【Philosophy】African philosophy cannot be a thing
This essay unpacks several arguments about the metaphilosophic nature of African philosophy and charts a way through the problems these arguments enco... [more]
【Philosophy】Fusion Philosophy and Epistemic Injustice
I use the concept of epistemic injustice to think through the practice and methodology of comparative, or fusion, philosophy. I make two related claim... [more]
New article
Complexity versus uncertainty: The question of staying alive
Some real objects show a very particular tendency: that of becoming independent with regard to the uncertainty of their surroundings. This is achieved by the exchange of three quantities: matter, energy and information. A conceptual framework, based on bo
Two explanations of evolutionary progress
Natural selection explains how living forms are fitted to their conditions of life. Darwin argued that selection also explains what he called the gradual advancement of the organisation, i.e. evolutionary progress. Present-day selectionists disagree. In t
The revival of rejective negation
Whether assent )'acceptance') and dissent ('rejection') are thought of us speech acts or as propositional attitudes, the leading idea of rejectivism is that a grasp of the distinction between them is prior to our understanding of negation as a sentenc
The mind and the faculties: the controversy over 'primitive mentality' and the struggle fo
This article deals with some aspects of the study of the mind between the 1920s and 1940s at the University of Paris. Traditionally the domain of philosophy, the study of the mind was encroached upon by other disciplines such as history of science, ethnol
Trustworthiness in explanation: The obligation to explain well
'Scientific integrity' certainly requires that data and references be beyond reproach. However, issues within the theory of scientific explanation suggest that there may be more to if than just this. While it is true that some contemporary, pragmatic an
The use of genetic test information in insurance: The argument from indistinguishability reconsidere
In the bioethical literature, discrimination in insurance on the basis of genetic risk factors detected by genetic testing has been defended and opposed on various ethical grounds. One important argument in favour of the practice is offered by those who b
McDowell on Kant: Redrawing the bounds of sense
John McDowell's Mind and World is a notable attempt to redirect the interest of analytic philosophers toward certain themes in Kantian and more recent continental thought. Only thus, he believes, can we move beyond the various failed attempts by Quine, D
Identity and difference: A hundred years of analytic philosophy
At its origins, analytic philosophy is an interest in language, science, logic, analysis, and a systematic rather than a historical approach to philosophical problems. Early analytic philosophers were famous for making clear conceptual distinctions and fo
The mission of philosophy today
The paper gives a brief characterization of philosophical problems; points up something of their significance for the culture, the social order, and our lives; indicates the methodology appropriate for the problems; and presents a view of the cultural mis
Orthologic and quantum logic: Models and computational elements
Motivated by a growing need to understand the computational potential of quantum devices we suggest an approach to the relevant issues via quantum logic and its model theory. By isolating such notions as quantum parallelism and interference within a model
A refutation of Penrose's Godelian case against artificial intelligence
Having, as it is generally agreed, failed to destroy the computational conception of mind with the Godelian attack he articulated in his The Emperor's New Mind, Penrose has returned, armed with a more elaborate and more fastidious Godelian case, expresse
Prolegomena to any future artificial moral agent
As artificial intelligence moves ever closer to the goal of producing fully autonomous agents, the question of how to design and implement an artificial moral agent (AMA) becomes increasingly pressing. Robots possessing autonomous capacities to do things
Subject and substratum: On Japanese imperial nationalism
This paper addresses the theoretical and philosophical questions concerning how an individual identified his/herself as a member of an ethnic, racial, or national community in the context of Japanese Imperialist discourse during the 1930's. The central f
Vajray(a)over-barna art and iconography
Iconographic imagery in the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist. Tantric (i.e., Vajrayana) tradition is replete with polymorphic symbolic forms. Tantric texts themselves are multivalent, addressing astronomy, astrology, cosmology, history embryology, physiology, pharma
Why do theologians need to be scientists?
The postmodern situation has given rise to a quest for new understandings of the relationship between theology and science. Drawing illustrative material from an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, I look at three paradigmatic answers to the question posed in