London School of Economics
Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method
PhD, 1986
Acton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
  •  21
    Refereeing in 1992
    with Judith Buber Agassi, Mario Bunge, Peter Flaherty, Gang Ke, Henry Krips, Stephanie Morgenstern, Alan Musgrave, Raphael Sassower, and Margaret Schabas
    Philosophy of the Social Sciences 25 (4). 1995.
  •  1
    Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition (edited book)
    with Darren Staloff, Louis Markos, Jeremy duQuesnay Adams, Phillip Cary, Dennis Dalton, Alan Charles Kors, Robert C. Solomon, Robert Kane, Kathleen Marie Higgins, Mark W. Risjord, and Douglas Kellner
    Teaching Co.. 2000.
  •  15
    Is it more reasonable for a critical rationalist to be non-religious?
    Journal of Philosophical Investigations 17 (42): 317-331. 2023.
    This paper argues that it is not reasonable for a critical rationalist to be a religious believer in the Abrahamic tradition. The argument is distinctive, in that it takes seriously the critical rationalist view that we should abandon ‘justificationist’ argument. What this means, is that the structure of argument then becomes a matter of offering theories as resolutions of problems, and then judging how they fare in the face of ongoing critical appraisal. The paper surveys issues in several area…Read more
  •  4
    Karl Popper
    In John Shand (ed.), Central Works of Philosophy, Volume 4: The Twentieth Century: Moore to Popper, Mcgill-queen's University Press. pp. 262-286. 2006.
  •  2
  •  14
    The Gift Relationship Revisited
    HEC Forum 27 (4): 301-317. 2015.
    If unremunerated blood donors are willing to participate, and if the use of them is economical from the perspective of those collecting blood, I can see no objection to their use. But there seems to me no good reason, moral or practical, why they should be used. The system of paid plasmapheresis as it currently operates in the United States and in Canada would seem perfectly adequate, and while there may always be ways in which the safety and efficiency of supply could be increased, there seems …Read more
  •  28
    Agassi’s “Sensationalism” and Popper on the Empirical Basis
    Philosophy of the Social Sciences 53 (1): 39-48. 2023.
    This paper discusses Agassi’s critique of Popper’s theory of the “empirical basis”. It argues that Popper’s theory should be interpreted with emphasis on its realism and anti-subjectivism, and as stressing a tentative inter-subjective consensus as to what is observed when tests are made. It agrees with Agassi’s critique of “sensationalism”, disagrees that there are residues of “sensationalism” in Popper’s approach, and argues that Popper’s view should be supplemented by a tentative realist metap…Read more
  •  24
    Agassi’s “Sensationalism” and Popper on the Empirical Basis
    Philosophy of the Social Sciences 53 (1): 39-48. 2023.
    This paper discusses Agassi’s critique of Popper’s theory of the “empirical basis”. It argues that Popper’s theory should be interpreted with emphasis on its realism and anti-subjectivism, and as stressing a tentative inter-subjective consensus as to what is observed when tests are made. It agrees with Agassi’s critique of “sensationalism”, disagrees that there are residues of “sensationalism” in Popper’s approach, and argues that Popper’s view should be supplemented by a tentative realist metap…Read more
  •  14
    Agassi’s “Sensationalism” and Popper on the Empirical Basis
    Philosophy of the Social Sciences 53 (1): 39-48. 2023.
    This paper discusses Agassi’s critique of Popper’s theory of the “empirical basis”. It argues that Popper’s theory should be interpreted with emphasis on its realism and anti-subjectivism, and as stressing a tentative inter-subjective consensus as to what is observed when tests are made. It agrees with Agassi’s critique of “sensationalism”, disagrees that there are residues of “sensationalism” in Popper’s approach, and argues that Popper’s view should be supplemented by a tentative realist metap…Read more
  •  14
    Agassi’s “Sensationalism” and Popper on the Empirical Basis
    Philosophy of the Social Sciences 53 (1): 39-48. 2023.
    This paper discusses Agassi’s critique of Popper’s theory of the “empirical basis”. It argues that Popper’s theory should be interpreted with emphasis on its realism and anti-subjectivism, and as stressing a tentative inter-subjective consensus as to what is observed when tests are made. It agrees with Agassi’s critique of “sensationalism”, disagrees that there are residues of “sensationalism” in Popper’s approach, and argues that Popper’s view should be supplemented by a tentative realist metap…Read more
  •  12
    Joseph Agassi’s Contribution to Philosophy
    with Nimrod Bar-Am
    Philosophy of the Social Sciences 52 (6): 327-328. 2022.
    Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Ahead of Print.
