•  7
    In this article, I present and explain ten different possible meanings of a chance event – some ontological, some epistemic – and provide examples whenever possible. I describe and illustrate more carefully the view of chance (tychē) expressed by Aristotle in his Physics, a demanding and complex notion, and contrast it to the other senses examined. The etymology of chance also reveals a cross-reference between chance and indeterminism. I draw attention to the fact that most of the definitions of…Read more
  •  6
    The impediment of individuals affected by mental illness at risk of suicide is well justified. But the impediment to rational suicide is complicated by the conflict between defending life and defending autonomy, as illustrated by the various philosophical approaches to the ethical dimension of suicide. In this article we argue that, insofar as punctual in nature and limited in scope, paternalistic intervention of the autonomous individual is also justified. To do so, we will use the distinction …Read more
  • The Periodic Table and its Iconicity: an Essay
    with Juergen H. Maar
    Substantia 3 (2): 29-48. 2019.
    In this essay, we aim to provide an overview of the periodic table’s origins and history, and of the elements which conspired to make it chemistry’s most recognisable icon. We pay attention to Mendeleev’s role in the development of a system for organising the elements and chemical knowledge while facilitating the teaching of chemistry. We look at how the reception of the table in different chemical communities was dependent on the local scientific, cultural and political context, but argue that …Read more
  •  1374
    Isaiah Berlin famously attacked a view he called historical inevitability. He believed that a causal view of history entails the adoption of an extreme deterministic position – a kind of determinism which would rule out the possibility of free will, turning moral responsibility a notion void of meaning. His thesis was also based on the assumption that historians are not just chroniclers of the past but need to engage in moral judgments; therefore should determinism hold true of our world, our mo…Read more
  •  3
    A Metafísica de Copleston e o Debate com Russell
    Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 76 (4): 1331-1362. 2020.
    Father Frederick Copleston is best known for his carefully crafted works History of Philosophy and Thomas Aquinas. Copleston’s most notable metaphysical thesis is his interpretation of the argument from contingency, which he sees as the superior choice for theists. He draws on Aquinas and distinguishes between causa fieri and causa esse to argue that God is a higher order cause of contingent causal series. Copleston presents God not as a temporal first cause, but an ontologically ultimate cause …Read more
  •  4
    Kinds of Determinism in Science
    Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology 23 (3): 503-528. 2019.
    Determinism is a doctrine or assumption best defined in the realm of the natural sciences. In this paper I explain in detail the four senses of determinism, from the most fundamental metaphysical sense, to the most complex epistemic (predictive) sense. I take as a starting point the analysis of determinism offered by Stephen Kellert. Each of these senses is then expounded and commented with a view to explore some of the implications of each of them in theoretical physics. The most important of m…Read more
  •  11
    Modelos científicos em tempos de pandemia
    Voluntas: Revista Internacional de Filosofia 11. 2020.
    A pandemia de COVID-19 deu maior visibilidade ao trabalho de epidemiologistas, e em particular ao uso de modelos epidemiológicos. Projeções da expansão da doença, número de casos e o seu pico esperado, são amplamente divulgadas na mídia. Políticas de saúde pública, como medidas de isolamento social, são justificadas à população com base na necessidade de se ‘achatar a curva’, e evitar o colapso do sistema de saúde. Mas o público não é informado sobre os usos e limitações dos modelos. A necessida…Read more
  •  9
    Os Sonetos Químicos de Max von Pettenkofer
    with Juergen H. Maar
    Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 75 (4): 2439-2478. 2019.
    The chemist Max von Pettenkofer studied with Justus von Liebig, and after leaving Giessen in 1844 did not immediately find an academic position. During the period 1844/1845 he wrote a cycle of 16 Chemical Sonnets, but published them only in 1886. The Sonnets have with few exceptions a historiographical character. We present a translation of the Sonette into Portuguese as well as commentaries about their content and their philosophical significance. We also comment rather briefly on Pettenkofer’s…Read more
  •  16
    As a philosopher of science, Pierre Duhem is most often remembered as the earliest contributor to what became known as the Duhem-Quine thesis. This thesis casts doubt on our ability to isolate and test theories, and to choose between empirically equivalent rivals. By extension, it offers important criticism of the rationality of deductivist science. In contrast with the vast literature produced during the 20th century addressing the problem of empirical underdetermination of theories, little has…Read more
  •  108
    Applying D. K. Lewis’s Counterfactual Theory of Causation to the Philosophy of Historiography
    Journal of the Philosophy of History 10 (3): 349-369. 2016.
    _ Source: _Volume 10, Issue 3, pp 349 - 369 A theory of causation suitable for historiography must accommodate the many types of causal claims historians make. In this paper, I examine the advantages of applying D. K. Lewis’s counterfactual theory of causation to the philosophy of historiography. I contend that Lewis’s possible world semantics offers a superior framework for making sense of historical causation, and that it lays the foundation for historians to look at history as causal series o…Read more
  •  32
    Possible uses of counterfactual thought experiments in history
    Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology 18 (1): 87. 2014.
    Counterfactual thought experiments in history have become increasingly popular in the last two decades, and a new and controversial branch of history has originated from their use: counterfactual history, also known as virtual history. Despite its popularity amongst the general public, most academic historians consider historical counterfactuals as having little epistemic value. This paper investigates three alleged uses of counterfactual thinking in historical explanations: the claim that count…Read more