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11Trumping the causal influence account of causationPhilosophical Studies 142 (2). 2009.Here is a simple counterexample to David Lewis’s causal influence account of causation, one that is especially illuminating due to its connection to what Lewis himself writes: it is a variant of his trumping example.
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18Moderate monism: Reply to Noonan and MackieAnalysis 69 (1): 91-95. 2009.Moderate Monism is the position that permanent, but not temporary, coincidence entails identity. Harold Noonan writes: " According to the moderate monist if God creates ex nihilo a bronze statue and later annihilates it, destroying both the statue and the bronze of which it is composed , the statue and the bronze are identical. If, however, God simply radically reshapes the bronze at t10 the statue ceases to exist and the piece of bronze survives, so despite their coincidence up to t10 the statu…Read more
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20Counterpart theory v. the multiverse: reply to WatsonAnalysis 71 (1): 96-100. 2011.Suppose that reality consists of parallel universes of every variety imaginable. No path through space and time leads from one to another, and each universe is causally isolated from the rest. Some physicists believe a ‘multiverse’ hypothesis not terribly distant from this one simplifies quantum mechanics and provides an elegant explanation of why our universe has its particular laws. Suppose as science advances we come to accept the multiverse hypothesis, so construed.
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106Review of Eric Olson: 'The Human Animal: Personal Identity without Psychology ' (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (No. 2): 495-497. 2000.
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148Why there still are no peoplePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 70 (1): 174-191. 2005.This paper argues that there are no people. If identity isn't what matters in survival, psychological connectedness isn't what matters either. Further, fissioning cases do not support the claim that connectedness is what matters. I consider Peter Unger's view that what matters is a continuous physical realization of a core psychology. I conclude that if identity isn't what matters in survival, nothing matters. This conclusion is deployed to argue that there are no people. Objections to Eliminati…Read more
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26‘Unlucky’ Gettier CasesPacific Philosophical Quarterly 94 (3): 421-430. 2013.This article argues that justified true beliefs in Gettier cases often are not true due to luck. I offer two ‘unlucky’ Gettier cases, and it's easy enough to generate more. Hence even attaching a broad ‘anti‐luck’ codicil to the tripartite account of knowledge leaves the Gettier problem intact. Also, two related questions are addressed. First, if epistemic luck isn't distinctive of Gettier cases, what is? Second, what do Gettier cases reveal about knowledge?
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17Parfit and the Buddha: Why there are no peoplePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 48 (March): 519-32. 1988.
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233Dreaming and certaintyPhilosophical Studies 45 (May): 353-368. 1984.I argue that being wide awake is an epistemic virtue which enables me to recognize immediately that I'm wide awake. Also I argue that dreams are imaginings and that the wide awake mind can immediately discern the difference between imaginings and vivid sense experience. Descartes need only pinch himself.
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121A Theory of ReligionReligious Studies 27 (3): 337-351. 1991.An account of what all and only religions share in virtue of which they are religions.
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8Why Potentiality MattersCanadian Journal of Philosophy 17 (4): 815-829. 1987.Do fetuses have a right to life in virtue of the fact that they are potential adult human beings? I take the claim that the fetus is a potential adult human being to come to this: if the fetus grows normally there will be an adult human animal that was once the fetus. Does this fact ground a claim to our care and protection? A great deal hangs on the answer to this question. The actual mental and physical capacities of a human fetus are inferior to those of adult creatures generally thought to l…Read more
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530Skepticism as a theory of knowledgePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 60 (3): 527-545. 2000.Skepticism about the external world may very well be correct, so the question is in order: what theory of knowledge flows from skepticism itself? The skeptic can give a relatively simple and intuitive account of knowledge by identifying it with indubitable certainty. Our everyday ‘I know that p’ claims, which typically are part of practical projects, deploy the ideal of knowledge to make assertions closely related to, but weaker than, knowledge claims. The truth of such claims is consistent with…Read more
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4Why There Still Are No PeoplePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 70 (1): 174-192. 2005.This paper argues that there are no people. If identity isn't what matters in survival, psychological connectedness isn't what matters either. Further, fissioning cases do not support the claim that connectedness is what matters. I consider Peter Unger's view that what matters is a continuous physical realization of a core psychology. I conclude that if identity isn't what matters in survival, nothing matters. This conclusion is deployed to argue that there are no people. Objections to Eliminati…Read more
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4Virtueless knowledgePhilosophical Studies 172 (2): 469-475. 2015.This paper argues that reliabilist virtue epistemology is mistaken. Descartes supposes a supremely powerful deceiver is determined to trick him into believing falsehoods. Beliefs Descartes cannot rationally doubt, even allowing the demon’s best efforts, count as indubitable knowledge. I give an instance of indubitable knowledge and argue that it is not attributable to an epistemic competence. Since not all knowledge is virtuous, knowledge cannot be identified with virtuous true belief.
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107Pascal's Wager and the persistent vegetative stateBioethics 21 (2). 2007.I argue that a version of Pascal's Wager applies to the persistent vegetative state with sufficient force that it ought to part of advance directives.
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Areas of Specialization
Epistemology |
Metaphysics |
Applied Ethics |
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
Metaphysics |
Applied Ethics |