-
179The Ups and Downs of Mechanism Realism: Functions, Levels, and Crosscutting HierarchiesErkenntnis 88 (3): 1035-1057. 2021.Mechanism realists assert the existence of mechanisms as objective structures in the world, but their exact metaphysical commitments are unclear. We introduce Local Hierarchy Realism (LHR) as a substantive and plausible form of mechanism realism. The limits of LHR reveal a deep tension between two aspects of mechanists’ explanatory strategy. Functional decomposition identifies locally relevant entities and activities, while these same entities and activities are also embedded in a nested hierarc…Read more
-
39Escape from Zanzibar: The Epistemic Value of Precision in MeasurementPhilosophy of Science 89 (5): 1243-1254. 2022.A “Zanzibar” is an island of measurement values that internally cohere, but are detached from independent contact with reality. One manifestation of Zanzibars is through “bandwagon effects,” the tendency of contemporaneous measurements to agree. Bandwagons illustrate how the otherwise virtuous drive towards coherence can have negative epistemic consequences. I argue that precision is an epistemic virtue that mitigates against bandwagon effects and illustrate this claim with a case study from the…Read more
-
48Mechanistic explanation involves the attribution of functions to both mechanisms and their component parts, and function attribution plays a central role in the individuation of mechanisms. Our aim in this paper is to investigate the impact of a perspectival view of function attribution for the broader mechanist project, and specifically for realism about mechanistic hierarchies. We argue that, contrary to the claims of function perspectivalists such as Craver, one cannot endorse both function p…Read more
-
66Prospects for timbre physicalismPhilosophical Studies 175 (2): 503-529. 2018.Timbre is that property of a sound that distinguishes it other than pitch and loudness, for instance the distinctive sound quality of a violin or flute. While the term is obscure, the concept has played an important, implicit role in recent philosophy of sound. Philosophers have debated whether to identify sounds with properties of waves, events, or objects. Many of the intuitive considerations in this debate apply most clearly to timbre qualities. Two prominent forms of timbre physicalism have …Read more
-
48Paul M. Churchland, Plato’s Camera: How the Physical Brain Captures a Landscape of Abstract Universals. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press , 304 pp., $18.00 (review)Philosophy of Science 81 (1): 161-165. 2014.
-
42Review: Paul M. Churchland: Plato's Camera: How the Physical Brain Captures a Landscape of Abstract Universals (review)Philosophical Explorations. forthcoming.
-
University of EdinburghRegular Faculty
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Cognitive Science |
Philosophy of Probability |