• Where is the Twilight Zone?
    In Heather L. Rivera & Alexander E. Hooke (eds.), The Twilight Zone and philosophy: a dangerous dimension to visit, Open Court. 2019.
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    Reductio ad Hitlerum
    In Robert Arp, Steven Barbone & Michael Bruce (eds.), Bad Arguments, Wiley. 2018.
    This chapter focuses on one of the common fallacies in Western philosophy called 'Reductio ad Hitlerum (RAH)'. RAH is a species of the reductio ad hominem genre of logically fallacious reasoning. It is clear that ad hominem arguments, such as RAH, may be understood as “fallacies of relevance”. The most notorious example of the RAH in philosophy is the association of Martin Heidegger with Hitler and the Nazi Party. The RAH makes it seem as though philosophically critiquing the Cartesian worldview…Read more
  •  2
    Psychologist's Fallacy
    In Robert Arp, Steven Barbone & Michael Bruce (eds.), Bad Arguments, Wiley. 2018.
    This chapter focuses on one of the common fallacies in Western philosophy called 'psychologist's fallacy'. William James, in his Principles of Psychology, coined “the psychologist's fallacy”. It is a fallacy of relativism. James articulated the psychologist's fallacy as if it were a confusion between first‐person and third‐person points of view. Importantly, an experience and its description are different, and from the first‐person point of view, whatever a person experiences is identical with w…Read more
  •  5
    Subjectivist Fallacy
    In Robert Arp, Steven Barbone & Michael Bruce (eds.), Bad Arguments, Wiley. 2018.
    This chapter focuses on one of the common fallacies in Western philosophy called the subjectivist fallacy (SbF). The SbF occurs when one concludes that something is true for one person (a subject) but not true for another person (another subject), when, in fact, it is true objectively for all persons. SbF is a fallacy of relativism. Relativism, in general, means the truth‐value of a judgment is neither necessary nor universal; however, there are multiple kinds of relativism. SbF is not only a fa…Read more
  •  4
    Genetic Fallacy
    In Robert Arp, Steven Barbone & Michael Bruce (eds.), Bad Arguments, Wiley. 2018.
    This chapter focuses on one of the common fallacies in Western philosophy called 'genetic fallacy' (GnF). One commits the GnF when advocating for a conclusion based solely on origin. This is a fallacy of relevance—irrelevance, really—because the origin of a claim may be irrelevant to its truth‐value. That is to say, providing an account of the genesis of a claim, its history or origin, may be informative and helpful; however, it need not determine the truth‐value of the claim. Therefore, when on…Read more
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    Existential Fallacy
    In Robert Arp, Steven Barbone & Michael Bruce (eds.), Bad Arguments, Wiley. 2018.
    This chapter focuses on one of the common fallacies in Western philosophy, 'existential fallacy'. This fallacy occurs when we erroneously suppose some class or group has members. In other words, statements may be true about classes or groups even if no members of the class or group exist. In terms of syllogistic argumentation, this is a formal fallacy in that it results when the premises are universal in quantification and the conclusion is particular. In the history of logic, the existential fa…Read more
  •  1
    What Is Existentialism?
    Magister Ludi Press. 2021.
    The term “existentialism” was coined in the 1940s. Whereas other books regarding existentialism merely repeat the platitudes that “There is no such thing as existentialism” or that “The term ‘existentialism’ has no coherent meaning,” this two-volume set actually answers the question “What is existentialism?” ------- Volume I identifies the seven (7) principles of existentialism and the necessary and sufficient conditions for a philosophy to be existential, and introduces readers to the depth of …Read more
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    This book provides a discussion of the philosophy of being according to three major traditions in Western philosophy, the Analytic, the Continental, and the Thomistic. The origin of the point of view of each of these traditions is associated with a seminal figure, Gottlob Frege, Immanuel Kant, and Thomas Aquinas, respectively. The questions addressed in this book are constitutional for the philosophy of being, considering the meaning of being, the relationship between thinking and being, and the…Read more
  •  2
    Non-Being and Memory: A Critique of Pure Difference
    Dissertation, Duquesne University. 2011.
