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FundamentalityStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2023.The notion of fundamentality, as it is used in metaphysics, aims to capture the idea that there is something basic or primitive in the world. This metaphysical notion is related to the vernacular use of “fundamental”, but philosophers have also put forward various technical definitions of the notion. Among the most influential of these is the definition of absolute fundamentality in terms of ontological independence or ungroundedness. Accordingly, the notion of fundamentality is often associated…Read more
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The Evil Demon InsidePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 100 (2): 325-343. 2018.This paper examines how new evil demon problems could arise for our access to the internal world of our own minds. I start by arguing that the internalist/externalist debate in epistemology has been widely misconstrued---we need to reconfigure the debate in order to see how it can arise about our access to the internal world. I then argue for the coherence of scenarios of radical deception about our own minds, and I use them to defend a properly formulated internalist view about our access to …Read more
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Descartes, Corpuscles and Reductionism: Mechanism and Systems in Descartes' PhysiologyPhilosophical Quarterly 65 (261): 669-689. 2015.I argue that Descartes explains physiology in terms of whole systems, and not in terms of the size, shape and motion of tiny corpuscles (corpuscular mechanics). It is a standard, entrenched view that Descartes’ proper means of explanation in the natural world is through strict reduction to corpuscular mechanics. This view is bolstered by a handful of corpuscular–mechanical explanations in Descartes’ physics, which have been taken to be representative of his treatment of all natural phenomena. Ho…Read more
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Humean scientific explanationPhilosophical Studies 172 (5): 1311-1332. 2015.In a recent paper, Barry Loewer attempts to defend Humeanism about laws of nature from a charge that Humean laws are not adequately explanatory. Central to his defense is a distinction between metaphysical and scientific explanations: even if Humeans cannot offer further metaphysical explanations of particular features of their “mosaic,” that does not preclude them from offering scientific explanations of these features. According to Marc Lange, however, Loewer’s distinction is of no avail. Defe…Read more
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Local QualitiesOxford Studies in Metaphysics 11 224-242. 2018.For Humean atomists, cosmic contents supervene on a spatiotemporal mosaic of modally insulated, freely recombinable local qualities. One piecemeal subspecies of Humean atomism promises more than global supervenience—somehow or other—on a separable base; it constrains how exactly elemental inputs yield everything else. Roughly, the distribution of basic local qualities across elements in one part of our cosmos metaphysically suffices for the complete local physical state of that part: anything sh…Read more
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Non-Piecemeal PluralismThe Monist 104 (1): 91-107. 2021.I argue that Schaffer fails to provide a non-question-begging argument for priority monism. Despite his suggestion to the contrary, Humean pluralists need not, and plausibly do not, endorse his tiling constraint on metaphysically basic objects. Moreover, the distinction between supervenience—of the sort at issue in Humean doctrine—and metaphysical necessitation—of the sort at issue in Schaffer’s tiling constraint—points toward an alternative treatment of the phenomena initially inspiring Schaffe…Read more
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All flash, no substance?In Valia Allori (ed.), Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality: Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy, Springer. pp. 113-26. 2022.The GRW dynamics propose a novel, relevantly “observer”-independent replacement for orthodox “measurement”-induced collapse. Yet the tails problem shows that this dynamical innovation is not enough: a principled alternative to the orthodox account demands some corresponding ontological advancement as well. In fact, there are three rival fundamental ontologies on offer for the GRW dynamics. Debate about the relative merits of these candidates is a microcosm of broader disagreement about the role …Read more
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Generalizing the Problem of Humean UnderminingIn Christian Loew, Siegfried Jaag & Michael Townsen Hicks (eds.), Humean Laws for Human Agents, Oxford Up. 2023.For Humeans, many facts—even ones intuitively “about” particular, localized macroscopic parts of the world—turn out to depend on surprisingly global fundamental bases. We investigate some counterintuitive consequences of this picture. Many counterfactuals whose antecedents describe intuitively localized, non-actual states of affairs nevertheless end up involving wide-ranging implications for the global, embedding Humean mosaic. The case of self-undermining chances is a familiar example of this. …Read more
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Two notions of holismSynthese 197 (10): 4187-4206. 2020.A simple argument proposes a direct link between realism about quantum mechanics and one kind of metaphysical holism: if elementary quantum theory is at least approximately true, then there are entangled systems with intrinsic whole states for which the intrinsic properties and spatiotemporal arrangements of salient subsystem parts do not suffice. Initially, the proposal is compelling: we can find variations on such reasoning throughout influential discussions of entanglement. Upon further consi…Read more
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Explanationist Plasticity and the Problem of the CriterionPhilosophical Papers 40 (3): 395-419. 2011.Abstract This paper develops an explanationist treatment of the problem of the criterion. Explanationism is the view that all justified reasoning is justified in virtue of the explanatory virtues: simplicity, fruitfulness, testability, scope, and conservativeness. A crucial part of the explanationist framework is achieving wide reflective equilibrium. I argue that explanationism offers a plausible solution to the problem of the criterion. Furthermore, I argue that a key feature of explanationism…Read more
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Seemings and Justification: New Essays on Dogmatism and Phenomenal Conservatism (edited book)Oxford University Press USA. 2013.
