This chapter addresses the worry that the existence of causal antecedents to your choices means that you are causally compelled to act as you do. It begins with the folk…
A critique of Methodological Naturalism
…scientific revolution that accompanied the change from the corpuscular to the wave theory of light, does not in fact support the view that there have been radical methodological changes in…
The Metaphysical Consequences of Counterfactual Skepticism
Abstract: A series of recent arguments purport to show that most counterfactuals of the form if A had happened then C would have happened are not true. These arguments pose…
Pierre Duhem’s Good Sense as a Guide to Theory Choice
Abstract: This paper examines Duhem’s concept of good sense as an attempt to support a non rule-governed account of rationality in theory choice. Faced with the underdetermination of theory by…
On intuitional stability: The clear, the strong and the paradigmatic
Abstract: Skepticism about the epistemic value of intuition in theoretical and philosophical inquiry has recently been bolstered by empirical research suggesting that people’s concrete-case intuitions are vulnerable to irrational biases…
Unsimple Truths: Science, Complexity and Policy
…light of the now-acknowledged complexity and contingency of biological and social systems, revise how we conceptualize the world, how we investigate the world, and how we act in the world….
Quantum Mechanics
…among philosophers, about what the world is like according to quantum mechanics. Minimally interpreted, the theory describes a set of facts about the way the microscopic world impinges on the…
Validity in Interpretation: Some Indian Views
Summary: An outline of the theory of interpretation within the language philosophies of ancient India. Chari organizes this extensive history according to topics such as verbal autonomy, intention, unity of…
Descartes’s Meditations: An Introduction
Abstract: This new introduction to a philosophical classic draws on the reinterpretations of Descartes’ thought of the past twenty-five years. Catherine Wilson examines the arguments of Descartes’ famous Meditations, revealing…
Selections from A Defence of Mr Locke’s Essay of Human Understanding
Diversifying Syllabi: Catharine Trotter Cockburn argues that Burnet’s critiques of Locke are mistaken. In particular, she argues (a) that Burnet has misunderstood Locke, (b) that Burnet’s conclusions aren’t supported by…