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A Bayesian analysis of debunking arguments in ethicsPhilosophical Studies 179 (5): 1673-1692. 2021.Debunking arguments in ethics contend that our moral beliefs have dubious evolutionary, cultural, or psychological origins—hence concluding that we should doubt such beliefs. Debates about debunking are often couched in coarse-grained terms—about whether our moral beliefs are justified or not, for instance. In this paper, I propose a more detailed Bayesian analysis of debunking arguments, which proceeds in the fine-grained framework of rational confidence. Such analysis promises several payoffs:…Read more
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On ConditionalsDissertation, National University of Singapore. 2018.This thesis is about indicative conditionals and apparent counterexamples to classically valid argument forms. Specifically, it applies the following four theories: - material (inspired by Grice (1961, 1975 and 1989)); - possible-worlds (inspired by Stalnaker (1981); Lewis (1976); and Kratzer (2012)), - suppositional (inspired by Adams (1975) and Edgington (1995 and 2014)); and - hybrid (inspired by Jackson (1987)) to try and solve the following two counterexamples: - Vann McGee’s to modus ponen…Read more
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Introduction: Varieties of IconicityReview of Philosophy and Psychology 6 (1): 1-25. 2015.This introduction aims to familiarize readers with basic dimensions of variation among pictorial and diagrammatic representations, as we understand them, in order to serve as a backdrop to the articles in this volume. Instead of trying to canvas the vast range of representational kinds, we focus on a few important axes of difference, and a small handful of illustrative examples. We begin in Section 1 with background: the distinction between pictures and diagrams, the concept of systems of repres…Read more
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The Lazy Person's Approach to DepictionJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 73 (2): 95-104. 2015.
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Fiction UnlimitedJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 75 (1): 73-80. 2017.
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The Possibility of Empty FictionsJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 77 (1): 35-42. 2019.
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Counterlogicals as CounterconventionalsJournal of Philosophical Logic 50 (4): 673-704. 2021.We develop and defend a new approach to counterlogicals. Non-vacuous counterlogicals, we argue, fall within a broader class of counterfactuals known as counterconventionals. Existing semantics for counterconventionals, 459–482 ) and, 1–27 ) allow counterfactuals to shift the interpretation of predicates and relations. We extend these theories to counterlogicals by allowing counterfactuals to shift the interpretation of logical vocabulary. This yields an elegant semantics for counterlogicals that…Read more
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Borgesian mapsAnalytic Philosophy 63 (2): 90-98. 2022.
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Why You Should Vote to Change the OutcomePhilosophy and Public Affairs 48 (4): 422-446. 2020.Prevailing opinion—defended by Jason Brennan and others—is that voting to change the outcome is irrational, since although the payoffs of tipping an election can be quite large, the probability of doing so is extraordinarily small. This paper argues that prevailing opinion is incorrect. Voting is shown to be rational so long as two conditions are satisfied: First, the average social benefit of electing the better candidate must be at least twice as great as the individual cost of voting, and sec…Read more
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Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing? A Logical InvestigationErkenntnis 82 (3): 531-559. 2017.From Leibniz to Krauss philosophers and scientists have raised the question as to why there is something rather than nothing. Why-questions request a type of explanation and this is often thought to include a deductive component. With classical logic in the background only trivial answers are forthcoming. With free logics in the background, be they of the negative, positive or neutral variety, only question-begging answers are to be expected. The same conclusion is reached for the modal version …Read more
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Beyond ResemblancePhilosophical Review 122 (2): 215-287. 2013.What is it for a picture to depict a scene? The most orthodox philosophical theory of pictorial representation holds that depiction is grounded in resemblance. A picture represents a scene in virtue of being similar to that scene in certain ways. This essay presents evidence against this claim: curvilinear perspective is one common style of depiction in which successful pictorial representation depends as much on a picture's systematic differences with the scene depicted as on the similarities; …Read more
Singapore, Singapore
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Language |
Philosophy of Mind |
Aesthetics |
Areas of Interest
Logic and Philosophy of Logic |
PhilPapers Editorships
Depiction |