2021.Hume's Enquiry: Expanded and Explained includes the entire classical text of David Hume's An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding in bold font, a running commentary blended seamlessly into the text in regular font, and analytic summaries of each section. The commentary is like a professor on hand to guide the reader through every line of the daunting prose and every move in the intricate argumentation. The unique design helps students learn how to read and engage with one of modern philosophy'…Read more
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84The worst argument in the world – defendedThink 16 (47): 15-23. 2017.In this paper, I argue that Berkeley’s master argument is not the worst argument in the world—more like third or fourth.
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61Completing Epistemic OughtsPhilosophical Forum 45 (2): 133-148. 2014.Our intuitions about what a person epistemically ought or ought not believe are sometimes quite clear. Keith DeRose and Richard Feldman have devised examples about which our intuitions are likely to conflict. DeRose argues that the conflict of intuitions arises from ambiguity in the epistemic ought. I argue that it results from incompleteness. The success of the argument depends on rejecting the narrow conception of evidential support according to which a person’s evidence supports some proposit…Read more
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163Locke on sensitive knowledge as knowledgeTheoria 75 (3): 206-231. 2009.This article is an extended analysis of the most recent scholarly work on Locke's account of sensitive knowledge. Lex Newman's "dual cognitive relations" model of sensitive knowledge is examined in detail. The author argues that the dual cognitive relations model needs to be revised on both philosophical and historical grounds. While no attempt is made to defend Locke's position, the aim is to show that it is at least consistent, contrary to the received view. The final section provides textual …Read more
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85Kant's Transcendental Arguments as Conceptual ProofsPhilosophical Papers 35 (1): 119-136. 2006.The paper is an attempt to explain what a transcendental argument is for Kant. The interpretation is based on a reading of the 'Discipline of Pure Reason', Sections 1 and 4 of the first Critique. The author first identifies several statements that Kant makes about the method of proof he followed in the 'Analytic of Principles' which seem to be inconsistent. He then tries to remove the apparent inconsistencies by focusing on the idea of instantiation and drawing a distinction between the intensio…Read more
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105On the Contradiction in Conception Test of the Categorical ImperativeSouth African Journal of Philosophy 26 (3): 306-318. 2007.The author argues against Christine Korsgaard's influential interpretation of Kant's contradiction in conception test of the categorical imperative. Korsgaard's rejection of the ‘teleological' interpretation is shown to be based on a misunderstanding of the role that teleology plays for Kant in ruling out immoral maxims, and her defence of the ‘practical' interpretation is shown to be less faithful to the text than the competing ‘logical' interpretation. The works of Barbara Herman and Allen Woo…Read more
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250Tetens’ Refutation of Idealism and Properly Basic BeliefIn Gideon Stiening Udo Thiel (ed.), Johann Nikolaus Tetens (1736-1807): Philosophie in der Tradition des europäischen Empirismus, De Gruyter. pp. 147-168. 2014.
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Kurt Mosser, Necessity and Possibility: The Logical Strategy of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (review)Philosophy in Review 29 (6): 430. 2009.
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130What's the point of a dreaming argument?Think 18 (52): 31-34. 2019.In this paper, I argue that dreaming arguments are no cause for alarm.
Areas of Specialization
Epistemology |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |