•  706
    Counterfactuals, counteractuals, and free choice
    Philosophical Studies 178 (2): 445-469. 2021.
    In a recent paper, Pruss proves the validity of the rule beta-2 relative to Lewis’s semantics for counterfactuals, which is a significant step forward in the debate about the consequence argument. Yet, we believe there remain intuitive counter-examples to beta-2 formulated with the actuality operator and rigidified descriptions. We offer a novel and two-dimensional formulation of the Lewisian semantics for counterfactuals and prove the validity of a new transfer rule according to which a new ver…Read more
  •  432
    How (not) to construct worlds with responsibility
    Synthese 199 (3-4): 10389-10413. 2021.
    In a recent article, P. Roger Turner and Justin Capes argue that no one is, or ever was, even partly morally responsible for certain world-indexed truths. Here we present our reasons for thinking that their argument is unsound: It depends on the premise that possible worlds are maximally consistent states of affairs, which is, under plausible assumptions concerning states of affairs, demonstrably false. Our argument to show this is based on Bertrand Russell’s original ‘paradox of propositions’. …Read more
  •  368
    Revisiting McKay and Johnson's counterexample to ( β)
    Philosophical Explorations 25 (2): 189-203. 2022.
    In debates concerning the consequence argument, it has long been claimed that [McKay, T. J., and D. Johnson. 1996. “A Reconsideration of an Argument Against Compatibilism.” Philosophical Topics 24 (2): 113–122] demonstrated the invalidity of rule (β). Here, I argue that their result is not as robust as we might like to think. First, I argue that McKay and Johnson's counterexample is successful if one adopts a certain interpretation of ‘no choice about’ and if one is willing to deny the condition…Read more
  •  215
    Naming and Free Will
    Grazer Philosophische Studien 99 (4): 475-484. 2022.
    Rigidity does interesting philosophical work, with important consequences felt throughout metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and so on. The authors’ aim in this article is to show that rigidity has yet another role to play, with surprising consequences for the problem of free will and determinism, for the phenomenon of rigidity has the upshot that some metaphysically necessary truths are up to us. The significance of this claim is shown in the context of influential arguments against…Read more
  •  147
    Are laws of nature consistent with contingency?
    In Walter Ott & Lydia Patton (eds.), Laws of Nature, Oxford University Press. 2018.
    Are the laws of nature consistent with contingency about what happens in the world? That depends on what the laws of nature actually are, but it also depends on what they are like. The latter is the concern of this chapter, which looks at three views that are widely endorsed: ‘Humean’ regularity accounts, laws as relations among universals, and disposition/powers accounts. Given an account of what laws are, what follows about how much contingency, and of what kinds, laws allow? In all three case…Read more
  •  93
    Laws of Nature and Free Will
    Dissertation, Durham University. 2017.
    This thesis investigates the conceptual relationship between laws of nature and free will. In order to clarify the discussion, I begin by distinguishing several questions with respect to the nature of a law: i) do the laws of nature cover everything that happens? ii) are they deterministic? iii) can there be exceptions to universal and deterministic laws? iv) do the laws of nature govern everything in the world? In order to answer these questions I look at three widely endorsed accounts of laws:…Read more
  •  79
    Brian Cutter objected to the consequence argument due to its dependence on the principle that miracle workers are metaphysically impossible. A miracle worker is someone who has the ability to act in a way such that the laws of nature would be violated. While there is something to the thought that agents like us do not have this ability, Cutter claims that there is no compelling reason to regard miracle workers as metaphysically impossible. However, the paper contends that miracle workers are ind…Read more
  •  77
    From modal fallacies to a new argument for fatalism
    Manuscrito 42 (3): 86-107. 2019.
    Do incompatibilist arguments, like some fatalist arguments, rest on modal fallacies? If Westphal (2012) is right, then one popular argument for incompatibilism van Inwagen’s “First Formal Argument” does rest on a modal fallacy. Similarly, Warfield (2000) claims that the standard modal formulation of the master argument for incompatibilism is a modal fallacy. Here, I refute both claims. Contra Westphal, I show that the mistake in van Inwagen’s "First Formal Argument" is no modal fallacy. After th…Read more
  •  61
    Scott Sehon argues that the conception of determinism employed in the Consequence Argument is implausible because it rules out the logical possibility of the laws of nature being violated. Sehon says, for instance, that determinism is incompatible with the logical possibility of an interventionist God. His objection to the Consequence Argument boils down to a way of reading the box in what is implied by van Inwagen's conception of determinism. Sehon reads the box as logical necessity, and this c…Read more
  •  36
    Book Review: van Inwagen, Peter. Thinking about Free Will (review)
    Manuscrito 42 (1): 211-218. 2019.
    In this review, I discuss some aspects of van Inwagen’s insights with respect to the notions of free will and determinism. My main focus is on the author’s formulation of the free will problem.
  •  32
    A Modal Logic of Indiscernibility
    with Décio Krause and Jonas R. Becker Arenhart
    In A. L. Aerts Diederik Et (ed.), Probing the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics: Superpositions, Dynamics, Semantics and Identity, World Scientific. pp. 259-279. 2016.
    This paper is a continuation of the authors' attempts to deal with the notion of indistinguishability (or indiscernibility) from a logical point of view. Now we introduce a two-sorted first-order modal logic to enable us to deal with objects of two different species. The intended interpretation is that objects of one of the species obey the rules of standard S5, while the objects of the other species obey only the rules of a weaker notion of indiscernibility. Quantum mechanics motivates the deve…Read more
  •  24
    Há dilemas morais?
    Ethic@ - An International Journal for Moral Philosophy 12 (2): 207-226. 2013.
    O problema deste ensaio é o de saber se há dilemas morais. Defendo que é plausível pensar que não. Há, no entanto, diversos argumentos contra essa tese. Na primeira parte deste ensaio, formulo e discuto um dos argumentos mais influentes: o argumento fenomenológico. Depois disso, mostrarei que, caso aceitemos alguns princípios plausíveis, teremos de recusar a existência de dilemas morais. Mas essa conclusão é prima facie implausível: intuitivamente parece haver dilemas morais genuínos. A última e…Read more
  •  21
    Transferring Non-Responsibility
    with Gabriel de Andrade Maruchi
    Ethic@: An International Journal for Moral Philosophy 18 (3). 2019.
    The Direct Argument argues for the claim that determinism and moral responsibility are incompatible. The most controversial assumption of the argument is the thought that "not being responsible for" transfers across conditionals: if no one is (even partially) morally responsible for the fact that p is true, and no one is (even partially) morally responsible for the fact that p ⸧ q is true, then no one is (even partially) morally responsible for the fact that q is true. Here we argue that the pri…Read more
  •  16
    Um dos grandes desafios da era da informação consiste em filtrar informações claras, rigorosas e atualizadas sobre tópicos importantes. O mesmo vale para a filosofia. Como encontrar conteúdo filosófico confiável em meio a milhares de artigos publicados diariamente na internet? Para ir ainda mais longe, como encontrar uma introdução a algum tópico com uma lista de referências bibliográficas atualizadas e que seja organizada por um especialista da área? Já que você começou a ler este livro, é prov…Read more