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143Blind obedience: Rules, community and the individualIn Klaus Puhl (ed.), Meaning Scepticism, De Gruyter. 1991.
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101Wittgenstein and Davidson on the sociality of languageJournal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 30 (3). 2000.
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85The Significance of Learning in Wittgenstein’s Later PhilosophyCanadian Journal of Philosophy 24 (2): 173-203. 1994.
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73Wittgenstein, Mind and Meaning: Towards a Social Conception of MindRoutledge. 1999._Wittgenstein, Mind and Meaning_ offers a provocative re-reading of Wittgenstein's later writings on language and mind, and explores the tensions between Wittgenstein's ideas and contemporary cognitivist conceptions of the mental. This book addresses both Wittgenstein's later works as well as contemporary issues in philosophy of mind. It provides fresh insight into the later Wittgenstein and raises vital questions about the foundations of cognitivism and its wider implications for psychology and…Read more
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70Rights, interests, and moral equalityEnvironmental Ethics 2 (2): 149-161. 1980.I discuss Peter Singer’s claim that the interests of animals merit equal consideration with those of human beings. I show that there are morally relevant differences between humans and animals that Singer’s rather narrow utilitarian conception of morality fails to capture. Further, I argue that Singer’s formal conception of moral equality is so thin as to be virtually vacuous and that his attempts to give it moresubstance point to just the kind of differences between humans and animals that unde…Read more
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55Wittgenstein' S rejection of scientific psychologyJournal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 15 (2). 1985.
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39Wittgenstein on Representation, Privileged Objects, and Private LanguagesCanadian Journal of Philosophy 13 (1). 1983.In this paper, I shall investigate Wittgenstein's ‘private language argument,’ that is, the argument to be found in Philosophical Investigations 243-315. Roughly, this argument is intended to show that a language knowable to one person and only that person is impossible; in other words, a ‘language’ which another person cannot understand isn't a language. Given the prolonged debate sparked by these passages, one must have good reason to bring it up again. I have: Wittgenstein's attack on private…Read more
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21Rights, Interests, and Moral EqualityEnvironmental Ethics 2 (2): 149-161. 1980.I discuss Peter Singer’s claim that the interests of animals merit equal consideration with those of human beings. I show that there are morally relevant differences between humans and animals that Singer’s rather narrow utilitarian conception of morality fails to capture. Further, I argue that Singer’s formal conception of moral equality is so thin as to be virtually vacuous and that his attempts to give it moresubstance point to just the kind of differences between humans and animals that unde…Read more
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17There is considerable debate amongst philosophers as to the basic philosophical problem Wittgenstein is attempting to solve in _Philosophical Investigations_. In this bold and original work, Meredith Williams argues that it is the problem of "normative similarity". In _Blind Obedience_ Williams demonstrates how Wittgenstein criticizes traditional, representationalist theories of language by employing the ‘master/novice’ distinction of the learner, arguing that this distinction is often overlooke…Read more
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10Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: Critical Essays (edited book)Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2006.This anthology identifies four central themes in Wittgenstein's Investigations — reference and meaning, rules and their application, the interiority of mind and the alleged uses of private languages, and necessity and grammar-and provides important recent essays that explore these themes in lucid detail. Intended for both the novice and experienced reader of Wittgenstein's classic work, this book includes important notes and references to help make his problems and arguments more accessible
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