•  1579
    Arguing With Asperger Syndrome
    with J. E. Richardson and C. Blackmore
    In Albert Atkin, J. E. Richardson & C. Blackmore (eds.), Proceedings of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation (ISSA). pp. 1141-1146. 2007.
    The study examines the argumentative competencies of people with Asperger syndrome (AS) and compares this with those of normal – or what are called neurotypical (NT) – subjects. To investigate how people with AS recognise, evaluate and engage in argumentation, we have adapted and applied the empirical instrument developed by van Eemeren, Garssen and Meuffels to study the conventional validity of the pragma-dialectical freedom rule (van Eemeren, Gars- sen & Meuffels 2003a; 2003b; 2005a; 2005b; va…Read more
  •  1031
    Peirce's final account of signs and the philosophy of language
    Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 44 (1). 2008.
    In this paper I examine parallels between C.S. Peirce's most mature account of signs and contemporary philosophy of language. I do this by first introducing a summary of Peirce's final account of Signs. I then use that account of signs to reconstruct Peircian answers to two puzzles of reference: The Problem of Cognitive Significance, or Frege's Puzzle; and The Same-Saying Phenomenon for Indexicals. Finally, a comparison of these Peircian answers with both Fregean and Direct Referentialist approa…Read more
  •  810
    Peirce on The Index and Indexical Reference
    Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 41 (4): 161-88. 2005.
    Although the index is one of the best known features of Peirce's theory of signs there is little appreciation of Peirce's theory of the index amongst contemporary philosophers of language. Amongst Peirce scholars, the value placed on Peirce's account is greater, but is largely based on Thomas Goudge's paper, "Peirce's Index" (Goudge, 1965). Despite marking a crucial milestone in our comprehension of Peirce's theory, our understanding of indices and indexical reference has grown markedly over the…Read more
  •  622
    There’s No Place Like ‘Here’ and No Time Like ‘Now’
    American Philosophical Quarterly 43 (3): 271-80. 2006.
    Is it possible for me to refer to someone other than myself with the word "I"? Or somewhere other than where I am with the word "here"? Or some time other than the present with the word "now"? David Kaplan, who provides the best worked out semantics for pure-indexical terms like "I," "here," and "now" suggests, quite intuitively, that I could not. Put simply, "I am here now" looks as though I can never utter it and have it turn out false. But, intuitive as this seems, one need only hear the answ…Read more
  •  557
    Race, Racism, and Social Policy
    In Andrei Poama & Annabelle Lever (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Ethics and Public Policy, Routledge. pp. 281-291. 2019.
    Policy-making must always pay attention to race. That is the central claim of this chapter. Regardless of whether some particular policy debate is ostensibly “racial”, policy-makers must attend to questions of race, because race is a ubiquitous, but frequently unnoticed, feature of our world. I examine the type of philosophical question about race that I think philosophers and policy-makers would do well to examine and consider how the question “What is race?” is pertinent to policy debate. Exam…Read more
  •  552
    Critical Philosophy of Race: Beyond the USA
    Journal of Applied Philosophy 34 (4): 514-518. 2017.
    The study of race and racism is an area of growth in philosophy. The quantity of research published under the banner of ‘the philosophy of race’ is increasing; research monographs and edited collections are appearing in greater numbers, and there is even a noticeable though still lamentably small increase in the number of professional posi- tions being advertised in the philosophy of race. However, one notable feature of this research is how much it focuses upon the racial context of the USA. Mo…Read more
  •  409
    Race Science and Definition
    In Naomi Zack (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Race, . pp. 139-149. 2017.
    Debates over the reality of race often rely on arguments about the connection between race and science—those who deny that race is real argue that there is no significant support from science for our ordinary race concepts; those who affirm that race is real argue that our ordinary race concepts are supported by scientific findings. However, there is arguably a more fundamental concern here: How should we define race concepts in the first place? The reason I claim that this definitional question…Read more
  •  335
    Intellectual Hope as Convenient Friction
    Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 51 (4): 444. 2015.
    Pragmatist approaches to truth have often been judged in light of a caricature of William James’ claim that, “the ‘true’ is only the expedient in our way of thinking”. This unfortunate caricature, where truth is claimed to be ‘whatever it’s useful to believe’, means pragmatist theories of truth are generally seen as non-starters, or unworthy of serious attention. And even leaving aside stalking-horse versions of classical pragmatism, there is also a view that whatever contemporary pragmatists ha…Read more
  •  330
    This paper traces a lost genealogical connection between Charles S. Peirce’s later theory of signs and contemporary work in the philosophy of language by John Perry. As is shown, despite some differences, both accounts offer what might be termed a multi-level account of meaning. Moreover, it is claimed that by adopting a ‘Peircian turn’ in his theory, Perry might overcome alleged shortcomings in his account of cognitive significance.
