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36Logical forms: an introduction to philosophical logicBlackwell. 2000.Logical Forms explains both the detailed problems involved in finding logical forms and also the theoretical underpinnings of philosophical logic. In this revised edition, exercises are integrated throughout the book. The result is a genuinely interactive introduction which engages the reader in developing the argument. Each chapter concludes with updated notes to guide further reading.
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English speakers should use "I" to refer to themselvesIn Anthony Hatzimoysis (ed.), Self-Knowledge, Oxford University Press. 2008.
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52
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22Intentionality Without ExoticaIn Robin Jeshion (ed.), New Essays on Singular Thought, Oxford University Press. 2010.
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24Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, Volume 1: The Dawn of Analysis (review)Philosophical Studies 129 (3): 645-665. 2005.I discuss Soames's proposal that Moore could have avoided a central problem in his moral philosophy if he had utilized a method he himself pioneered in epistemology. The problem in Moore's moral philossophy concerns what it is for a moral claim to be self-evident. The method in Moore's epistemology concerns not denying the obvious. In view of the distance between something's being self-evident and its being obvious, it is suggested that Soames's proposal is mistaken
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129Russell on AcquaintanceRoyal Institute of Philosophy Lecture Series 20 219-244. 1986.In Russell's Problems of Philosophy (PP), acquaintance is the basis of thought and also the basis of empirical knowledge. Thought is based on acquaintance, in that a thinker has to be acquainted with the basic constituents of his thoughts. Empirical knowledge is based on acquaintance, in that acquaintance is involved in perception, and perception is the ultimate source of all empirical knowledge.
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19Thinking About ThingsOxford University Press. 2018.Mark Sainsbury presents an original account of how language works when describing mental states, based on a new theory of what is involved in attributing attitudes like thinking, hoping, and wanting. He offers solutions to longstanding puzzles about how we can direct our thought to such a diversity of things, including things that do not exist.
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Indexicals and Reported SpeechIn J. W. Davis (ed.), Philosophical logic, D. Reidel. pp. 45-69. 1969.
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6SoritesIn B. Hale & C. Wright (eds.), Blackwell Companion to the Philosophy of Language, Blackwell. 1995.
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114Review: Crispin Wright: Truth and Objectivity (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 56 (4). 1996.This belongs to a symposium about Crispin Wright's Truth\nand Objectivity. Wright entertains the "possibility of a\npluralist view of truth." I suggest that this should not\nentail ambiguity in the word "true." For truth to amount to\ndifferent things for different kinds of subject matter no\nmore entails ambiguity than does the fact that existence\namounts to different things for different kinds of entity.\nTurning to cognitive command, I argue that it is trivially\nsatisfied: if I judge that p…Read more
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619ParadoxienReclam. 1993.Translation of Mark Sainsbury: Paradoxes (Cambridge University Press 1988).
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22Bertrand Arthur William RussellRoyal Institute of Philosophy Lectures 20 217-218. 1986.Bertrand Russell , born in Trelleck, Wales, was the grandson of the first Earl Russell, who introduced the Reform Bill of 1832 and served as prime minister under Queen Victoria. He studied mathematics and philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge, 1890–1894, was a Fellow of Trinity College, 1895–1901, a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1908, and was a lecturer in philosophy, 1910–1916. Among his publications in philosophy in this period were An Essay on the Foundations of Geometry , A Critical Expo…Read more
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794Two ways to smoke a cigaretteRatio 14 (4). 2001.In the early part of the paper, I attempt to explain a dispute between two parties who endorse the compositionality of language but disagree about its implications: Paul Horwich, and Jerry Fodor and Ernest Lepore. In the remainder of the paper, I challenge the thesis on which they are agreed, that compositionality can be taken for granted. I suggest that it is not clear what compositionality involves nor whether it obtains. I consider some kinds of apparent counterexamples, and compositionalist …Read more
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73IX*—Understanding and Theories of MeaningProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 80 (1): 127-144. 1980.R. M. Sainsbury; IX*—Understanding and Theories of Meaning, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 80, Issue 1, 1 June 1980, Pages 127–144, https://doi.
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51Semantics by ProxyAnalysis 37 (2). 1977.Many theories provide semantics for English by proxy of semantics for the "logical form" of English sentences. The paper presents a dilemma: if there is no algorithm for moving between English and logical form, English itself has not been given a semantic theory. But if there is an algorithm, it can be incorporated in the theory, which would then apply directly to English. In the worst case, logical form is an obstacle to providing semantics for English. In the best case, it is unnecessary.
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594Representing unicorns: how to think about intensionalityIn G. Currie, P. Kotatko & M. Pokorny (eds.), Mimesis: Metaphysics, Cognition, Pragmatics, College Publications. 2012.The paper focuses on two apparent paradoxes arising from our use of intensional verbs: first, their object can be something which does not exist, i.e. something which is nothing; second, the fact that entailment from a qualified to a non-qualified object is not guaranteed. In this paper, I suggest that the problems share a solution, insofar as they arise in connection with intensional verbs that ascribe mental states. The solution turns on (I) a properly intensional or nonrelational notion of re…Read more
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60Russell on AcquaintanceRoyal Institute of Philosophy Lecture Series 20 219-244. 1986.In Russell's Problems of Philosophy (PP), acquaintance is the basis of thought and also the basis of empirical knowledge. Thought is based on acquaintance, in that a thinker has to be acquainted with the basic constituents of his thoughts. Empirical knowledge is based on acquaintance, in that acquaintance is involved in perception, and perception is the ultimate source of all empirical knowledge.
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76Fiction and Acceptance-Relative Truth, Belief and AssertionIn Franck Lihoreau (ed.), Truth in Fiction, Ontos Verlag. pp. 38--137. 2010.
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4Philosophical logicIn A. C. Grayling (ed.), Philosophy: A Guide Through the Subject, Oxford University Press. 1995.
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79Cartesian possibilities and the externality and extrinsicness of contentSynthese 89 (3): 407-424. 1991.
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Areas of Interest
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Epistemology |
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Action |
Philosophy of Language |
Philosophy of Mind |
M&E, Misc |