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454This paper explores the relationships between perception, representation and appetition in Leibniz's later metaphysics, and defends four theses. First, for Leibniz perceptions are not the carriers of content, but they are identical to representational content. Second, Leibniz's appetitions are the carriers of content and he should be taken at his word when he declares, "Thought consists in conatus". Third, while it is true that for Leibniz representational content is determined by a species o…Read more
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5Modern Philosophy of LanguageIn Gillian Russell & Delia Graff Fara (eds.), Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Language, Routledge. pp. 841-851. 2014.A survey of the emergence of the philosophy of language in 17th- and 18th-century European philosophy as an independent subdiscipline of philosophy.
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The Concept of Linguistic Reference Before FregeIn Stephen Biggs and Heimir Geirsson (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Linguistic Reference, Routledge. pp. 17-29. 2021.This essay traces the concept of linguistic reference and its role in the determination of linguistic meaning in the history of philosophy before Frege.
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The History of the Philosophy of Language before FregeIn Piotr Stalmaszczyk (ed.), Cambridge Handbook of the Philosoph of Language, Cambridge University Press. pp. 51-70. 2021.
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103Leibniz and the rational order of nature (review)Philosophical Review 109 (1): 94-98. 2000.In this comprehensive study of Leibniz’s mature metaphysics, Donald Rutherford attempts to recover Leibniz’s theodicy as an essential part of his philosophy. Although Rutherford does not succeed in showing that the theodicy is essential to Leibniz’s metaphysics, he effectively uses the theodicy as an entry into Leibniz’s metaphysics and he highlights the many links between them. Of course, there are other significant ways of entering Leibniz’s philosophy—he wanted to “do justice to theology as t…Read more
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359Plantinga and the Problem of EvilThe Proceedings of the Twenty-First World Congress of Philosophy 8 109-113. 2006.The logical problem of evil centers on the apparent inconsistency of the following two propositions: God is omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good, and There is evil in the world. This is the problem that Alvin Plantinga takes to task in his celebrated response to the problem of evil. Plantinga denies that and are inconsistent, arguing that J.L. Mackie's principle - that there are no limits to what an omnipotent thing can do - is false. We challenge Plantinga, and defend Mackie's view
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33Review of Brook (2007): The Prehistory of Cognitive Science (review)Pragmatics and Cognition 16 (1): 185-189. 2008.
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29Hume's Skepticism and the Whimsical ConditionHume Studies 43 (1): 29-59. 2017.At a crucial point in the final section 12 of Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding he refers to "the whimsical condition of mankind".1 This occurs in his concluding remarks about the untenability of what he calls "Pyrrhonism, or excessive scepticism" that set the stage for "mitigated scepticism, or ACADEMICAL philosophy", which then culminates in the famous agitated final paragraph of the first Enquiry that advocates "havoc" and committing certain kinds of books "to the flames".I wish t…Read more
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1Logic and Language in Early Modern PhilosophyIn Donald Rutherford (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Early Modern Philosophy. pp. 170-197. 2006.
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102Lenz on Locke on Language (review)Historiographia Linguistica 40 477-487. 2013.Review article of Martin Lenz, Locke's Sprachkonzeption, Berlin: de Gruyter, 2010.
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33"Locke on the Limits of Human Reason, Liberty and Happiness," Critical Notice of Peter Schouls, Reasoned Freedom: John Locke and the EnlightenmentCanadian Journal of Philosophy 25 (2): 293-314. 1995.
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35Readings in Language and Mind (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 1996.This is an anthology of landmark essays in the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and cognitive science since 1950. It includes essays that aim to reflect the fact that philosophy and the science of mind and language have close historical and conceptual ties. Each section begins with a brief and simple overview highlighting the issues and recommending other readings. The combination of this editorial material with a selection of classic essays makes this anthology a very flexible tool fo…Read more
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56Self-deceivers' intentions and possessionsBehavioral and Brain Sciences 20 (1): 121-122. 1997.Although Mele's four sufficient conditions for self-deception are on track insofar as they avoid the requirement that self-deception involves contradictory beliefs, they are too weak, because they are broad enough to include cases of bias or prejudice that are not typical cases of self-deception. I discuss what distinguishes self-deception from other forms of bias.
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28Philosophy and the ecological problem, a special issue of filozoficky casopisEnvironmental Ethics 13 (1): 87-93. 1991.
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55Locke and Leibniz on Religious FaithBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 20 (4). 2012.In the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke maintains that ?Reason must be our last Judge and Guide in every Thing,? including matters of religious faith, and this commitment to the primacy of reason is not abandoned in his later religious writings. This essay argues that with regard to the relation between reason and religious faith, Locke is primarily concerned not with evidence, but with consistency, meaning, and how human beings ought to respond to their inclinations, including their …Read more
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76Aristotle on artifacts: A metaphysical puzzle (review)Australasian Journal of Philosophy 79 (3): 445. 2001.Book Information Aristotle on Artifacts: A Metaphysical Puzzle. By Errol G. Katayama. State University of New York Press. Albany. 1999. Pp. xiii + 202. Paperback.
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37Zeit der Ernte (review)Idealistic Studies 16 (1): 94-95. 1986.This is the fourth Festschrift for Arthur Hübscher, testifying to the respect and influence he enjoys. Hübscher edited the critical edition of Schopenhauer’s complete works and has been president of the Schopenhauer-Gesellschaft since 1936. This Festschrift is supposed to “document the state of international Schopenhauer scholarship for years to come”.
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Alvin I. Goldman, ed., Philosophical Applications of Cognitive Science (review)Minds and Machines 7 306-312. 1997.
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63John Locke on passion, will and beliefBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 4 (2). 1996.No abstract
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62Enlightenment and Action From Descartes to Kant: Passionate ThoughtCambridge University Press. 2001.Kant believed that true enlightenment is the use of reason freely in public. This book systematicaaly traces the philosophical origins and development of the idea that the improvement of human understanding requires public activity. Michael Losonsky focuses on seventeenth-century discussions of the problem of irresolution and the closely connected theme of the role of volition in human belief formation. This involves a discussion of the work of Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Spinoza and Leibniz. Chal…Read more
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214What God Could Have MadeSouthern Journal of Philosophy 43 (3): 355-376. 2005.Plantinga grants that there are possible worlds with freedom and no moral evil, but he argues that it is possible that although God is omnipotent, it is not within God’s power to actualize a world containing freedom and no moral evil. Plantinga believes that the atheologian assumes that it is necessary that it is within an omnipotent God’s power to actualize these better worlds, but in fact, Plantinga argues, this is demonstrably not the case. Since so many philosophers have regarded Plantinga’s…Read more
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1The cognitive unity of external and internal statesIn Roberto Casati & Graham White (eds.), Philosophy and the Cognitive Sciences, Ludwig Wittgenstein Society. pp. 313--318. 1993.
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12Philosophy and the Ecological Problem, a Special Issue of Filozoficky CasopisEnvironmental Ethics 13 (1): 87-93. 1991.
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Language, meaning, and mind in Locke's EssayIn Lex Newman (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Locke's Essay, Cambridge University Press. pp. 286-312. 2007.This paper reconsiders and defends the view that Locke's theory of signification is a theory of meaning.
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108Individuation and the bundle theoryPhilosophical Studies 52 (2). 1987.It has been suggested that distinct individuals can have exactly the same properties; thus individuals cannot be individuated by their properties, And so the bundle theory appears to be false. One way to shore up the bundle theory is to introduce impure properties, And I defend this move against some objections by d m armstrong, M loux, And j van cleve
Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Language |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
The Argument from Evil |
The Nature of Analytic Philosophy |