A busy fortnight 9 Dec 201122 Jun 2018 So, I have been rather active for the last fortnight (that’s two weeks for Americans). I visited Canberra to work on a species concept paper with a colleague, Brent Mishler. I attended a philosophy of biology workshop in Bundanoon, a sleepy little town outside Sydney. I got a love kiss from a huntsman spider there – s/he didn’t mean it; s/he was in my towel and I rubbed him/her hard against my leg. This is what a love kiss from a huntsman looks like. They’re not [very] venomous, but they typically don’t brush their chelicerae after meals, so you can get nasty infections. The image at right is nearly two weeks later… Here’s a huntsman, also known as a wolf spider. Pretty, ain’t it? After I drove back (ten hours’ drive) I then turned around and flew back to Sydney due to bad organisation, where I attended my nephew’s wedding. Back to Melbourne where I gave a talk to the Invertebrate Biology conference at the University of Melbourne. I tried to convince them that species do not have theoretical meanings. We’ll see. I’m quite busy with my present work, so I can’t do anything substantial for a while (every time I say that, though, I write something within 24 hours. Maybe it’s a geas). So have fun in the lead up to Summer (or, if you are unfortunate enough to live in the north, Winter) Soltisial Celebrations… Administrative Philosophy Species concept
Evolution What is “nature”? 2 Jan 20142 Jan 2014 Many critics of science, including Christian philosophers like Alvin Plantinga and William Lane Craig,attack something they call “naturalism”, the view that the natural world is all there is. As Papineau notes in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry, the term has no very precise meaning in philosophy, or in science…. Read More
Epistemology The Philosophers’ Menu 4 May 2010 The Philosophers’ Menu Presuppositions. Kantelope Assorted carnaps Pareto soup Hart-boyled eggs with a rescher of bacon Major Premises Jugged hare, with milled popper Skinnered peacocke, with nashed paretos Plato’ the Day Humeburger, with gibbard gravy Frankfurts and schauer kraut Bass van frassen [sic] Nagels and lockes Frege legs with russell… Read More
Ecology and Biodiversity The ecological equivalent of Evolving Thoughts 29 Oct 201129 Oct 2011 I have been casting my beadies over this blog, Oikos Blog, which looks to take a critical and philosophical eye to ecology. It appears to have some careful and deep critics on it, and what is more, at least one of them likes Evolving Thoughts. What better recommendation? Read More
Unusual to see the Scottish spelling the Irish geis is more usual. Wiki definition is far better. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geis
Well, several Americans have given me That Look when I used the term in their presence. I just assumed you all had some objection to the term.
Are huntsmen and wolf spiders really the same? My understanding was that huntsmen were large and relatively harmless (unless you rub them against your leg), while wolf spiders were smaller and more dangerous. Plus male wolf spiders did that wonderful dance during courtship. In any case, sounds like a hell of a week.