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15D.Z. PHILLIPS: Religion and the Hermeneutics of Contemplation (review)Faith and Philosophy 21 (2): 270-273. 2004.
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Kierkegaard and the Limits of the EthicalInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 37 (1): 57-59. 1993.
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Ilham Dilman, Existentialist Critiques of Cartesianism (review)Philosophy in Review 14 322-324. 1994.
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29Skepticism, Sublimity, and TranscendenceInternational Philosophical Quarterly 48 (3): 289-304. 2008.Stanley Cavell has suggested that the deepest roots of skepticism lie in a sense of alienation between the subject and the world, and this has led him to reassess the philosophical importance of the Romantic project of “re-enchanting” the world. One way to pursue this project is by starting from Kant’s reflections on the sublime. I consider Julian Young’s recent discussion of this topic and the Heideggeran pantheism to which it leads him. I conclude that, while there is much insight in Young’s r…Read more
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12Natural DoubtsMetaphilosophy 39 (3): 305-324. 2008.Many philosophers now argue that the doubts of the philosophical sceptic are unnatural ones, in that they are not forced on us by considerations that any reasonable person would have to accept as compelling but only arise if one has already accepted certain controversial theoretical commitments. In this article I defend the naturalness of philosophical scepticism against such criticisms. After defining “global ontological scepticism,” I examine the work of a number of anti‐sceptical philosophers…Read more
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13D.Z. PHILLIPS: Religion and the Hermeneutics of Contemplation (review)Faith and Philosophy 21 (2): 270-273. 2004.
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62Phenomenal judgment and mental causationJournal of Consciousness Studies 7 (6): 53-69. 2000.This paper defends and develops an argument against epiphenomenalism, broadly construed. I argue first for a definition of epiphenomenalism which includes ‘non-reductive’ materialism as well as classical dualistic epiphenomenalism. I then present an argument that if epiphenomenalism were true it would be impossible to know about or even refer to our conscious states -- and therefore impossible even to formulate epiphenomenalism. David Chalmers has defended epiphenomenalism against such arguments…Read more
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76Kierkegaard, Macintyre and narrative unity - reply to LippittInquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 50 (5). 2007.In a recent article in this journal, John Lippitt mounts a forceful argument against narrativist approaches to issues in personal identity and practical deliberation, with specific reference to the application of such approaches in the interpretation of Kierkegaard's writings. The present critical discussion piece addresses two points in Lippitt's argument. First, it seeks to meet Lippitt's challenge to clarify the notion of "a whole life" as this figures in narrativist positions. Second, it cla…Read more
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266In defence of narrativeEuropean Journal of Philosophy 17 (1): 60-75. 2007.Over the last few decades, a number of influential philosophers, psychologists and others have invoked the notion of narrative as having a central role to play in our thinking about ethics and personal identity. More recently, a backlash against these narrative theories has developed, exemplified in work by, for instance, Galen Strawson, Peter Lamarque and John Christman. This paper defends an approach to personal identity and ethics, influenced mainly by Alasdair MacIntyre and Charles Taylor, i…Read more
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44Self, value, and narrative: a Kierkegaardian approachOxford University Press. 2012.Anthony Rudd presents a striking new account of the self as an ethical, evaluative being.
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93Narrative, expression and mental substanceInquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 48 (5): 413-435. 2005.This paper starts from the debate between proponents of a neo-Lockean psychological continuity view of personal identity, and defenders of the idea that we are simple mental substances. Each party has valid criticisms of the other; the impasse in the debate is traced to the Lockean assumption that substance is only externally related to its attributes. This suggests the possibility that we could develop a better account of mental substance if we thought of it as having an internal relation to it…Read more
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John Davenport: Will as commitment and resolve: An existential account of creativity, love, virtue, and happinessFaith and Philosophy 29 (1): 91. 2012.
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286Two types of externalismPhilosophical Quarterly 47 (189): 501-7. 1997.A contrast is drawn between two types of externalism, one based on ideas of Wittgenstein, the other on arguments from Putnam. Gregory McCulloch’s attempt to combine the two types is then examined and criticized. Putnamian externalism is ambiguous. It can be interpreted either as the empirical claim that we give priority to scientific as opposed to other forms of discourse, or as a metaphysical claim that our language attempts to conform to the structure of the world ‘in itself’. But the first cl…Read more
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112Kierkegaard on patience and the temporality of the self: The virtues of a being in timeJournal of Religious Ethics 36 (3): 491-509. 2008.This paper examines Kierkegaard 's discussion of patience in some of his Upbuilding Discourses, and its connection with his understanding of the nature of selfhood as it appears both in the Discourses and in The Sickness unto Death. That understanding stresses that selfhood is not simply given, but is a task to be achieved—although a task that can only be achieved by the self that is formed in the process of undertaking it. For Kierkegaard, an account of the self that recognizes its essential te…Read more
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25Scepticism: Epistemic and OntologicalMetaphilosophy 31 (3): 251-261. 2000.It is widely thought that sceptical arguments, if correct, would show that everyday empirical knowledge‐claims are false. Against this, I argue that the very generality of traditional sceptical arguments means that there is no direct incompatibility between everyday empirical claims and sceptical scenarios. Scepticism calls into doubt, not ordinary empirical beliefs, but philosophical attempts to give a deep ontological explanation of such beliefs. G. E. Moore's attempt to refute scepticism (and…Read more
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2The Moment and the Teacher: Problems in Kierkegaard's 'Philosophical Fragments'Kierkegaardiana 21. 2000.
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