  •  322
    ''You 're Being Unreasonable': Prior and Passing Theories of Critical Discussion
    with John E. Richardson
    Argumentation 20 (2): 149-166. 2006.
    A key and continuing concern within the pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation is how to account for effective persuasion disciplined by dialectical rationality. Currently, van Eemeren and Houtlosser offer one response to this concern in the form of strategic manoeuvring. This paper offers a prior/passing theory of communicative interaction as a supplement to the strategic manoeuvring approach. Our use of a prior/passing model investigates how a difference of opinion can be resolved while bo…Read more
  •  285
    Peirce's theory of signs
    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2008.
    Peirce's Sign Theory, or Semiotic, is an account of signification, representation, reference and meaning. Although sign theories have a long history, Peirce's accounts are distinctive and innovative for their breadth and complexity, and for capturing the importance of interpretation to signification. For Peirce, developing a thoroughgoing theory of signs was a central philosophical and intellectual preoccupation. The importance of semiotic for Peirce is wide ranging. As he himself said, “[…] it …Read more
  •  279
    Childhood and Race
    In Anca Gheaus, Gideon Calder & Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Childhood and Children, . pp. 249-259. 2018.
    Amongst the many social factors that impact upon children, race is arguably one of the largest. Race is an ever-present social category that governs many elements of a child’s interaction with others, and especially for racial minority children it exerts a deep influence on their understanding of themselves. In this chapter, we shall begin by examining what the concept of race really amounts to, emphasizing its status as a socially constructed concept, before examining in the following section h…Read more
  •  267
    Arguing about Muslims : reasonable argumentation in letters to the editor
    with Atkin Albert and E. Richardson John
    Text and Talk 1 (27): 1-25. 2007.
    This article analyses letters to the editor written on or about Muslims printed in a British broadsheet newspaper. The pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation is applied as a model for explaining and understanding the arguments employed in the sampled letters. Our presentation of pragma-dialectical theory focuses on argumentative reasonableness. More specifically, we introduce the four dialectical stages through which any argument must pass and explain the ten rules of critical discussion tha…Read more
  •  257
    A Critical Review of Romaphobia: The Last Acceptable Form of Racism. (review)
    Critical Philosophy of Race 9 (1): 151-158. 2021.
    In his book, Romaphobia: The Last Acceptable form of Racism, Aidan McGarry gives a powerful analysis of anti-Roma racism in Europe. His aims in the book are to highlight the plight of European Roma and to anal- yse the underlying causes of their persecution. The quandary, as McGarry sees it, is that Roma persecution in Europe has persisted unabated for over six hundred years. As soon as Roma appeared in Europe in the late fourteenth century they were traded as slaves, or targeted by laws calling…Read more
  •  182
    Reconstruction, recognition and Roma
    In Daniel A. Baker & Maria Hlavajova (eds.), We Roma: A Critical Reader in Contemporary Art, Valiz. pp. 32-48. 2013.
    Pre-Proof Copy
  •  171
  •  119
    The Philosophy of Race
    Routledge. 2012.
    "Race" is so highly charged and loaded a concept it often hampers critical thinking about racial practice and policy. A philosophical approach allows us to isolate and analyse the key questions: What is race? Can we do without race? What is racism and why is it wrong? What should our policies on race and racism be? The Philosophy of Race presents a concise and up-to-date overview of the central philosophical debates about race. It then builds on this philosophical foundation to analyse the socio…Read more
  •  76
    Peirce’s Theory of Signs, by Thomas L. Short.: Book Reviews (review)
    Mind 119 (475): 852-855. 2010.
    (No abstract is available for this citation)
  •  40
    Peirce's Speculative Grammar: Logic as Semiotics (review)
    History and Philosophy of Logic 43 (4): 398-400. 2022.
    In 1897, Peirce famously avows that ‘Logic, in its general sense, is, as I believe I have shown, only another name for semiotic’ (Peirce 1932, 2.227). Moreover, in his later attempts to classify di...
  •  24
    C.s. Peirce's pragmatism
    Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2004.
  •  15
    Constructing the antagonist in advertising argumentation
    with Atkin Albert and E. Richardson John
    18 page
  •  12
    Review: Common-Sense: A New Look at Old Tradition (review)
    Mind 116 (461): 206-209. 2007.
    4 page
  •  2
    Peirce
    Routledge. 2015.
    Charles Sanders Peirce is generally regarded as the founder of pragmatism, and one of the greatest ever American philosophers. Peirce is also widely known for his work on truth, his foundational work in mathematical logic, and an influential theory of signs, or semiotics. Albert Atkin introduces the full spectrum of Peirce’s thought for those coming to his work for the first time. The book begins with an overview of Peirce’s life and work, considering his early and long-standing interest in logi…Read more
  •  2
    Peirce's Theory of Semiotics
    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. forthcoming.
  •  2
    Review (review)
    Critical Philosophy of Race 9 (1): 151-158. 2021.