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164An argument for the vagueness of vagueAnalysis 45 (3): 134. 1985.The argument proceeds by exploiting the gradually decreasing vagueness of a certain sequence of predicates. the vagueness of 'vague' is then used to show that the thesis that all vague predicates are incoherent is self-defeating. a second casualty is the view that the probems of vagueness can be avoided by restricting the scope of logic to nonvague predicates
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7Philosophy for the EyeThe Philosophers' Magazine 42 31-39. 2008.The tower of language overshadows a cluster of smaller towers. These are the towers corresponding to the sensory systems. Tallest among this group is the tower of vision, “the master sense”.
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32Thought Experiments and the Epistemology of LawsCanadian Journal of Philosophy 22 (1): 15-44. 1992.The aim of this paper is to show how thought experiments help us learn about laws. After providing examples of this kind of nomic illumination in the first section, I canvass explanations of our modal knowledge and opt for an evolutionary account. The basic application is that the laws of nature have led us to develop rough and ready intuitions of physical possibility which are then exploited by thought experimenters to reveal some of the very laws responsible for those intuitions. The good news…Read more
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4The Vagueness of KnawledgeCanadian Journal of Philosophy 17 (4): 767-804. 1987.Epistemologists have profited from studies of the ways in which ‘know’ is ambiguous. We can also profit by studying the ways in which ‘know’ is vague. After classifying sources of vagueness for ‘know,’ I spend the second section examining theories of vagueness. With the exception of the theory that vague predicates are incoherent, which I try to refute, we need not take a stand on a particular theory to show that the vagueness of knowledge has substantive epistemological implications. The third …Read more
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26Thought ExperimentsOup Usa. 1992.In this book, Sorensen presents the first general theory of the thought experiment. He analyses a wide variety of thought experiments, ranging from aesthetics to zoology, and explores what thought experiments are, how they work, and what their positive and negative aspects are. Sorensen also sets his theory within an evolutionary framework and integrates recent advances in experimental psychology and the history of science.
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Pseudo-Problems: How Analytic Philosophy Gets DoneRoutledge. 1993.First published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company
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13Thought ExperimentsOxford University Press USA. 1992.Can merely thinking about an imaginary situation provide evidence for how the world actually is--or how it ought to be? In this lively book, Roy A. Sorensen addresses this question with an analysis of a wide variety of thought experiments ranging from aesthetics to zoology. Presenting the first general theory of thought experiment, he sets it within an evolutionary framework and integrates recent advances in experimental psychology and the history of science, with special emphasis on Ernst Mach …Read more
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1Moore's Problem and the Prediction Paradox: New Limits for EpistemologyDissertation, Michigan State University. 1982.Ludwig Wittgenstein once exclaimed that the most important philosophical discovery made by G.E. Moore was of the oddity of sentences like 'It is raining but I do not believe it'. This dissertation can be viewed as a partial vindication of Wittgenstein's enthusiasm. ;However, my direct target is the prediction paradox. In the first chapter, the history of the prediction paradox is covered in detail. With the help of some new variations of the prediction paradox, I then argue in Chapter II that th…Read more
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A Definite No-NoIn J. C. Beall (ed.), Liars and Heaps: New Essays on Paradox, Clarendon Press. 2004.
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75The symmetry problemIn Jens Johansson Fred Feldman Ben Bradley (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Death, . pp. 234. 2013.
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20Vagueness and the logic of ordinary languageIn Dale Jacquette (ed.), Philosophy of Logic, North Holland. pp. 155. 2006.
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11Das Chinesische MusikzimmerDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 59 (1): 61-63. 2011.The founder of formalism, Eduard Hanslick compared listening to music to looking through a kaleidoscope. Unlike listening to a story, one can understand music without understanding what it is about. This contrast with language suggests a thought experiment that echoes John Searle′s Chinese Room. Instead of featuring a man who reliably manipulates Chinese symbols without knowing what they represent, consider a man who reliably manipulates sounds . Given formalism, the Turing Test should be an app…Read more
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51Philosophy for the EyeThe Philosophers' Magazine 42 (42): 31-39. 2008.The tower of language overshadows a cluster of smaller towers. These are the towers corresponding to the sensory systems. Tallest among this group is the tower of vision, “the master sense”.
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3Tired of being weak-willed? Do you want to end procrastination and back-sliding? Are you envious of those paragons of self-control who always do what they consider best? Thanks to a breakthrough in therapeutic philosophy, you too can now close the gap between what you think you ought to do and what you actually do. Just send $1000 to the address below and you will never again succumb to temptation. This is a MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. The first time you do something that you know to be irrational, yo…Read more
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55Permission to CheatAnalysis 67 (3). 2007.Seizing the opportunity to apply what they had learned, the students declared a cheating competition. Outspoken participants (future lawyers, politicians, and captains of industry) bragged about their ruses. But to their chagrin, an ethics student prevailed
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13Slipping off the Slippery Slope: A Reply to Professor JacquettePhilosophy and Rhetoric 22 (3). 1989.
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65Pure Moorean PropositionsCanadian Journal of Philosophy 15 (3). 1985.This paper is devoted to a solution to Moore's problem. After explaining what Moore's problem is and after considering the main approaches toward solving the problem, I provide a definition of Moorean sentences in terms of pure Moorean propositions. My solution to Moore's problem essentially involves a description of how one can contradict oneself without uttering a contradiction, and a set of definitions that exactly determines which sentences are Moorean and which are close relatives of Moorea…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Epistemology |
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Language |
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Language |
Philosophical Traditions |