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30The Principles of Judaism. Samuel Lebens. Oxford University press, 2020, xiii and 331 pp, $100 (review)International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 88 (3): 307-312. 2020.
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12Liaisons: Philosophy Meets the Cognitive and Social SciencesPhilosophical Quarterly 44 (175): 255-257. 1994.
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24Cartesian Metaphysics: The Scholastic Origins of Modern PhilosophyPhilosophical Quarterly 52 (209): 635-637. 2002.This is the first book-length study of Descartes's metaphysics to place it in its immediate historical context, the Late Scholastic philosophy of thinkers such as Suárez against which Descartes reacted. Jorge Secada views Cartesian philosophy as an 'essentialist' reply to the 'existentialism' of the School, and his discussion includes careful analyses and original interpretations of such central Cartesian themes as the role of scepticism, intentionality and the doctrine of the material falsity o…Read more
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11Cartesian Metaphysics: The Scholastic Origins of Modern PhilosophyMind 111 (441): 174-178. 2002.
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8The Jewish God Question: What Jewish Thinkers Have Said About God, the Book, the People, and the LandRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2018.This book shares what a diverse array of Jewish thinkers have said about the interrelated questions of God, the Book, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel. Accessible chapters present fascinating insights from ancient times to today, from Philo to Judith Plaskow. An intriguing and provocative book for readers wrestling with big questions.
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Concepts and Symbols: The Semantics and Syntax of Mental RepresentationDissertation, Columbia University. 1993.This study focuses on concepts and, ultimately, their possible implementation in brains. Especially salient is analysis of Jerry Fodor's work. The view of concepts found therein is one where many of both are "simple": to be ascribed or to token most concepts doesn't require being ascribed or tokening any other concepts, and most symbols lack "parts" which are themselves symbols. This is, I think, a very popular, and mistaken, view. ;In chapter 1, I argue that Fodor's theory of content is, contra…Read more
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4Gray Matters: An Introduction to the Philosophy of MindRoutledge. 1997."Gray Matters is a thorough examination of the main topics in recent philosophy of mind. It aims at surveying a broad range of issues, not all of which can be subsumed under one position or one philosopher's theory. In this way, the authors avoid neglecting interesting issues out of allegiance to a given theory of mind." --Book Jacket.
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3Uncommon Sense: The Strangest Ideas From the Smartest PhilosophersRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2012.In eighteen lively chapters, Andrew Pessin examines the most unusual ideas from the ancient Greeks and contemporary thinkers, how they have influenced the course of Western thought, and why, despite being so odd, they just might be correct. ·Time is an illusion. ·Your thoughts do not exist inside your head. ·There is no physical world ·And more!
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113Mentalese syntax: Between a rock and two hard places (review)Philosophical Studies 78 (1): 33-53. 1995.
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12In Defense of Conceptual HolismJournal of Philosophical Research 20 269-280. 1995.In their recent book Holism, Jerry Fodor & Ernest Lepore (F&L) argue that various species of content holism face insuperable difficulties. In this paper I reply to their claims. After describing the version of holism to which I subscribe, I follow them in addressing, in turn, its implications for these related topics: interpersonal understanding, false beliefs and reference, psychological explanation, content sirnilarity and identity, the analytic-synthetic distinction, and empirical evidence. T…Read more
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33Does Continuous Creation Entail Occasionalism?: MalebrancheCanadian Journal of Philosophy 30 (3): 413-439. 2000.‘God needs no instruments to act,’ Malebranche writes in Search 6.2.3; “it suffices that He wills in order that a thing be, because it is a contradiction that He should will and that what He wills should not happen. Therefore, His power is His will”. After nearly identical language in Treatise 1.12, Malebranche writes that “[God's] wills are necessarily efficacious … His power differs not at all from His will”. God exercises His causal power, here, via His volitions; what He causes depends not m…Read more
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3The new schizophrenia: Diagnosis and dynamics of the homeless mentally illJournal of Mind and Behavior 15 (3): 199-222. 1994.
