In this paper I argue that it is finally time to move beyond the Nagelian framework and to break new ground in thinking about epistemic reduction in biology. I will do so, not by simply repeating all the old objections that have been raised against Ernest Nagel’s classical model of theory reduction. Rather, I grant that a proponent of Nagel’s approach can handle several of these problems but that, nevertheless, Nagel’s general way of thinking about epistemic reduction in terms (...) of theories and their logical relations is entirely inadequate with respect to what is going on in actual biological research practice. (shrink)

An intellectual virtue is a quality bound to help maximize one’s surplus of truth over error; or so let us assume for now, though a more just conception may include as desiderata also generality, coherence, and explanatory power, unless the value of these is itself explained as derivative from the character of their contribution precisely to one’s surplus of truth over error. This last is an issue I mention in order to lay it aside. Here we assume only a teleological (...) conception of intellectual virtue, the relevant end being a proper relation to the truth, exact requirements of such propriety not here fully specified. (shrink)

Each of these 28 essays is part of a comprehensive program to address questions about language, mind, action, and their interconnections. (Philosophy).

How to Read the Old Testament. By Etienne Charpentier. Pp.124, London, SCM Press, 1982, £3.95. How to Read the New Testament. By Etienne Charpentier. Pp.129, London, SCM Press, 1982. £3.95. Beginning Old Testament Study. Edited by John Rogerson. Pp.vi, 157, London, SPCK, 1982, £3.95. Welt aus der die Bibel kommt Welt aus der die Bibel kommt: Biblische Hil ‘swissenschaften’. By Mechthild Kellermann, Stanisław Medala, Michele Piccirillo and Eugene Sitarz. Pp.263, Kevelaer, Butzon und Bercker; Stuttgart, Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1982, DM 28. (...) The Structure of Biblical Myths. The Structure of Biblical Myths. By Heinz Westman. Pp.xxii, 477, Dallas, Spring Publications, 1983, no price given. Toward Old Testament Ethics. Toward Old Testament Ethics. By Walter C. Kaiser, Pp.xii, 345, Grand Rapids, Academie Books, 1983, £13.95. Das Evangelium and die Evangelien. Das Evangelium and die Evangelien. Edited by Peter Stuhlmacher. Pp.viii, 454, Tubingen, J.C.B. Mohr, 1983, DM 178. Once More Astonished Once More Astonished: The Parables of Jesus. By Jan Lambrecht. Pp.xiv, 245, New York, Crossroad Publishing, 1983, $9.95. Mark: The Gospel as Story. Mark: The Gospel as Story. By Ernest Best. Pp.vii, 155, Edinburgh, T & T. Clark, 1983, £8.95. The ‘Son of Man’ as The Son of God. The ‘Son of Man’ as The Son of God. By Seyoon Kim. Pp.x, 118, Tübingen, J.C.B. Mohr, 1983, DM 48. Paul and the Law. Paul and the Law. By Heikki Räisänen. Pp.xi, 320, Tübingen, J.C.B. Mohr, 1983, DM 108. Pauline Christianity. Pauline Christianity. By John Ziesler, Pp.ix, 157, Oxford University Press, 1983, £3.50. God as the Mystery of the World God as the Mystery of the World: On the Foundations of the Theology of the Crucified One in the Dispute between Theism and Atheism. By Eberhard Jüngel, translated by Darrell L. Guder.Pp. xvi, 414, Edinburgh, T. and T. Clark, 1983, £14.95. Theologia: The Fragmentation and Unity of Theological Education. Theologia: The Fragmentation and Unity of Theological Education. By Edward Farley. Pp.xiv, 206, Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1983, $14.50. Unity in Theology Unity in Theology: Lonergan's Framework for Theology in its New Context. By Michael C. O'Callaghan. Pp.xlii, 553, Lanham, University Press of America, 1980, $24.50, $16.75. Understanding Karl Rahner, vol.1: A Theologian in Search of a Philosophy. Understanding Karl Rahner, vol.1: A Theologian in Search of a Philosophy. By George Vass. Pp.xix, 153, London, Sheed and Ward, 1985, £8.50. Understanding Karl Rahner, vol.2: The Mystery of Man and the Foundations of a Theological System. By George Vass. Pp.xvii, 200, London, Sheed and Ward, 1985, £9.50. Ignatius von Loyola Ignatius von Loyola: Die Exerzitien. By Lothar Lies, Pp. 142, Innsbruck‐Vienna, Tyrolia Verlag, 1983, DM 26. The Name of Christ The Name of Christ: The Names of Jesus Used by the Early Cristians, The Development