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2Hume and the Problem of CausationIn Paul Russell (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of David Hume, Oxford University Press. 2016.This chapter traces Hume’s search for the impression-source of the idea of necessary connection through Book 1 of the Treatise. It then sketches and evaluates the main interpretative positions concerning Hume’s account of causation. These positions characterize Hume either as a regularity theorist who thinks that causation is merely a matter of temporal priority, contiguity, and constant conjunction, a projectivist who takes causal talk to have an essential non-representational element, or a ske…Read more
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255Causal Selection and EgalitarianismIn Shaun Nichols & Joshua Knobe (eds.), Oxford Studies in Experimental Philosophy, Volume 5, Oxford University Press. 2024.The chapter explores whether, or to what extent, recent work in experimental philosophy puts pressure on the idea that the concept of causation is ‘egalitarian’. Causal selection – where experimental subjects tend to rate the causal strength of (for example) a norm-violator more strongly than a non-norm-violator – is a well established phenomenon, and is in prima facie tension with an egalitarian conception of causation; it also, indirectly, puts prima facie pressure on the idea that causation i…Read more
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288The Oxford Handbook of Causation (edited book)Oxford University Press UK. 2009.Causation is a central topic in many areas of philosophy. In metaphysics, philosophers want to know what causation is, and how it is related to laws of nature, probability, action, and freedom of the will. In epistemology, philosophers investigate how causal claims can be inferred from statistical data, and how causation is related to perception, knowledge and explanation. In the philosophy of mind, philosophers want to know whether and how the mind can be said to have causal efficacy, and in et…Read more
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25De Re Modality, Essentialism, and Lewis's HumeanismIn Barry Loewer & Jonathan Schaffer (eds.), A Companion to David Lewis, Wiley. 2015.Modality is standardly thought to come in two varieties: de dicto and de re. De re modality concerns the attribution of modal features to things or individuals, and enshrines a commitment to Aristotelian essentialism. This chapter considers how David Lewis's conception of de re modality fits into his overall metaphysics. The hypothesis is that the driving force behind his metaphysics in general, and his adherence to counterpart theory in particular, is the distinctly Humean thought that necessar…Read more
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86Nihil Obstat: Lewis’s Compatibilist Account of AbilitiesThe Monist 103 (3): 245-261. 2020.In an outline of a paper found amongst his philosophical papers and correspondence after his untimely death in 2001—“Nihil Obstat: An Analysis of Ability,” reproduced in this volume—David Lewis sketched a new compatibilist account of abilities, according to which someone is able to A if and only if there is no obstacle to their A-ing, where an obstacle is a ‘robust preventer’ of their A-ing. In this paper, we provide some background context for Lewis’s outline, a section-by-section commentary, a…Read more
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10Philosophy: Why it MattersPolity Press. 2019.Philosophy is a set of tools and techniques for clearly and systematically considering our arguments and uncovering our hidden assumptions, which helps us to make more informed choices about what to believe and how to act. Philosophy is everywhere, and open to everyone.
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33Backtracking Counterfactuals and Agents’ AbilitiesIn Marco Hausmann & Jörg Noller (eds.), Free Will: Historical and Analytic Perspectives, Springer Verlag. pp. 139-164. 2021.John Martin Fischer argues that a version of the Consequence Argument that invokes a principle he calls the ‘Principle of the Fixity of the Past and Laws’ is immune to the broadly Lewisian response that the compatibilist can make to the ‘conditional’ version of the argument. In his contribution to this volume, he argues—in part by appealing to backtracking counterfactuals—that denying PFPL leads to trouble, specifically, for the fixed-laws compatibilist. I argue on behalf of the fixed-laws compa…Read more
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35Perspectives on the Philosophy of David K. Lewis (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2022.David K. Lewis (1941-2001) was unquestionably one of the most important analytic philosophers of the twentieth century, writing papers and books, largely but not exclusively in metaphysics, that set the intellectual agenda across a huge variety of topics in the last three decades. Some twenty years after his death, this collection of essays reflects the historical importance of Lewis's work by bringing together a range of scholarly reflections on his work. The essays consider a range of topics i…Read more
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59In Defence of Different VoicesSymposion: Theoretical and Applied Inquiries in Philosophy and Social Sciences 7 (2): 149-177. 2020.Louise Antony draws a now well-known distinction between two explanatory models for researching and addressing the issue of women’s underrepresentation in philosophy – the ‘Different Voices’ (DV) and ‘Perfect Storm’ (PS) models – and argues that, in view of PS’s considerably higher social value, DV should be abandoned. We argue that Antony misunderstands the feminist framework that she takes to underpin DV, and we reconceptualise DV in a way that aligns with a proper understanding of the metaphi…Read more
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46Diversity in PhilosophySymposion: Theoretical and Applied Inquiries in Philosophy and Social Sciences 7 (2): 113-116. 2020.
