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12Practical Realism as MetaphysicsAmerican Philosophical Quarterly 51 (4): 297-304. 2014.Mainstream analytic metaphysics is a priori metaphysics. It is hemmed in by basic assumptions that rest on no more than a priori intuitions. Jaegwon Kim's arguments about causation are a paradigm example of sophisticated arguments with little or no justification from the world as we know it. And Peter van Inwagen's arguments about material objects are motivated by a question that, I think, has no nontrivial answer: Under what conditions do some x's compose an object y? The trivial answers are "a…Read more
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11Autism and 'I'Journal of Consciousness Studies 22 (11-12): 180-193. 2015.After summarizing my own views of 'I' and the first-person perspective, I consider a well-known autistic, Temple Grandin, who claims that she thinks only in pictures, not in language. I argue, to the contrary, that Grandin's mental life as she describes it in fact requires language, which, as a writer, she undoubtedly has. Finally, I turn to the question of whether thought as Temple Grandin describes it is independent of language.
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10"Thought and Object: Essays on Intentionality" edited by Andrew Woodfield (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 45 (1): 137. 1984.
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9Reply to OaklanderManuscrito 40 (1): 67-73. 2017.ABSTRACT In September, 2016, I replied to an earlier draft of Oaklander’s Critique of my view of time for Manuscrito. Now he has published an extremely complex 50-page expanded version. There is no way that a reply in a journal could cover all the topics Oaklander discusses. So, I will stick mainly to my own view to which Oaklander was responding. My reply is in two parts. In the first, directed at Oaklander’s earlier draft, I say what I want to do in philosophy in general, and in the philosophy…Read more
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8Book Reviews (review)Australasian Journal of Philosophy 81 (4): 597-598. 2003.Book Information Objects and Persons. Objects and Persons Trenton Merricks. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001, pp. xii + 203, £30, £14.99. By Trenton Merricks. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Pp. xii + 203. £30, £14.99
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83. Mind and the Machine AnalogyIn Saving Belief: A Critique of Physicalism, Princeton University Press. pp. 43-62. 1987.
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81. Common Sense and PhysicalismIn Saving Belief: A Critique of Physicalism, Princeton University Press. pp. 1-20. 1987.
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8ConstitutionalismIn Jonathan J. Loose, Angus John Louis Menuge & J. P. Moreland (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism, Wiley-blackwell. 2018.This chapter deals with a brief word about the Christian doctrine of Incarnation. The doctrine of the Incarnation, which takes Jesus Christ to be a person fully human and fully divine, requires a slight modification of constitutionalism. Constitutionalism seems to have an advantage over mind‐body dualism about Christ's nature: his human nature is wholly material and his divine nature is wholly immaterial. The chapter also focuses on Christian doctrines of resurrection of the dead. Next, it discu…Read more
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7Through the ages, Christians have almost automatically been Mind-Body dualists. The Bible portrays us as spiritual beings, and one obvious way to be a spiritual being is to be (or to have) an immaterial soul. Since it is also evident that we have bodies, Christians naturally have thought of themselves as composite beings, made of two substances—a material body and a nonmaterial soul. Despite the historical weight of this position, I do not think that it is required either by Scripture or by Chri…Read more
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76. How High the Stakes?In Saving Belief: A Critique of Physicalism, Princeton University Press. pp. 113-133. 1987.
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5Thought and Object: Essays on IntentionalityPhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 45 (1): 137-142. 1984.
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42. Belief in Cognitive ScienceIn Saving Belief: A Critique of Physicalism, Princeton University Press. pp. 23-42. 1987.
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45. The Elusiveness of ContentIn Saving Belief: A Critique of Physicalism, Princeton University Press. pp. 85-110. 1987.
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4Ontology and Ordinary ObjectsIn Christian Kanzian, Winfried Löffler & Josef Quitterer (eds.), The Ways Things Are: Studies in Ontology, Ontos. pp. 167-180. 2011.
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49. Where We Are NowIn Saving Belief: A Critique of Physicalism, Princeton University Press. pp. 167-174. 1987.
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38. Instrumentalism: Back from the Brink?In Saving Belief: A Critique of Physicalism, Princeton University Press. pp. 149-166. 1987.
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3Nonreductive MaterialsimIn Brian McLaughlin, Ansgar Beckermann & Sven Walter (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mind, Oxford University Press. 2009.
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3Conscious and unconscious intentionality in practical realismMeQRiMa Rivista Di Analisi Testo Letterario E Figurativo 5 130-135. 2002.1. Suppose that John and Jane are junior colleagues in an academic department of a university. John, who thinks of Jane as his competitor, has seen her flirt with the head of the department. He tells his other colleagues that Jane is trying to gain an unfair advantage over him. He comes to dislike Jane, and often in conversation with people outside the department, he enjoys saying bad things about Jane.
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1God and Science in the Public SchoolsPhilosophic Exchange 30 (1). 2000.On March 11, 2000, the New York Times reported that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that creationism should be taught alongside Darwin’s theory of evolution in the public schools. This controversy raises important questions in the philosophy of science, as well as questions about public education in a democracy. This paper considers some of the arguments on both sides of this debate.
Amherst, Massachusetts, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Action |
Philosophy of Mind |
Philosophy of Religion |
Areas of Interest
Metaphysics |