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Explanation and explanationism in science and metaphysicsIn Matthew H. Slater & Zanja Yudell (eds.), Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Science: New Essays, Oxford University Press. 2017.This chapter examines the status of inference to the best explanation in naturalistic metaphysics. The methodology of inference to the best explanation in metaphysics is studied from the perspective of contemporary views on scientific explanation and explanatory inferences in the history and philosophy of science. This reveals serious shortcomings in prevalent attempts to vindicate metaphysical "explanationism" by reference to similarities between science and naturalistic metaphysics. This cri…Read more
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The Fourth Meditation and Cartesian CirclesPhilosophical Annals: Special Issue on Descartes' Epistemology 68 (2): 119-138. 2020.
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The Problem of the Criterion, Skepticism, and the Cartesian CircleSATS 7 (2): 43-62. 2006.This paper tackles the famous predicament known as the Cartesian Circle. This notorious problem can be understood as manifesting an ancient dilemma—the diallelus, or the problem of the criterion. Now, the problem of the criterion can be approached from either particularistic or methodistic standpoint. In a nutshell, a particularist accepts instances of knowledge prior to criteria of knowledge, and the methodist goes the other way around. In this paper Descartes's struggle with the problem receiv…Read more
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Consciousness and Hegel's Solution to the Problem of the CriterionEuropean Journal of Philosophy 26 (1): 283-307. 2018.Traditional epistemological interpretations have portrayed Hegel as offering a coherentist solution to the problem of the criterion in the introduction to The Phenomenology of Spirit. In this paper, I criticize the coherentist interpretation and present an alternative reading that emphasizes the central role of conscious experience in Hegel's argument. In the first part of the paper, I show how the passages commonly used to support the coherentist interpretation ultimately fail to do so and argu…Read more
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Descartes’ Lumen Naturale and the Cartesian CirclePhilosophy and Theology 9 (3-4): 273-320. 1996.The author argues that Descartes is not trapped inside the Cartesian circle. The essay rehearses Descartes’ argument against the “evil demon” hypothesis. The so-called Cartesian circle is described and some of the most prominent discussions of the problem are evaluated. Such arguments tend either to leave Descartes in the circle, or themselves depend upon distinctions that in the end lead to Descartes claiming something less than metaphysical certainty for his system. The author argues that Desc…Read more
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The cartesian circle and the eternal truthsJournal of Philosophy 67 (19): 685-700. 1970.
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Foundationalism, epistemic principles, and the cartesian circlePhilosophical Review 88 (1): 55-91. 1979.
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Why coherence is not enough: A defense of moderate foundationalismIn Matthias Steup & John Turri (eds.), Contemporary Debates in Epistemology, Blackwell. pp. 168-180. 2013.
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Connaissance de Dieu et conscience de soi chez DescartesDialogue 49 (1): 1-24. 2010.
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Wittgensteinian Hinge Epistemology and Deep DisagreementTopoi 40 (5): 1117-1125. 2018.Deep disagreements concern our most basic and fundamental commitments. Such disagreements seem to be problematic because they appear to manifest epistemic incommensurability in our epistemic systems, and thereby lead to epistemic relativism. This problem is confronted via consideration of a Wittgensteinian hinge epistemology. On the face of it, this proposal exacerbates the problem of deep disagreements by granting that our most fundamental commitments are essentially arationally held. It is arg…Read more
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Pragmatic SkepticismPhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 104 (2): 434-453. 2021.
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Argument and Persuasion in Descartes' MeditationsJournal of the History of Philosophy 49 (4): 497-498. 2011.The central theme of this study is that Descartes is a teacher who develops his arguments for the different philosophical orientations of his students. Indeed, according to Cunning, so respectful is Descartes of their orientations that he actually misrepresents his own view in the Meditations on central doctrinal matters like the basis for dualism. The exegetical argument for this is the central argument of the book, though many other aspects of the Meditations are discussed in novel and interes…Read more
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One finds a surprising number of defenses of the legitimacy of some kinds of question-begging arguments or beliefs in the literature. Without wanting to deny the importance of dialectical analyses of begging the question, what I do here is explore the epistemic side of the issue. In particular, I want to explore the legitimacy of “epistemically circular” arguments and beliefs. My tentative conclusion is that epistemically circular arguments and beliefs are never legitimate. *Note: this is an unp…Read more
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Foundationalism, Epistemic Principles and the Cartesian CircleIn John Cottingham (ed.), Descartes, Oxford University Press. 1986.
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Descartes, epistemic principles, epistemic circularity, and scientiaPacific Philosophical Quarterly 73 (3): 220-238. 1992.
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Epistemic Principles and Epistemic CircularityPhilosophia 42 (2): 413-432. 2014.Can we show that our senses are reliable sources of information about the world? To show this, we need to establish that most of our perceptual judgments have been true. But we cannot determine these inductive instances without relying upon sense perception. Thus, it seems, we cannot establish the reliability of sense perception by means of an argument without falling into epistemic circularity. In this paper, I argue that this consequence is not an epistemological disaster. For this purpose, I …Read more
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Silencing the Demon’s Advocate: The Strategy of Descartes’ MeditationsStanford University Press. 2008.
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Rubin's validation of DescartesPhilosophical Studies 36 (4). 1979.
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Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics and Epistemology |
Science, Logic, and Mathematics |
History of Western Philosophy |