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Hume and Thick ConnexionsIn Peter Millican (ed.), Reading Hume on Human Understanding: Essays on the First Enquiry, Oxford University Press. 2001.
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41Some Queries about Theological EthicsStudies in Christian Ethics 25 (2): 199-205. 2012.In this paper I ask whether either theology or religious practice actually contribute to ethical theory or ethical practice. I rehearse well-known Humean arguments that they do not. I then reflect on the idea from Professor O’Donovan’s paper that it is virtuous for us to entertain hopes for redemption or for fulfilment and suggest that a careful weighing of these words may indicate otherwise
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46Some reflections on naturalismThink 19 (56): 75-84. 2020.In this article I argue that we do not need a strict definition of naturalism, but can satisfactorily describe the naturalistic stance or attitude in terms of hostility to seeing human beings as subject to powers or forces or laws of nature that go beyond those governing the rest of the empirical world. We are to be explained as the evolutionary products of natural processes. I argue that we should see our concepts as well in this light, and explore some examples of the way this attitude can ill…Read more
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14Moral Relativism and Moral ObjectivityPhilosophical and Phenomenological Research 58 (1): 199-206. 1998.
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53Review of Hume, Passion, and Action by Elizabeth S. Radcliffe (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2019. 2019.
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42On Reading Scruton: Art, Truth, and TemperamentPhilosophy 94 (3): 367-381. 2019.Art is the one corner of human life in which we may take our ease. To justify our presence there the only thing that is demanded of us is a passion for representation. In other places our passions are conditional and embarrassed; we are allowed to have only so many as are consistent with those of our neighbours; with their convenience and well-being, with their convictions and prejudices, rules and regulations. Art means an escape from all this. Wherever her brilliant standard floats the need fo…Read more
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23Dictionary of PhilosophyOxford University Press UK. 2005.This best-selling dictionary is written by one of the most famous philosophers of our time, and it is widely recognized as the best dictionary of its kind. Comprehensive and authoritative, it covers every aspect of philosophy from Aristotle to Zen. With clear and concise definitions, it provides lively and accessible coverage of not only Western philosophical traditions, but also themes from Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and Jewish philosophy. Entries include over 500 biographies of famous and influ…Read more
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11XIII*—How to Refer to Private ExperienceProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 75 (1): 201-214. 1975.Simon Blackburn; XIII*—How to Refer to Private Experience, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 75, Issue 1, 1 June 1975, Pages 201–214, https://doi.
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7Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism?Philosophic Exchange 31 (1). 2001.Postmodernism is a celebration of relativism. It is a movement that has actively embraced the collapse of standards that it takes this to imply. This paper examines the debate between postmodernists and their opponents, approaching it through the debate over Alan Sokal’s famous hoax.
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18Pragmatism in Philosophy: The Hidden AlternativePhilosophic Exchange 41 (1). 2011.This paper contrasts two ways of understanding the function of human thought and language. According to representationalism, the function of thought and language is to refer to entities in the world and assert truths about them. By contrast, pragmatism seeks to understand the function of thought and language without any such appeal, at the most fundamental level, to the concepts of truth or reference.
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3Spreading the Word: Groundings in the Philosophy of LanguageBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 36 (2): 211-215. 1984.
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1NotesIn Mirror, Mirror: The Uses and Abuses of Self-Love, Princeton University Press. pp. 191-202. 2014.
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133. Worth It?In Mirror, Mirror: The Uses and Abuses of Self-Love, Princeton University Press. pp. 44-60. 2014.
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205. Self-Esteem, Amour Propre, PrideIn Mirror, Mirror: The Uses and Abuses of Self-Love, Princeton University Press. pp. 79-108. 2014.
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5IntroductionIn Mirror, Mirror: The Uses and Abuses of Self-Love, Princeton University Press. pp. 1-11. 2014.
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In een reactie op Scrutons beweringen over de teloorgegane waarden van religie stelt Blackburn dat het heilige ook kan bestaan zonder transcendente onderbouwing. Hij vraagt zich in een filosofische beschouwing af of religieuze gebruiken wel zoveel verschillen van de vele andere voortbrengselen van de menselijke geest.
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Wahrheit, Realismus und TheorienregulationIn Marcus Willaschek (ed.), Realismus, Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag. pp. 2143--177. 2000.
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University of North Carolina, Chapel HillDistinguished Research Professor (Part-time)
Cambridge, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland