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80Analogues of knowabilityAustralasian Journal of Philosophy 81 (4). 2003.An interesting recent reply to the Paradox of Knowability is Neil Tennant's proposal: to restrict the anti-realist's knowability thesis to truths the knowing of which is logically consistent. However, this proposal is egregiously ad hoc unless motivated by something other than the wish to save anti-realism from embarrassment. We examine Tennant's argument that his restriction is motivated by parallel considerations in cases that are neutral with respect to debates about realism. We conclude that…Read more
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57Cynical Assertion: Convention, Pragmatics, and Saying "Uncle"American Philosophical Quarterly 40 (3): 241-248. 2003.This paper begins by exploring a subspecies of assertion. Under some circumstances an utterance intuitively counts as an assertion, even though it is Cynical: that is, it is insincere, and made without the reasonable expectation of even appearing sincere to its audience. The paper explores the contextual and cognitive workings of Cynical assertion – directly, in part, but also by comparison with superficially similar but non-assertoric utterances, namely, those made under duress. Finally, the pa…Read more
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768Noninferentialism and testimonial belief fixationEpisteme 10 (1): 73-85. 2013.An influential view in the epistemology of testimony is that typical or paradigmatic beliefs formed through testimonial uptake are noninferential. Some epistemologists in particular defend a causal version of this view: that beliefs formed from testimony (BFT) are generated by noninferential processes. This view is implausible, however. It tends to be elaborated in terms that do not really bear it out – e.g. that BFT is fixed directly, immediately, unconsciously or automatically. Nor is causal n…Read more
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University of WaterlooDepartment of Philosophy
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
Philosophy of Language |
Philosophy of Mind |