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165Review: Seana Valentine Shiffrin, Speech Matters: On Lying, Morality, and the Law (review)Ethics 126 (2): 536-541. 2016.This is a review of Shiffrin's _Speech Matters_
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333On Pornography: MacKinnon, Speech Acts, and "False" ConstructionHypatia 20 (3). 2005.Although others have focused on Catharine MacKinnon's claim that pornography subordinates and silences women, I here focus on her claim that pornography constructs women's nature and that this construction is, in some sense, false. Since it is unclear how pornography, as speech, can construct facts and how constructed facts can nevertheless be false, MacKinnon's claim requires elucidation. Appealing to speech act theory, I introduce an analysis of the erroneous verdictive and use it to make sens…Read more
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31Logic by Laurence Goldstein, Andrew Brennan, Max Deutsch and Joe Y.F. LauPhilosophical Books 47 (3): 272-273. 2006.
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124The metaphysics of squaring scientific realism with referential indeterminacyErkenntnis 50 (1): 83-90. 1999.This article clarifies the motivations for and commitments of metaphysical realism and shows that it is compatible with various kinds of referential indeterminacy.
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70Privileging propertiesPhilosophical Studies 105 (1): 1-23. 2001.The idea that the world is human construction is fairly familiar and generally disparaged. One version of this claim is partially defendedhere. This subjectivist thesis concerns a debate about the objectivityof rightness of categorization. A problem about the discriminatoryrole of properties is both presented and motivated. The subjectivistthesis is articulated and defended against two powerful objections.Finally, this thesis is shown to be conceptually independent ofboth verificationism and emp…Read more
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228Gruesome connectionsPhilosophical Quarterly 52 (206): 21-33. 2002.It is widely recognized that Goodman's grue example demonstrates that the rules for induction, unlike those for deduction, cannot be purely syntactic. Ways in which Goodman's proof generalizes, however, are not widely recognized. Gruesome considerations demonstrate that neither theories of simplicity nor theories of empirical confirmation can be purely syntactic. Moreover, the grue paradox can be seen as an instance of a much more general phenomenon. All empirical investigations require semantic…Read more
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164The limits of free speech: Pornography and the question of coverageLegal Theory 13 (1): 41-68. 2007.Many liberal societies are deeply committed to freedom of speech. This commitment is so entrenched that when it seems to come into conflict with other commitments (e.g., gender equality), it is often argued that the commitment to speech must trump the other commitments. In this paper, we argue that a proper understanding of our commitment to free speech requires being clear about what should count as speech for these purposes. On the approach we defend, should get a special, technical sense, dif…Read more
Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Language |
Philosophy of Law |
Philosophy of Gender, Race, and Sexuality |