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212Conspiracy Theories and Fortuitous DataPhilosophy of the Social Sciences 40 (4): 567-578. 2010.We offer a particularist defense of conspiratorial thinking. We explore the possibility that the presence of a certain kind of evidence—what we call "fortuitous data"—lends rational credence to conspiratorial thinking. In developing our argument, we introduce conspiracy theories and motivate our particularist approach (§1). We then introduce and define fortuitous data (§2). Lastly, we locate an instance of fortuitous data in one real world conspiracy, the Watergate scandal (§3)
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58More than Bullshit: Trash Talk and Other Psychological Tests of Sporting ExcellenceSport, Ethics and Philosophy 14 (1): 47-61. 2018.Sporting excellence is a function of physical, cognitive and psychological capacities: its standard requires demonstration of superlative physical and strategic skills and the performance of these...
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53Rejecting Technology: A Normative Defense of Fallible OfficiatingSport, Ethics and Philosophy 10 (2): 148-160. 2016.There is a growing consensus in both academic and popular reflections on sport that if the accuracy of officiating can be improved by technology, then such assistance ought to be introduced. Indeed, apart from certain practical concerns about technologizing officiating there are few normative objections, and those that are voiced are often poorly articulated and quickly dismissed by critics. In this paper, we take up one of these objections – what is referred to as the loss of the human element …Read more
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47Dis-unified pluralist accounts of causationPacific Philosophical Quarterly 90 (3): 388-401. 2009.One way of assessing the philosophical literature on causation is to consider views on the nature of the causal relation. Early theorists were 'monists', taking there to be one causal relation. More recent theorists, however, have turned to pluralism, which holds that the causal relation is only accurately captured by two (or more) relations. I argue that one way of being a pluralist – the way which takes there to be exactly two types of causation – is self defeating, if it promises to handle in…Read more
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35Virtuous Victory: Running up the Score and the Anti-Blowout ThesisJournal of the Philosophy of Sport 41 (2): 247-266. 2014.A difficult question in the philosophy of sport concerns how winning athletes should perform in uneven contests in which victory has been secured well before the competition is over. Nicholas Dixon, the protagonist in the ongoing debate, argues against critics who urge following an 'anti-blowout' thesis that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with running up the score. We engage this debate, providing much needed distinctions, and draw on Aristotelian resources to explore a framework by which …Read more
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27Spilled milk and burned toast: extrinsic pressure and sporting excellenceJournal of the Philosophy of Sport 48 (2): 202-218. 2021.ABSTRACT This paper explores the dynamics of extrinsic pressure in sport and its relation to athletic excellence. We argue that psychological pressure exerted by activities extrinsic to sport can be relevant to success or failure in it, such that how one manages extrinsic pressures can transmit to failure to perform in sport and thus be a determinant to victory, with no reason to think failure mitigated by the non-sporting nature of one’s other behaviour. To make this argument we offer a series …Read more
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3Fortuitous Data and Conspiracy TheoriesJournal of the Philosophy of Social Sciences 40 (4): 567-578. 2010.We offer a particularist defense of conspiratorial thinking.We explore the possibility that the presence of a certain kind of evidence—what we call “fortuitous data”—lends rational credence to conspiratorial thinking. In developing our argument, we introduce conspiracy theories and motivate our particularist approach (§1).We then introduce and define fortuitous data (§2). Lastly, we locate an instance of fortuitous data in one real world conspiracy, the Watergate scandal (§3).
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics |
General Philosophy of Science |
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
Applied Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Philosophy of Social Science |