of the Jesus Prayer. By Irenée Hausherr. Pp.viii, 358, Kalamazoo, Cistercian Publications, 1978, $8.00. The Easter Sermons of Gregory of Nyssa. The Easter Sermons of Gregory of Nyssa. Edited by Andreas Spira and Christopher Klock. Pp.x, 384, Cambridge, The Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1981, $10.00. Anonymus in Ecclesiasten Commentarius qui dicitur Catena Trium Patrum. Anonymus in Ecclesiasten Commentarius qui dicitur Catena Trium Patrum. Edited by Santo Lucá. Pp.lvi, 139, Turnhout, Brepols, and Leuven, University Press, 1983, no price given. The Medieval Inquistion. The Medieval Inquistion. By Albert Clement Shannon. Pp viii, 153, Washington D.C., Augustinian College Press, 1983, $10.00. John Calvin. John Calvin. Edited by G.R. Potter and M. Greengrass. Pp.xvi, 176, London, Edward Arnold, 1983, £4.95. When Fathers Ruled. Family Life in Reformation Europe. When Fathers Ruled. Family Life in Reformation Europe. By Steven Ozment. Pp.x, 238, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1983, £14.85. The Apocalypse in English Renaissance Thought and Literature. The Apocalypse in English Renaissance Thought and Literature. Edited by C.A. Patrides and Joseph Wittreich. Pp. ix, 452, Manchester University Press, 1984, £37.50. The Contribution of British Writers between 1560 and 1830 to the Interpretation of Revelation 13.16–18. By David Brady, Pp.vii, 335, Tubingen, J.C.B. Mohr, 1983, DM 98. Typologies in England, 1650–1820. Typologies in England, 1650–1820. By Paul J. Korshin. Pp.xvii, 437, Princeton University Press, 1982, £26.10. The Great Debate on Miracles. The Great Debate on Miracles. By R.M. Burns. Pp.305, Lewisburg, Bucknell University Press, 1981, £12.00. Coleridge's Religious Imagination. Coleridge's Religious Imagination. By Stephen Happel. Pp.xii, 943, Salzburg, Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 1983, no price given. Jacques Maritain and the French Catholic Intellectuals. Jacques Maritain and the French Catholic Intellectuals. By Bernard Doering, Pp.x, 268, Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press, 1983, £18.25. Dorothy Day: A Biography. Dorothy Day: A Biography. By William D. Miller. Pp.xv, 527, New York, Harper and Row, 1982, $18.00, $10.50. For God and Clarity: New Essays in Honour of Austin Farrer. For God and Clarity: New Essays in Honour of Austin Farrer. Edited by Jeffrey C. Easton and Ann Loades. Pp.xiii, 205, Allison Park, Pickwick Publications; Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark, 1983, £11.75. God, Free Will, and Morality. God, Free Will, and Morality. By Robert J. Richman. Pp.xi, 195, Dordrecht, D. Reidel, 1983, $36.95. God and Skepticism: A Study in Skepticism and Fideism. God and Skepticism: A Study in Skepticism and Fideism. By Terence Penelhum. Pp.xii, 186, Dordrecht, D. Reidel, 1983, $34.00. Religious Belief and Religious Skepticism. Religious Belief and Religious Skepticism. By Gary Gutting. Pp.xi, 192, Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press, 1982, £11.20. A Philosopher's Search for the Infinite. A Philosopher's Search for the Infinite. By Jules M. Brady. Pp.94, New York, Philosophical Library, 1983, $10.00 Realism and Reason: Philosophical Papers, Vol.3. Realism and Reason: Philosophical Papers, Vol.3. By Hilary Putnam. Pp.xviii, 312, Cambridge University Press, 1983, £22.50. Perception, Learning and the Self. Perception, Learning and the Self. By D.W. Hamlyn. Pp.viii, 311, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982, £14.95. Science and Speculation: Studies in Hellenistic Theory and Practice. Science and Speculation: Studies in Hellenistic Theory and Practice. Edited by Jonathan Barnes. Pp.xxvii, 351, Cambridge University Press, 1983, £25.00. Plato: Hippias Major. Plato: Hippias Major. Translated with a commentary and essay by Paul Woodruff. Pp.xvi, 211, Oxford, Basil Blackwell 1983, £12.50. Max Scheler: The Man and his Work. Max Scheler: The Man and his Work. By John H. Nota, translated by T. Plantinga and J. Nota. Pp.vii, 213, Chicago, Franciscan Herald Press, 1983, $12.00. Searching: Practices and Beliefs of the Religious Cults and Human Potential Groups. Searching: Practices and Beliefs of the Religious Cults and Human Potential Groups. By Harriet S. Mosatche. Pp.432, New York, Straven Educational Press, 1983, £10.95. (shrink)

