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72Vague expectation value lossPhilosophical Studies 127 (3). 2006.Vague subjective probability may be modeled by means of a set of probability functions, so that the represented opinion has only a lower and upper bound. The standard rule of conditionalization can be straightforwardly adapted to this. But this combination has difficulties which, though well known in the technical literature, have not been given sufficient attention in probabilist or Bayesian epistemology. Specifically, updating on apparently irrelevant bits of news can be destructive of one’s e…Read more
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43Symmetry Arguments in Probability KinematicsPSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1984 851-869. 1984.Probability kinematics is the theory of how subjective probabilities change with time, in response to certain constraints . Rules are classified by the imposed constraints for which the rules prescribe a procedure for updating one's opinion. The first is simple conditionalization , and the second Jeffrey conditionalization . It is demonstrated by a symmetry argument that these rules are the unique admissible rules for those constraints, and moreover, that any probability kinematic rule must be e…Read more
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The Pragmatics of ExplanationIn Yuri Balashov & Alexander Rosenberg (eds.), Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Readings, Routledge. pp. 56. 2002.
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16Thomason’s Paradox for Belief, and Two Consequence RelationsJournal of Philosophical Logic 40 (1): 15-32. 2011.Thomason (1979/2010)’s argument against competence psychologism in semantics envisages a representation of a subject’s competence as follows: he understands his own language in the sense that he can identify the semantic content of each of its sentences, which requires that the relation between expression and content be recursive. Then if the scientist constructs a theory that is meant to represent the body of the subject’s beliefs, construed as assent to the content of the pertinent sentences, …Read more
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6Precis of Scientific representation: paradoxes of perspectivePhilosophical Studies 150 (3): 425-428. 2010.
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26Probabilistic semantics objectified: II. Implication in probabilistic model sets (review)Journal of Philosophical Logic 10 (4). 1981.
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16The perils of Perrin, in the hands of philosophersPhilosophical Studies 143 (1): 5-24. 2009.The story of how Perrin’s experimental work established the reality of atoms and molecules has been a staple in (realist) philosophy of science writings (Wesley Salmon, Clark Glymour, Peter Achinstein, Penelope Maddy, …). I’ll argue that how this story is told distorts both what the work was and its significance, and draw morals for the understanding of how theories can be or fail to be empirically grounded.
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45Probabilistic semantics objectified: I. Postulates and logics (review)Journal of Philosophical Logic 10 (3). 1981.
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200Gideon Rosen on constructive empiricismPhilosophical Studies 74 (2). 1994.In response to parts I-III of G Rosen's "What is Constructive Empiricism?", "Philosophical Studies", 74, 1994, 143-178, this paper examines several construals of the position of constructive empiricism. At issue, in part, is the equation of intentional aspects of science with the intentions and opinions of scientists. In addition it is necessary to distinguish the constructive empiricist -- a philosopher holding that acceptance of theories in science need not involve belief that they are true --…Read more
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11One hundred and fifty years of philosophyTopoi 25 (1-2): 123-127. 2006.Looking back from 2049 over one-hundred and fifty years of philosophy, a student's essay reveals what became of rival strands in Western philosophy – with a sidelong glance at the special Topoi issue on the theme “Philosophy: What is to be Done?” that was published almost half a century earlier.
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93Earman on the causal theory of timeSynthese 24 (1-2). 1972.I have so far ignored Earman's Section IV in which spatiotemporal coincidence is discussed. The answer will be clear from the preceding: the exact definitions and principles of the exact theories we have displayed are to be discussed with reference to the special and not the general theory of relativity. But moreover, Earman's transition from (C) to (1) assumes what we do not grant: that events are causally connectible exactly if the points in the mathematical space-time at which they are locate…Read more
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75Propositional attitudes in weak pragmaticsStudia Logica 38 (4). 1979.Sentences attributing beliefs, doubts, wants, and the like (propositional attitudes, in Russell's terminology) have posed a major problem for semantics. Recently the pragmatic description of language has become more systematic. I shall discuss the formalization of pragmatics, and propose an analysis of belief attribution that avoids some main problems apparently inherent in the semantic approach.
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76Hidden variables and the modal interpretation of quantum theorySynthese 42 (1). 1979.The modal interpretation of quantum mechanics has two variants: the Copenhagen variant (CV) and the anti-Copenhagen variant (ACV). Healey uses the Bell-Wigner locality condition to criticize the latter, which I do not advocate. 2 The conclusions of Healey's admirably written article are therefore welcome to me. But if I had wished to advocate the ACV, I do not think that his arguments would have dissuaded me. Specifically, as I shall explain, we should distinguish between Physical Locality and M…Read more
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138Identity over time: Objectively, subjectivelyPhilosophical Quarterly 58 (230): 15-35. 2008.In the philosophy of science, identity over time emerges as a central concern both as an ontological category in the interpretation of physical theories, and as an epistemological problem concerning the conditions of possibility of knowledge. In Reichenbach and subsequent writers on the problem of indistinguishable quantum particles we see the return of a contrast between Leibniz and Aquinas on the subject of individuation. The possibility of rejecting the principle of the identity of indiscerni…Read more
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