•  8
    Reply to Marmodoro's Review of Platonism and the Objects of Science
    Ancient Philosophy Today 5 (2): 214-220. 2023.
  •  5
    Introduction
    Res Philosophica 97 (2): 135-139. 2020.
  •  91
    Platonism and the Objects of Science
    Bloomsbury Academic. 2020.
    What are the objects of science? Are they just the things in our scientific experiments that are located in space and time? Or does science also require that there be additional things that are not located in space and time? Using clear examples, these are just some of the questions that Scott Berman explores as he shows why alternative theories such as Nominalism, Contemporary Aristotelianism, Constructivism, and Classical Aristotelianism, fall short. He demonstrates why the objects of scientif…Read more
  •  11
    Form and Good in Plato’s Eleatic Dialogues (review)
    Ancient Philosophy 16 (2): 487-491. 1996.
  •  9
    Categories: Historical and Systematic Essays (review)
    International Philosophical Quarterly 46 (4): 503-504. 2006.
  • Socrates and the Science of Happiness
    Dissertation, The University of Wisconsin - Madison. 1990.
    In Plato's Gorgias, Socrates makes the paradoxical-sounding claim that it is always better to be treated unjustly than to treat someone else unjustly. I examine Socrates' two arguments for this claim in my dissertation. If Socrates' arguments are correct, I claim that we have a good reason for thinking that ethical egoism is a better ethical theory than is usually thought and the modern distinction between descriptive and normative statements and the modern distinction between psychological and …Read more
  •  50
    Categories: Historical and Systematic Essays (review)
    International Philosophical Quarterly 46 (4): 503-504. 2006.
  •  1729
    A Defense of Psychological Egoism
    In Naomi Reshotko (ed.), Desire, Identity and Existence, Academic Printing and Publishing. 2003.
    The purpose of this paper is to argue for psychological egoism, i.e., the view that the ultimate motivation for all human action is the agent’s self-interest. Two principal opponents to psychological egoism are considered. These two views are shown to make human action inexplicable. Since the reason for putting forward these views is to explain human action, these views fail. If psychological egoism is the best explanation of human action, then humans will not differ as regards their motivat…Read more
  •  986
  •  51
    Form and Good in Plato’s Eleatic Dialogues (review)
    Ancient Philosophy 16 (2): 487-491. 1996.
  •  102
    A Platonic Theory of Truthmaking
    Metaphysica 14 (1): 109-125. 2013.
    A Platonic explanation of non-modal and modal truths is explained and defended using non-spatiotemporal entities as their truthmakers. It is argued, further, that this theory is parsimonious, naturalistic, and ontologically serious. These features should commend the view to a wide swath of philosophers
  •  129
    Universals: Ways or Things?
    Metaphysica 9 (2): 219-234. 2008.
    What all contemporary so-called aristotelian realists have in common has been identified by David Armstrong as the principle of instantiation. This principle has been put forward in different versions, but all of them have the following simple consequence in common: uninstantiated universals do not exist. Such entities are for the lotus-eating Platonist to countenance, but not for any sort of moderate realist. I shall argue that this principle, in any guise, is not the best way to differentiate …Read more
  •  34
    Plato's Individuals. By Mary Margaret McCabe (review)
    Modern Schoolman 73 (4): 356-359. 1996.
  •  299
    Beyond Experience (review)
    Review of Metaphysics 47 (4): 845-846. 1994.
    Swartz attempts the commendable task of motivating nonprofessional philosophers to engage in the activity of identifying and criticizing their own metaphysical theories. He does this first by explaining what a metaphysical theory is and how to evaluate it, and second by examining the plausibility of various theories concerning space, time, properties, synchronic identity, diachronic identity, and personal identity. A professional philosopher will find it easy to read. An upper-level undergraduat…Read more