    [PHILPEOPLE DOESN'T ALLOW PARAGRAPH BREAKS IN ABSTRACTS...] My [Frank Scalambrino's] dissertation first traces the development of a philosophical theory of ontological negation from Plato’s Parmenides and Sophist through Aristotle’s Metaphysics to Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, especially his “Table of Nothing” (A 292). Whereas Plato’s “puzzle of non-being” sets the stage for the subsequent discussion of ontological negation, Kant’s Table of Nothing provides a formalization of the possible solu…Read more
  •  4
    The Psychologist's Fallacy
    In Rob Arp, Steven Barbone & Michael Bruce Mike (eds.), Bad Arguments: 100 of the Most Important Fallacies in Western Philosophy, Wiley Blackwell. pp. 204-207. 2018.
  •  13
    Review of Nolen Gertz's Nihilism and Technology (review)
    Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 7 22-28. 2018.
  •  2
    Samsara and Nirvana
    In David A. Leeming (ed.), Encyclopedia of Psychology & Religion, Springer. pp. 1595-1602. 2013.
  •  2
    The Shadow of the Sickness Unto Death
    In Kevin S. Decker, David R. Koepsell & Robert Arp (eds.), Breaking Bad and Philosophy, . pp. 47-62. 2016.
    This chapter philosophically examines the transformation of “Walter White” into “Heisenberg,” as depicted in the television series Breaking Bad, in terms of Søren Kierkegaard’s “stages of life” and Carl Jung’s “process of individuation.” Though Walt’s transformation is an oft-discussed topic regarding Breaking Bad, there has yet to appear in the philosophical literature an examination of this transformation in terms of Kierkegaard and Jung. Such an examination is important since it also addresse…Read more
  •  1
    The Temporality of Damnation
    In Robert Arp & Benjamin McCraw (eds.), The Concept of Hell, Palgrave-macmillan. pp. 66-82. 2015.
  •  18
    Introduction to Ethics: A Primer for the Western Tradition is designed for Introduction to Ethics courses which survey the history of ideas in the Western philosophical tradition. Introducing students to essential normative and meta-ethical distinctions both in regard to perennial primary sources and in abstract form, this book has been deliberately constructed in a style geared toward learning and remembering core material, while facilitating the comparison of ideas across the history of the We…Read more
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    Taking philosophical principles as a point of departure, this book provides essential distinctions for thinking through the history and systems of Western psychology. The book is concisely designed to help readers navigate through the length and complexity found in history of psychology textbooks. From Plato to beyond Post-Modernism, the author examines the choices and commitments made by theorists and practitioners of psychology and discusses the philosophical thinking from which they stem. Wha…Read more
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    Perception beyond Inference (review)
    Philosophical Psychology 27 (5): 764-768. 2014.
    No abstract
  •  24
    Maclachlan, D. L. C., The Enigma of Perception (review)
    Review of Metaphysics 67 (4): 877-879. 2014.
  •  12
    This book examines the social epistemological issues relating to technology for the sake of providing insights toward public self-awareness and informing matters of education, policy, and public deliberation.
  •  14
    Phenomenological Psychology
    Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2015.
    Phenomenological Psychology Phenomenological psychology is the use of the phenomenological method to gain insights regarding topics related to psychology. Though researchers and thinkers throughout the history of philosophy have identified their work as contributing to phenomenological psychology, how people understand phenomenological psychology is a matter of some controversy. On the one hand, in light of … Continue reading Phenomenological Psychology →.
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    Tales of the mighty tautologists?
    Normative Funtionalism and the Pittsburgh School. 2012.
    There is supposed to be deep agreement among the work of Wilfrid Sellars, Robert Brandom, and John McDowell in regard to normativity. As a result, according to Robert Brandom (2008), and echoed by Chauncey Maher (2012), “normative functionalism” (NF) may refer to a position held by Sellars, Brandom, and McDowell, i.e., “The Pittsburgh School” of philosophy. The standard criticism of the various forms of this normative functionalist position points out the inconsistency in the commitment of norma…Read more