  •  19
    Popper was also a critic of the idea that it was possible – or necessary – to give a positive response to the problem of induction. He was also a critic of many probabilistic theories of induction. He suggested that instead of seeking for a positive way of resolving the problem of induction – or, more generally, of trying to justify our claims that our ideas were true – we should, instead be concerned to make our claims open to criticism. All this, and its strengths and weaknesses, have been muc…Read more
  •  6
    Popper’s methodological individualism faces some problems. It is not clear if we should interpret it as Weberian or along the lines of rational choice theory. As contrasted with what was done in Ian C. Jarvie’s admirable The Revolution in Anthropology, the theory was not addressed to concrete problem situations in social theory and does not fit well with Popper’s early ideas about methodological rules or his later ideas about metaphysical research programs. Further, its defenders–including Jarvi…Read more
  •  8
    _A Sceptical Theory of Scientific Inquiry: Problems and Their Progress_ presents a striking re-interpretation of Popper’s ‘critical rationalism’. Briskman stresses methodological argument rather than metaphysics, develops a ‘Popperian’ response to the Meno Paradox, and takes further Briskman’s approach to problems concerning creativity.
  •  11
    This paper is a commentary on Koplin’s “From Blood Donation to Kidney Sales”. While appreciative of his paper, it argues that an argument from social solidarity to a Titmussian donor system is problematic. It reviews weaknesses in Titmuss, discusses problems about Titmussian blood donation as a vehicle for solidarity, and explores problems about extending a Titmussian approach to organs.
  •  59
    In this long-awaited volume, Jeremy Shearmur and Piers Norris Turner bring to light Popper's most important unpublished and uncollected writings from the time of The Open Society until his death in 1994. After The Open Society: Selected Social and Political Writings reveals the development of Popper's political and philosophical thought during and after the Second World War, from his early socialism through to the radical humanitarianism of The Open Society. The papers in this collection, many o…Read more
  •  7
    Hayek and the future of political philosophy
    Journal des Economistes Et des Etudes Humaines 9 (2-3): 437-454. 1999.
  •  23
    The Gift Relationship Revisited
    HEC Forum 27 (4): 301-317. 2015.
    If unremunerated blood donors are willing to participate, and if the use of them is economical from the perspective of those collecting blood, I can see no objection to their use. But there seems to me no good reason, moral or practical, why they should be used. The system of paid plasmapheresis as it currently operates in the United States and in Canada would seem perfectly adequate, and while there may always be ways in which the safety and efficiency of supply could be increased, there seems …Read more
  •  24
    Making sense of History: Skagestad on popper and Collingwood
    with M. Hurup Nielsen
    Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 22 (1-4): 459-489. 1979.
    No abstract
  •  27
    Critical Rationalism and Ethics
    In Zuzana Parusniková & Robert S. Cohen (eds.), Rethinking Popper, Springer. pp. 339--356. 2009.
  •  100
    This paper addresses the intellectual motivation of some of those involved in the intelligent design movement. It identifies their concerns with the critique of the claim that Darwinism offers an adequate explanation of prima facie teleological features in biology, a critique of naturalism, and the concern on the part of some of these authors including Dembski, with the revival of 'Old Princeton' apologetics. It is argued that their work is interesting and is in principle intellectually legitima…Read more
  •  17
    Introduction
    with I. C. Jarvie
    Philosophy of the Social Sciences 26 (4): 445-451. 1996.
  •  189
    Steve Fuller and Intelligent Design
    Philosophy of the Social Sciences 40 (3): 433-445. 2010.
    This essay offers a critical introduction to the intellectual issues involved in the Kitzmiller case relating to intelligent design, and to Steve Fuller’s involvement in it. It offers a brief appraisal of the intelligent design movement stemming from the work of Phillip E. Johnson, and of Steve Fuller’s case for intelligent design in a rather different sense
  • Preferences, cognitivism, and the public sphere
    In Christi Favor, Gerald Gaus & Julian Lamont (eds.), Essays on Philosophy, Politics & Economics: Integration & Common Research Projects, Stanford Economics and Finance. 2010.
  •  22
    From intersubjectivity through epistemology to property: Rejoinder to Michelman
    Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 4 (1-2): 144-154. 1990.
    Michelman's emphasis upon intersubjectivity is commendable; but a cognitive approach is required to generate rights. Michelman has raised a significant point against Shearmur's earlier paper: does it offer a rationale for according rights to every individual with whom our relationship may be remote? Michelman's suggestion that oppression might itself be a source of illumination should be declined, however, so it is tentatively suggested? with reference to Popper's ?world 3"? that we may value su…Read more
  •  10
    The Right to Subsistence in a ‘Lockean’ State of Nature
    Southern Journal of Philosophy 27 (4): 561-568. 1989.
  •  24
    Popper, political philosophy, and social democracy: Reply to Eidlin
    Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 18 (4): 361-376. 2006.
    The later thought of Karl Popper—notably, his ideas about traditions and his “modified essentialism” in the philosophy of natural science— should lead to revisions in the political philosophy set out in The Open Society and Its Enemies. The structural approach allowed for by Popper's modified essentialism, and the delicate nature of traditions, buttress certain issues raised by Friedrich Hayek that pose serious problems for Popper's social‐democratic approach to politics. Fred Eidlin's review es…Read more