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58Malebranche's doctrine of freedom / consent and the incompleteness of God's volitionsBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 8 (1). 2000.'God needs no instruments to act', Malebranche writes in Search 6.2.3; 'it suffices that He wills in order that a thing be, because it is a contradiction that He should will and that what He wills should not happen. Therefore, His power is His will' (450). After nearly identical language in Treatise 1.12, Malebranche writes that '[God's] wills are necessarily efficacious ... [H]is power differs not at all from [H]is will' (116). God's causal power, here, clearly traces only to His volitions - no…Read more
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49Malebranche's "vision in God"Philosophy Compass 1 (1). 2006.Of Malebranche's many famous doctrines, his “Vision in God” (VIG) surely ranks among the most interesting. Inspired by Augustine and Descartes, he argues for it vigorously and gives it a prominent place in his system of thought. And although it won no converts it did win many critics, who, in criticizing, were compelled to clarify their own theories of cognition. Thus VIG is of interest for its own sake, for its role in Malebranche's philosophy, and for its general influence in the early modern …Read more
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29Leibnizian ChronadologyJournal of Philosophical Research 31 185-218. 2006.I argue that we can learn quite a lot about Leibniz’s metaphysics, in particular about monads and their relationship to time, by viewing Leibniz through a McTaggartian lens. After presenting McTaggart’s highly influential two basic conceptions of time, the A- (or tensed) and B- (or tenseless) conceptions, I distinguish four possible models of the relationship between monads and time: the fi rst two invoke tenses, differing in whether they treat non-present states as “real,” while the latter two …Read more
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73Descartes's Nomic Concurrentism: Finite Causation and Divine ConcurrenceJournal of the History of Philosophy 41 (1): 25-49. 2003.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Journal of the History of Philosophy 41.1 (2003) 25-49 [Access article in PDF] Descartes's Nomic Concurrentism:Finite Causation and Divine Concurrence Andrew Pessin DESCARTES APPEARS TO HOLD the traditional view that God acts in the world via willing. 1 In recent papers on his successor Malebranche, who also holds that view, I have argued that since volitions are paradigm representational states, close attention to the representation…Read more
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2The Study of Philosophy: A Text with ReadingsRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2015.From Plato to Plantinga, from Aristotle to Ayer, and from Socrates to Singer, this text brings the power of both ancient and modern philosophy to students of the twenty-first century! This seventh edition of The Study of Philosophy presents a comprehensive treatment of the major fields and figures of philosophy alongside primary readings to fuel debate and further study. New chapters in this edition feature: ·A substantive account of philosophical theology ·A reorganized treatment of early moder…Read more
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67Malebranche's natural theodicy and the incompleteness of God's volitionsReligious Studies 36 (1): 47-63. 2000.The causal power of Malebranche's God is a function of the content of His will. Yet despite its significance for Malebranche, little exegetical attention has been paid to his notion of volitional content. In this paper I develop the notion of an 'incomplete' volition, note that Malebranche accepted and used something like it, and then examine Malebranche's natural theodicy in its light. This yields a new interpretation in which, unlike previous interpretations, Malebranche actually succeeds in r…Read more
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24Descartes’s Theory of Mind (review)Review of Metaphysics 58 (2): 430-433. 2004.In this book Clarke offers an interesting spin on Descartes: rather than see him simply as a substance dualist who offers a very poor account of the mind, Clarke sees him as a scientist pushing scientific explanation of the mind as far as it will go, and only exiting that path as a substance dualist when explanation has reached its limits. In this light Descartes comes out as an impressively successful thinker rather than as a blatantly poor one. Clarke is much to be commended for this reorienta…Read more
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11Cartesian Metaphysics: The Scholastic Origins of Modern Philosophy (review)Mind 111 (441): 174-178. 2002.
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140Review: Cartesian metaphysics: The scholastic origins of modern philosophy (review)Mind 111 (441): 174-178. 2002.
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10Leibnizian ChronadologyJournal of Philosophical Research 31 185-218. 2006.I argue that we can learn quite a lot about Leibniz’s metaphysics, in particular about monads and their relationship to time, by viewing Leibniz through a McTaggartian lens. After presenting McTaggart’s highly influential two basic conceptions of time, the A- (or tensed) and B- (or tenseless) conceptions, I distinguish four possible models of the relationship between monads and time: the fi rst two invoke tenses, differing in whether they treat non-present states as “real,” while the latter two …Read more
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13The Cambridge Companion to Malebranche (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 39 (3): 442-443. 2001.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Journal of the History of Philosophy 39.3 (2001) 442-443 [Access article in PDF] Steven Nadler, editor. The Cambridge Companion to Malebranche. Cambridge Companions. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Pp. xi + 319. Cloth, $54.95. With his own Cambridge Companion, the seventeenth-century French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche has at last arrived in the English speaking world. As editor Nadler puts it, "Malebranche was widely …Read more
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172The Twin Earth Chronicles: Twenty Years of Reflection on Hilary Putnam’s “the Meaning of ”Meaning’ ‘ (edited book)M. E. Sharpe. 1996.This volume will acquaint novice philosophers with one of the most important debates in twentieth-century philosophy, and will provide seasoned readers with a ...
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81Malebranche on IdeasCanadian Journal of Philosophy 34 (2). 2004.I sketch a new interpretation of Malebranche's conception of ideas, thus shedding new light on various of his key doctrines, such as the efficacy of ideas, involuntarism concerning the eternal truths, indirect perception, and vision in God. Briefly, I argue that Malebranche's ideas may be construed as "possible divine volitions," where these are conceptually distinguishable aspects of God, primitively possessed of representational content, by whose exercise God manifests His efficacy. I also def…Read more
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91In defense of conceptual holism: Reply to Fodor and LeporeJournal of Philosophical Research 20 269-280. 1995.In their recent book Holism, Jerry Fodor & Ernest Lepore (F&L) argue that various species of content holism face insuperable difficulties. In this paper I reply to their claims. After describing the version of holism to which I subscribe, I follow them in addressing, in turn, its implications for these related topics: interpersonal understanding, false beliefs and reference, psychological explanation, content sirnilarity and identity, the analytic-synthetic distinction, and empirical evidence. T…Read more
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86Does Continuous Creation Entail Occasionalism?Canadian Journal of Philosophy 30 (3): 413-439. 2000.‘God needs no instruments to act,’ Malebranche writes in Search 6.2.3; “it suffices that He wills in order that a thing be, because it is a contradiction that He should will and that what He wills should not happen. Therefore, His power is His will”. After nearly identical language in Treatise 1.12, Malebranche writes that “[God's] wills are necessarily efficacious … His power differs not at all from His will”. God exercises His causal power, here, via His volitions; what He causes depends not m…Read more
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