•  16
  •  33
    Intrinsic information
    In Philip P. Hanson (ed.), Information, Language and Cognition, University of British Columbia Press. pp. 1--390. 1990.
  •  117
    Evolutionary naturalism and the objectivity of morality
    Biology and Philosophy 8 (1): 47-60. 1993.
    We propose an objective and justifiable ethics that is contingent on the truth of evolutionary theory. We do not argue for the truth of this position, which depends on the empirical question of whether moral functions form a natural class, but for its cogency and possibility. The position we propose combines the advantages of Kantian objectivity with the explanatory and motivational advantages of moral naturalism. It avoids problems with the epistemological inaccessibility of transcendent values…Read more
  •  6
    A major goal of science is to discover laws that underlie all regular phenomena. This goal is best satisfied by eternal principles that leave fundamental properties unchanged and unchangeable. Science has been forced to accept that some processes, especially biological processes, are inherently time oriented. It can either forgo the ideal of universal principles, and account for temporality through specific boundary conditions, or else incorporate the sources of change directly into fundamental …Read more
  •  6
    Richard Alexander's second book on biology and morality is a continuation and amplification of the project he reported on in Darwinism and Human Affairs1. The Biology of Moral Systems is more abstract than the earlier book. It does not broach any new empirical ground, but puts Alexander's views into a broader context of philosophical and sociological discussions of morality. It discusses and criticizes alternative philosophical and biological views of morality, and presents his views on the sign…Read more
  •  7
    Anticipation allows a system to adapt to conditions that have not yet come to be, either externally to the system or internally. Autonomous systems actively control their own conditions so as to increase their functionality (they self-regulate). Living systems self-regulate in order to increase their own viability. These increasingly stronger conditions, anticipation, autonomy and viability, can give an insight into progressively stronger classes of models of autonomy. I will argue that stronger…Read more
  •  12
    There are a number of different species concepts currently in use. The variety results from differing desiderata and practices of taxonomists, ecologists and evolutionary theorists. Recently, arguments have been presented for pluralism about species. I believe this is unsatisfactory, however, because of the central role of species in biological theory. Taking the line that species are individuals, I ask what might individuate them. In other work I have argued that dynamical systems are individua…Read more
  •  2
    Rhythmic entrainment is the formation of regular, predictable patterns in time and/or space through interactions within or between systems that manifest potential symmetries. We contend that this process is a major source of symmetries in specific systems, whether passive physical systems or active adaptive and/or voluntary/intentional systems, except that active systems have more control over accepting or avoiding rhythmic entrainment. The result of rhythmic entrainment is a simplification of t…Read more
  •  45
    Informal pragmatics and linguistic creativity
    South African Journal of Philosophy 33 (2): 121-129. 2014.
    Examples of successful linguistic communication give rise to two important insights: (1) it should be understood most fundamentally in terms of the pragmatic success of each individual utterance, and (2) linguistic conventions need to be understood as on a par with the non-linguistic regularities that competent language users rely upon to refer. Syntax and semantics are part of what Barwise and Perry call the context of the utterance, contributing to the pragmatics of the utterance. This full an…Read more
  •  40
    How Not to Defend Metaphysical Realism
    Southwest Philosophy Review 3 19-27. 1986.
  •  16
    Reasonable Partiality from a Biological Point of View
    Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 8 (1-2): 11-24. 2005.
    Speculation about the evolutionary origins of morality has yet to show how a biologically based capacity for morality might be connected to moral reasoning. Applying an evolutionary approach to three kinds of cases where partiality may or may not be morally reasonable, this paper explores a possible connection between a psychological capacity for morality and processes of wide reflective moral equilibrium. The central hypothesis is that while we might expect a capacity for morality to include as…Read more
  • Emergence in Dynamical Systems
    Analiza I Egzystencja 24 17-42. 2013.
  •  28
    Published in: Johann Christian Marek, Maria Elisabeth Reicher (ed.) Contributions of the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society XII (Austrian L. Wittgenstein Society, Kirchberg, 2004) pp. 373-375..
  •  96
    Could I conceive being a brain in a vat?
    Australasian Journal of Philosophy 68 (4). 1990.
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  23
  •  6
    Progress has become a suspect concept in evolutionary biology, not the least because the core concepts of neo-Darwinism do not support the idea that evolution is progressive. There have been a number of attempts to account for directionality in evolution through additions to the core hypotheses of neo-Darwinism, but they do not establish progressiveness, and they are somewhat of an ad hoc collection. The standard account of fitness and adaptation can be rephrased in terms of information theory. …Read more
  •  4
    In Robert West’s talk last week, dynamical systems theory (DST) was applied to a specific problem involving interacting symbolic systems, without much reference to how those systems are embodied or related to other types of systems. Despite this level of abstraction, DST can yield interesting results, though one might be left wondering if it really leads to understanding, or what it all means. In particular, Robert noted problems he has in convincing referees that the sort of explanation he gave…Read more
  •  18
    Vaulting Ambition (review)
    Canadian Journal of Philosophy 17 (4): 881-893. 1987.