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86Sorites paradoxes and the transition questionPhilosophical Papers 21 (3): 177-190. 1992.This discusses the kind of paradox that has since become known as "the forced march sorites", here called "the transition question". The question is whether this is really a new kind of paradox, or the familiar sorites in unfamiliar garb. The author argues that resources adequate to deal with ordinary sorites are sufficient to deal with the transition question, and tentatively proposes an affirmative answer.
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16III*—Tolerating VaguenessProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 89 (1): 33-48. 1989.R. M. Sainsbury; III*—Tolerating Vagueness, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 89, Issue 1, 1 June 1989, Pages 33–48, https://doi.org/10.1093/arist.
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521A very large fly in the ointment: Davidsonian truth theory contextualizedIn Richard Schantz (ed.), Prospects for Meaning, Walter De Gruyter. 2012.one hand, it raises fundamental doubts about the Davidsonian project, which seems to involve isolating specifically semantic knowledge from any other knowledge or skill in a way reflected by the ideal of homophony. Indexicality forces a departure from this ideal, and so from the aspiration of deriving the truth conditions of an arbitrary utterance on the basis simply of axioms which could hope to represent purely semantic knowledge. In defence of Davidson, I argue that once his original idea for…Read more
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36Hume's idea of necessary connection/A idéia de conexão necessária em HumeManuscrito 30 (2): 341-355. 2007.Hume seems to tell us that our ideas are copies of our corresponding impres-sions, that we have an idea of necessary connection, but that we have no corresponding impression, since nothing can be known to be really necessarily connected. The paper considers two ways of reinterpreting the doctrine of the origins of ideas so as to avoid the apparent inconsistency. If we see the doctrine as concerned primarily with establishing conditions under which we possess an idea, there is no need for an idea…Read more
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Realism vs Nominalism about theDispositional-Non-Dispositional DistinctionIn Michele Marsonet (ed.), The Problem of Realism, Ashgate. pp. 160. 2002.
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1Referring descriptionsIn Marga Reimer & Anne Bezuidenhout (eds.), Descriptions and beyond, Oxford University Press. pp. 369--89. 2004.
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381Understanding as immersionPhilosophical Issues 16 (1). 2006.Understanding has often been regarded as a kind of knowledge. This paper argues that this view is very implausible for understanding words. Instead, a proper account will be of the “analytic-genetic” variety: it will describe immersion in the practice of using a word in such a way that even those not previously equipped with the concepts the word expresses can become immersed. Meeting this condition requires attention to findings in developmental psychology. If you understand a declarative utter…Read more
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95Lessons for Vagueness from Scrambled SoritesMetaphysica 14 (2): 225-237. 2013.Vagueness demands many boundaries. Each is permissible, in that a thinker may without error use it to distinguish objects, though none is mandatory. This is revealed by a thought experiment—scrambled sorites—in which objects from a sorites series are presented in a random order, and subjects are required to make their judgments without access to any previous objects or their judgments concerning them.
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43Logical Forms: An Introduction to Philosophical LogicPhilosophical Quarterly 42 (167): 243. 1992.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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78Russell on constructions and fictionsTheoria 46 (1): 19-36. 1980.Russell says that logical constructions are fictions. Does this show that he took them not to be real things?
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42Can Rational Dialetheism Be Refuted By Considerations about Negation and Denial?ProtoSociology 10 216-229. 1997.Rational dialetheism is the view that for some contradictions, it is rational to believe that they are true. The view, associated with the work of among others, Graham Priest, looks as if it must lead to absurd consequences, and the present paper is an unsuccessful attempt to find them. In particular, I suggest that there is no non-question-begging account of acceptance, denial and negation which can be brought to bear against the rational dialetheist. Finally, I consider the prospect of attacki…Read more
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135What logic should we think with?Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 51 1-17. 2002.Logic ought to guide our thinking. It is better, more rational, more intelligent to think logically than to think illogically. Illogical thought leads to bad judgment and error. In any case, if logic had no role to play as a guide to thought, why should we bother with it?The somewhat naïve opinions of the previous paragraph are subject to attack from many sides. It may be objected that an activity does not count as thinking at all unless it is at least minimally logical, so logic is constitutive…Read more
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904A puzzle about how things lookIn Mary Margaret McCabe & Mark Textor (eds.), Perspectives on Perception, De Gruyter. 2007.Differently illuminated, things in one sense look different, but in another sense look the same.
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125The Same NameErkenntnis 80 (2): 195-214. 2015.When are two tokens of a name tokens of the same name? According to this paper, the answer is a matter of the historical connections between the tokens. For each name, there is a unique originating event, and subsequent tokens are tokens of that name only if they derive in an appropriate way from that originating event. The conditions for a token being a token of a given name are distinct from the conditions for preservation of the reference of a name. Hence a name may change its reference. Defe…Read more
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36Semantic Theory and Grammatical StructureAristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 54 (1). 1980.
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44Jody Azzouni , Talking about Nothing: Numbers, Hallucinations and Fictions . Reviewed byPhilosophy in Review 32 (3): 154-157. 2012.
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944Intentionality without exoticaIn Robin Jeshion (ed.), New Essays on Singular Thought, . 2010.The paper argues that intensional phenomena can be explained without appealing to "exotic" entities: one that don't exist, are merely possible, or are essentially abstract.
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753Reference Without ReferentsClarendon Press. 2005.Reference is a central topic in philosophy of language, and has been the main focus of discussion about how language relates to the world. R. M. Sainsbury sets out a new approach to the concept, which promises to bring to an end some long-standing debates in semantic theory. Lucid and accessible, and written with a minimum of technicality, Sainsbury's book also includes a useful historical survey. It will be of interest to those working in logic, mind, and metaphysics as well as essential readin…Read more
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1Referring DescriptionsIn Marga Reimer & Anne Bezuidenhout (eds.), Descriptions and beyond, Oxford University Press. 2004.
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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 |