•  82
    Hume on Thick and Thin Causation
    Dissertation, Marquette University. 2018.
    Hume is known for his claim that our idea of causation is nothing beyond constant conjunction, and that our idea of necessary connection is nothing beyond a felt determination of the mind. In short, Hume endorses a "thin" conception of causation and necessary connection. In recent years, however, a sizeable number of philosophers have come to view Hume as someone who believes in the existence of thick causal connections - that is, causal connections that allow one to infer a priori the effect fr…Read more
  •  57
    A challenge to unqualified medical confidentiality
    Journal of Medical Ethics 44. 2017.
    Medical personnel sometimes face a seeming conflict between a duty to respect patient confidentiality and a duty to warn or protect endangered third parties. The conventional answer to dilemmas of this sort is that, in certain circumstances, medical professionals have an obligation to breach confidentiality. Kenneth Kipnis has argued, however, that the conventional wisdom on the nature of medical confidentiality is mistaken. Kipnis argues that the obligation to respect patient confidentiality is…Read more
  •  39
    The Pre-eminent Good Argument
    Religious Studies 56 (4): 596-610. 2020.
    According to J. L. Schellenberg, a perfectly loving God wouldn't permit the occurrence of non-resistant non-believers – that is, non-believers who are both capable of believing in and relating to God, but who fail to believe through no fault of their own. Since non-resistant non-believers exist, says Schellenberg, it follows that God doesn't. A popular response to this argument is some version or other of the greater good defence. God, it's argued, is justified in hiding himself when done for th…Read more
  •  39
    Abortion and the basis of equality: a reply to Miller
    Journal of Medical Ethics 50 (3): 207-208. 2024.
    Miller has recently argued that the standard liberal and moderate positions on abortion are incapable of grounding the claim that ‘all non-disabled adult humans are equal’. The reason, he claims, is such accounts base the intrinsic moral worth of a human being on some property (or set of properties) which comes in degrees. In contrast, he argues that moral equality must reside in some binary property, such as the property of being human. In this paper, I offer three criticisms of Miller’s positi…Read more
  •  37
    On What Empiricism Cannot Be
    Metaphilosophy 47 (2): 181-198. 2016.
    Bas C. van Fraassen, in his Terry Lectures at Yale University, is concerned to elucidate what empiricism is, and could be, given past and current failures of characterization. He contends that naïve empiricism—the metaphilosophical position that characterizes empiricism in terms of a thesis—is self-refuting, and he offers a reductio ad absurdum to substantiate this claim. Moreover, in place of naïve empiricism, van Fraassen endorses stance empiricism: the metaphilosophical position that characte…Read more
  •  37
    Functions or Propositional Functions? [review of Michael Potter and Tom Ricketts, eds., The Cambridge Companion to Frege ] (review)
    Russell: The Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies 30 (2): 161-168. 2010.
    In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:February 19, 2011 (11:48 am) E:\CPBR\RUSSJOUR\TYPE3002\russell 30,2 040 red.wpd Reviews 161 7 In, respectively, PaciWsm in Britain and Semi-Detached Idealists: the British Peace Movement and International Relations (Oxford: Oxford U. P., 2000). 8 See Monk 2: Chap. 13. FUNCTIONS OR PROPOSITIONAL FUNCTIONS? Alexander Paul Bozzo Philosophy / Marquette U. Milwaukee, wi 53233, usa [email protected] Michael Potter and Tom Ricke…Read more
  •  29
    Is same-sex marriage unjust?
    Think 21 (62): 5-17. 2022.
    A response to James S. Spiegel's article in THINK 43 in which he argues that same-sex marriage is unjust.
  •  24
    The Cambridge Companion to Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (review)
    Kant Studien 106 (1): 136-142. 2015.
    Name der Zeitschrift: Kant-Studien Jahrgang: 106 Heft: 1 Seiten: 136-142
  •  23
    Faint Impressions, Forceful Ideas: Hume's Impression/Idea Distinction
    History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis 24 (2): 326-350. 2021.
    A natural reading of Hume’s distinction between impressions and ideas is that impressions are forceful perceptions whereas ideas are faint. A problem emerges, however, when Hume countenances the possibility of faint impressions and forceful ideas. In this paper, I attempt a resolution to the problem. I argue that Hume characterizes impressions and ideas intensionally and extensionally, and sometimes uses the term in only one of the two senses. I argue that Hume intensionally defines impressions …Read more
  •  5
    Hume, Substance, and Causation: A Solution to a Nasty Problem
    Hume Studies 48 (2): 263-282. 2023.
    Louis Loeb has identified a “nasty problem” in connection with Hume’s theory of meaning. The problem is that Hume seemingly claims we lack ideas corresponding to key metaphysical terms, such as terms like “substance” and “necessary connection,” but he then proceeds to explain why philosophers believe in the existence of entities denoted by such terms. In short, Hume seems motivated to explain belief in the existence of certain entities, despite his claiming we have no ideas corresponding to them…Read more
  •  5
    Functions or Propositional Functions? [review of Michael Potter and Tom Ricketts, eds., The Cambridge Companion to Frege ] (review)
    Russell: The Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies 30 (2): 161-168. 2010.
    In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:February 19, 2011 (11:48 am) E:\CPBR\RUSSJOUR\TYPE3002\russell 30,2 040 red.wpd Reviews 161 7 In, respectively, PaciWsm in Britain and Semi-Detached Idealists: the British Peace Movement and International Relations (Oxford: Oxford U. P., 2000). 8 See Monk 2: Chap. 13. FUNCTIONS OR PROPOSITIONAL FUNCTIONS? Alexander Paul Bozzo Philosophy / Marquette U. Milwaukee, wi 53233, usa [email protected] Michael Potter and Tom Ricke…Read more