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32In Defence of Different VoicesSymposion. Theoretical and Applied Inquiries in Philosophy and Social Sciences. forthcoming.Helen Beebee, Anne-Marie McCallion ABSTRACT: Louise Antony draws a now well-known distinction between two explanatory models for researching and addressing the issue of women’s underrepresentation in philosophy – the ‘Different Voices’ and ‘Perfect Storm’ models – and argues that, in view of PS’s considerably higher social value, DV should be abandoned. We argue …
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22Diversity in Philosophy: Editors’ IntroductionSymposion. Theoretical and Applied Inquiries in Philosophy and Social Sciences. forthcoming.Helen Beebee, Anne-Marie McCallion Download PDF.
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72Philosophical Letters of David K. Lewis: Volume 1: Causation, Modality, Ontology (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2020.The life-long correspondence of David K. Lewis, one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century, reveals the development, breadth, and depth of his philosophy in its historical context. The first of this two volume collection of letters focuses on his contributions to metaphysics, arguably where he made his greatest impact.
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47Philosophical Letters of David K. Lewis: Volume 2: Mind, Language, Epistemology (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2020.The life-long correspondence of David K. Lewis, one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century, reveals the development, breadth, and depth of his philosophy in its historical context. The second of this two volume collection focuses on his contributions to philosophical questions of language, mind, and epistemology.
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10On David Hume: A Preface to the Special IssueHistory of Philosophy & Logical Analysis 13 (1): 9-15. 2010.
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3The Discourse InterviewDiscourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies 7 (2): 15-30. 2008.
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10Introductory Formal LogicDiscourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies 3 (1): 53-62. 2003.
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54Causal Contribution in WarJournal of Applied Philosophy 37 (3): 364-377. 2020.Revisionist approaches to the ethics of war seem to imply that civilians on the unjust side of a conflict can be legitimate targets of defensive attack. In response, some authors have argued that although civilians do often causally contribute to unjustified global threats – by voting for war, writing propaganda articles, or manufacturing munitions, for example – their contributions are usually too ‘small’, or ‘remote’, to make them liable to be intentionally killed to avert the threat. What def…Read more
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147Making a Difference: Essays on the Philosophy of Causation (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2017.Making a Difference presents fifteen original essays on causation and counterfactuals by an international team of experts. Collectively, they represent the state of the art on these topics. The essays in this volume are inspired by the life and work of Peter Menzies, who made a difference in the lives of students, colleagues, and friends. Topics covered include: the semantics of counterfactuals, agency theories of causation, the context-sensitivity of causal claims, structural equation models, m…Read more
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70Free Will: An IntroductionPalgrave Macmillan. 2013.This comprehensive introductory guide includes discussion of the major contemporary positions on compatibilism and incompatibilism, and of the central arguments that are a focus of the current debate, including the Consequence Argument, manipulation arguments, and Frankfurt's famous argument against the 'Principle of Alternate Possibilities.
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535Women and Deviance in PhilosophyIn K. Hutchison & F. Jenkins (eds.), Women in Philosophy: What Needs to Change?, Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 61--80. 2013.
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332The Presidential Address: Philosophical Scepticism and the Aims of PhilosophyProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 118 (1): 1-24. 2018.
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608The Non-Governing Conception of Laws of NaturePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 61 (3): 571-594. 2000.Recently several thought experiments have been developed (by John Carroll amongst others) which have been alleged to refute the Ramsey-Lewis view of laws of nature. The paper aims to show that two such thought experiments fail to establish that the Ramsey-Lewis view is false, since they presuppose a conception of laws of nature that is radically at odds with the Humean conception of laws embodied by the Ramsey-Lewis view. In particular, the thought experiments presuppose that laws of nature gove…Read more
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593The Two Definitions and the Doctrine of NecessityProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 107 (1pt3): 413-431. 2007.
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