Aaannnddd we’re back! 23 Nov 202223 Nov 2022 Changing hosts should not cause major stress headaches, but there it is… Anyway, after a two week delay, ET is back. Philosophy
Creationism and Intelligent Design Another ID knockdown, by Sarkar 8 Jun 200918 Sep 2017 Intelligent design (ID) is perhaps the most widely-discussed non-idea of all time. There seem to be three reasons why real scholars discuss it: 1. It is historically an idea that had influence on intellectual history, up to, say, 1860 2. It is an idea that needs to be discussed because… Read More
Evolution Dreams of memes and replicator machines 7 Aug 2009 Susan Blackmore is a really interesting person. She thinks broadly about many things and her conversation is great fun. But her recent article in New Scientist is less fun and more handwaving, and the reason why is, I think, of the greatest importance to thinking about evolution… replicators. Read More
Epistemology Metaphysical determinism 20 May 201227 Aug 2012 There is a hypothesis called the Sapir-Whorf Thesis (also known as linguistic relativity) in language that one can only think what one’s language permits you to think, and indeed forces you to think. This idea that some conceptual scheme can determine how you think is widely held. It appears again… Read More