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24Review of Virgil Aldrich's The Body of a Person (review)International Studies in Philosophy 24 (3): 113-113. 1992.
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17E. Maynard Adams, 1919-2003Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 77 (5). 2004.
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545Why Life is Necessary for Mind: The Significance of Animate BehaviorIn James O'Shea Eric Rubenstein (ed.), Self, Language, and World:Problems from Kant, Sellars, and Rosenberg, Ridgeview Publishing Co. pp. 61-88. 2010.I defend the thesis that psychological states can be literally ascribed only to living creatures and not to nonliving machines, such as sophisticated robots. Defenders of machine consciousness do not sufficiently appreciate the importance of the biological nature of a subject for the psychological significance of its behavior. Simulations of a computer-controlled, nonliving autonomous robot cannot carry the same psychological meaning as animate behavior. Being a living creature is an essential …Read more
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275One more foiled defense of skepticismPhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 54 (2): 373-375. 1994.This paper is a response to Anthony Brueckner's critique of my essay "The Self-Defeating Character of Skepticism," which appeared in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research in 1992. In this reply I contend that the three main avenues by which one might plausibly account for one's self-awareness are unavailable to an individual who is restricted to the skeptic's epistemic ground rules. First, all-encompassing doubt about the world cancels our "external" epistemic access via perception to oursel…Read more
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60Avowals and First‐Person PrivilegePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 62 (2): 311-335. 2001.When people avow their present feelings, sensations, thoughts, etc., they enjoy what may be called “first‐person privilege.” If I now said: “I have a headache,” or “I'm thinking about Venice,” I would be taken at my word: I would normally not be challenged. According to one prominent approach, this privilege is due to a special epistemic access we have to our own present states of mind. On an alternative, deflationary approach the privilege merely reflects a socio‐linguistic convention governing…Read more
APA Eastern Division
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Action |
Philosophy of Mind |
Metaphysics and Epistemology |
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
Philosophy of Mind |
Metaphysics and Epistemology |