[ES] La creencia es considerada como una especie de expresión, que alcanza un nivel de éxito si es verdadera, un segundo nivel si es competente, y un tercero si es verdadera por ser competente. El conocimiento a un nivel es una creencia apta. La normatividad epistémica que constituye tal conocimiento es, de esta manera, una especie de normatividad de la expresión. Un problema surge para esta explicación del hecho de que la suspensión de la creencia parece caer bajo la misma (...) especie de normatividad epistémica que la creencia misma; aunque suspender es, sin embargo, precisamente no actuar, en todo caso no teniendo como objetivo la verdad. El presente trabajo examina este problema, y propone una solución que distingue varios niveles de normatividad de expresión, incluyendo un primer orden donde la competencia de expresión está en juego, y un segundo orden en que el ejecutante tiene que evaluar el riesgo concomitante con la realización de una expresión de primer orden. Esto introduce un nivel de conocimiento reflexivo que se eleva encima del nivel animal. [EN] Belief is considered a kind of performance, which attains one level of success if it is true, a second level if competent, and a third if true because competent. Knowledge on one level is apt belief. The epistemic normativity constitutive of such knowledge is thus a kind of performance normativity. A problem is posed for this account by the fact that suspension of belief seems to fall under the same sort of epistemic normativity as does belief itself, yet to suspend is of course precisely not to perform, certainly not with the aim of truth. The paper takes up this problem, and proposes a solution that distinguishes levels of performance normativity, including a first order where execution competence is in play, and a second order where the performer must assess the risks attendant on issuing a first-order performance. This imports a level of reflective knowledge that ascends above the animal level. (shrink)

There is a controversy in contemporary philosophy over the question whether or not knowledge must have a foundation. On one side are the foundationalists, who do accept the metaphor and find the foundation in sensory experience or the like. The coherentists, on the other side, reject the foundations metaphor and consider our body of knowledge a coherent whole floating free of any foundations. This controversy grew rapidly with the rise of idealism many years ago, and it is prominent today not (...) only in epistemology proper but also in philosophy of science and even in ethics. The discussion of this issue has been lamentably hampered by confusion and misunderstanding, and in this neither side is wholly innocent. The reflections that follow are not meant to settle the controversy, but only to help us understand it more clearly. (shrink)

This time Pritchard is on a rescue mission. Veritism is besieged and he rises to defend it. I do agree with much in his Veritism, but I demur when he adds: “So, the goodness of all epistemic goods is understood instrumentally with regard to whether they promote truth”. If Big Brother brainwashes us to believe the full contents of The Encyclopedia Britannica, then even if we suppose those contents to be true without exception, that would not make what they do (...) an unalloyed good thing, not even epistemically. But it does seem to promote truth. What might then diminish Big Brother’s action so much, so as to make it so deplorable epistemically after all, despite how powerfully it does instrumentally promote truth. At a minimum we need to say more about the relations between epistemic goods and truth, so as to better understand how it is that the epistemic good is made so good by what specific relation to the truth. I lay out a way to understand Veritism so that it can say more about the relations between epistemic goods and truth, thus enhancing our understanding of epistemic normativity. And in a second part I lay out a solution to Linda Zagzebski’s Swamping problem for reliabilism. I argue that it is a problem for process reliabilism, but not for a virtue epistemology that accepts a kind of reliabilism, but in an agential telic framework, and not in a process framework. So, I lay out one way to be a “veritist”, by defending explicitly its Axiological side, and by implication its Conceptual side as well. I have raised questions for Pritchard’s own defense and have offered in each case an alternative defense that I believe fits the words of his formulations, and is in their spirit as well. (shrink)

Extends the ideas of social constructivism to the philosophy of mathematics, developing a powerful critique of traditional absolutist conceptions of mathematics, and proposing a reconceptualization of the philosophy of mathematics.

Thoroughly updated, the second edition of this highly successful textbook continues to represent the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of canonical readings in metaphysics. In addition to updated material from the first edition, it presents entirely new sections on ontology and the metaphysics of material objects. One of the most comprehensive and authoritative metaphysics anthologies available - now updated and expanded Offers the most important contemporary works on the central issues of metaphysics Includes new sections on ontology and the metaphysics (...) of material objects, as well as readings on the topics of fictionalism, fundamentality, tropes, vague identity, temporary intrinsics, stage theory, and composition Surpasses other anthologies in its combination of contributions from leading metaphysicians and a younger generation of "rising-stars". (shrink)

