•  27
    Emergence in science and philosophy (edited book)
    Routledge. 2010.
    The concept of emergence has seen a significant resurgence in philosophy and the sciences, yet debates regarding emergentist and reductionist visions of the natural world continue to be hampered by imprecision or ambiguity. Emergent phenomena are said to arise out of and be sustained by more basic phenomena, while at the same time exerting a "top-down" control upon those very sustaining processes. To some critics, this has the air of magic, as it seems to suggest a kind of circular causality. Ot…Read more
  •  25
    Review of Paul Pietroski, Causing Actions (review)
    Philosophical Review 111 (2): 291-294. 2002.
    The following assumptions are necessary to get the contemporary problem of mental causation off the ground
  •  24
  •  23
    The Problem of Evil: introduction
    In William Lane Craig (ed.), Philosophy of Religion: A Reader and Guide, Rutgers University Press. pp. 309--310. 2002.
  •  23
    Time and Eternity (review)
    American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 66 (4): 520-524. 1992.
  •  22
    Is God’s Necessity Necessary?
    Philosophia Christi 12 (2). 2010.
    I briefly defend the following claims in response to my critics: (1) We cannot make a principled division between features of contingent reality that do and features that don’t "cry our for explanation." (2) The physical data indicating fine-tuning provide confirmation of the hypothesis of a personal necessary cause of the universe over against an impersonal necessary cause, notwithstanding the fact that the probability of either hypothesis, if true, would be 1. (3) Theism that commits to God’s …Read more
  •  20
    The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge
    Philosophical Review 102 (1): 139. 1993.
    Review of Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski, The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge.
  •  19
    Review of Derk Pereboom, Living Without Free Will (review)
    Philosophical Quarterly 53 (210): 308-310. 2003.
    Review of Derk Pereboom, Living Without Free Will
  •  14
    Is Free Will Just Another Chaotic Process? (Review of Three Books)
    Times Literary Supplement (Dec.5). 1997.
    Review of Richard Double, Metaphilosophy and Free Will; Thomas Pink, The Psychology of Freedom; and Robert Kane, The Significance of Free Will,
  •  12
    Causation and Responsibility
    In Lawrence Becker & Charlotte Becker (eds.), Encyclopedia of Ethics, Garland Publishing. 2001.
    The concepts of responsibility and causation are entangled at various points. Different considerations arise depending on whether one focuses on responsibility for one’s very actions, or on the consequences of one’s actions which are partly the result of many factors outside one’s control.
  •  12
    Reasons Explanation and Agent Control
    Philosophical Topics 32 (1-2): 241-253. 2004.
  •  12
    Metaphysics (review)
    Philosophical Review 104 (2): 314-317. 1995.
    Book review of Peter van Inwagen's Metaphysics
  •  11
    Trying Without Willing (review)
    Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 61 (1): 242-244. 2000.
  •  5
    Trying Without Willing: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind (review)
    Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 61 (1): 242-244. 2000.
    In the specialized and often peculiar conversation of philosophers, some speak of themselves and of others as willing our actions. Usually, they intend to imply thereby a distinctive kind of psychological event, one that lies at the origin of every instance of intentional action. This thesis, of course, has become highly controversial. Many argue that despite much traditional philosophical theorizing committed to such an essential feature of action, there is no basis for it in ordinary speech, i…Read more
  •  3
    Part III Introduction
    In Antonella Corradini & Timothy O'Connor (eds.), Emergence in Science and Philosophy, Routledge. pp. 6--207. 2010.
  •  2
    John Martin Fischer, The Metaphysics of Free Will (review)
    Humana Mente 5 (1): 125-129. 1997.
  •  1
    Religious Faith and Intellectual Virtue (edited book)
    . forthcoming.
  •  1
    Emergence
    with H. Y. Wong
    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Csli, Stanford University. forthcoming.
  • Reviews (review)
    with Kurt Marko, R. C. Elwood, Fred Seddon, John D. Windhausen, and Robert C. Williams
    Studies in Soviet Thought 37 (4): 333-351. 1989.
  • The Argument from Consciousness Revisited
    In Jonathan L. Kvanvig (ed.), Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion Volume 3, Oxford University Press. 2011.
  • Some Puzzles About Free Agency
    Dissertation, Cornell University. 1992.
    I discuss several issues that concern human freedom of action. I begin by addressing the question of whether moral responsibility for one's actions and the consequences thereof requires that one have the capacity to have refrained from the action or to have prevented the ensuing consequence. Drawing to a significant extent on Peter van Inwagen's discussion of this matter, I defend certain forms of "alternative possibilities" conditions on moral responsibility against several recent objections, a…Read more
  • Reviews (review)
    with Frederick J. Adelmann and Tom Rockmore
    Studies in Soviet Thought 41 (3): 233-242. 1991.
  • Reviews (review)
    with Julien S. Murphy, Irving H. Anellis, Pavel Kovaly, Nigel Gibson, N. G. O. Pereira, Fred Seddon, Oliva Blanchette, and Friedrich Rapp
    Studies in East European Thought 48 (2-4): 281-324. 1996.