Community-researcher partnerships constitute one of the most important recent developments in biomedical ethics. The partnerships protect vulnerable communities within which research is conducted and help ensure that the communities benefit from the research. At the same time, they embody deep, core values about the social nature of persons and the value of community that significantly modify the radical individualism too often associated with the prevailing concepts of autonomy and respect for persons. This article examines the burgeoning literature on community-researcher partnerships (...) to identify the main ways of thinking ethically about the obligations of investigators and the roles and rights of communities in scientific research. The paper helps to uncover the deep commonalities and differences that mark the current debate in this emerging arena of research ethics, a debate over the social nature of persons that is beginning to influence the understanding of other bioethical issues. (shrink)

For more than three decades John Searle has been developing and elaborating a unified theory of language and mind. What has emerged is an impressive and detailed account of intentionality embracing both mental states and linguistic behaviour. Though the developing theory has been presented in a steady stream of books and articles over the last thirty years, two items stand out as major landmarks: the publication of Speech Acts in 1969 and of Intentionality in 1983. Both of these seminal books (...) offer structural theories; that is, they analyze the items within their domains as having a structure which allows for variation along a number of parameters. John Searle and His Critics proceeds from an analysis of the importance and influence of these two works to an overall assessment of Searle's impact in the philosophy of language, of mind, of social explanation, and of reference and intentionality. Each of the chapters has been newly commissioned from a leading scholar in the relevant field and each section concludes with a summary and response from Searle himself. (shrink)

Much has been written about the interpretation of Plato in the last thirty years. Once interpreted as a revolutionary of the left, and a prophet of Socialism, he has lately been interpreted as a revolutionary of the Right and a forerunner of Fascism. In this book Plato appears as himself âe" a revolutionary indeed, and even an authoritarian, but a revolutionary of the pure idea of the Good, and an authoritarian of the pure reason, unattached either to the Right or (...) the Left. (shrink)

This paper is part of a book symposium on my Judgment and Agency. Here I reply to the comments of three commentators: Jason Baehr, Imogen Dickie, and Hilary Kornblith.

This chapter contains section titled: Introduction Contextualism Epistemic Justification: Internalism versus Externalism9 Human Knowledge, Animal and Reflective Safety, Bootstrapping, Circularity Coherence Philosophical Skepticism Praxis and Epistemology Epistemic Value.

Kitcher and Aspray distinguish a mainstream tradition in the philosophy of mathematics concerned with foundationalist epistemology, and a ‘maverick’ or naturalistic tradition, originating with Lakatos. My claim is that if the consequences of Lakatos's contribution are fully worked out, no less than a radical reconceptualization of the philosophy of mathematics is necessitated, including history, methodology and a fallibilist epistemology as central to the field. In the paper an interpretation of Lakatos's philosophy of mathematics is offered, followed by some critical discussion, (...) and an extension to a social constructivist position (which might well have been unacceptable to Lakatos). (shrink)

This paper is a response to the four critics of A Virtue Epistemology. It responds to Claudia Lorena García, Miguel Ángel Fernández, Jonathan Kvanvig, and Ram Neta, in that order. Este artículo es una respuesta a los cuatro críticos de A Virtue Epistemology. Ofrece respuestas a Claudia Lorena García, Miguel Ángel Fernández, Jonathan Kvanvig, y Ram Neta, en ese orden.

This paper lays out and rebuts methodological objections to philosophers’ reliance on intuitions in pursuit of metaphysical analysis.

The traditional conception of knowledge as justified true belief has collapsed under weighty objections. Some of these are well known; but others, though equally weighty and puzzling, have attracted comparatively little attention, and still demand careful study. Only through such study can we approach correct understanding of propositional knowledge.

True, the believing could not in those cir- cumstances be there the object of belief being there. accept a notion of correspondence or reference according to which a word or a brain state of ours can refer to some external or or independent (This no more forces.

This book offers an up-to-date overview of the research on philosophy of mathematics education, one of the most important and relevant areas of theory. The contributions analyse, question, challenge, and critique the claims of mathematics education practice, policy, theory and research, offering ways forward for new and better solutions. The book poses basic questions, including: What are our aims of teaching and learning mathematics? What is mathematics anyway? How is mathematics related to society in the 21st century? How do students (...) learn mathematics? What have we learnt about mathematics teaching? Applied philosophy can help to answer these and other fundamental questions, and only through an in-depth analysis can the practice of the teaching and learning of mathematics be improved. The book addresses important themes, such as critical mathematics education, the traditional role of mathematics in schools during the current unprecedented political, social, and environmental crises, and the way in which the teaching and learning of mathematics can better serve social justice and make the world a better place for the future. (shrink)

This paper considers well known results of psychological researchinto the fallibility of human reason, and philosophical conclusionsthat some have drawn from these results. Close attention to theexact content of the results casts doubt on the reasoning that leadsto those conclusions.