One of the questions that have plagued my insomniac nights over the past decade or so is what makes something interesting. There are many proposals.…
Published 5 May 2023
Of Interest
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Category: Theories
Published 31 Oct 2019
My talk online
Published 27 Jun 2019
A talk on understanding
I will be presenting this one at ISHPSSSB in Oslo in a couple of weeks. Comments and objections received with the usual ill grace…
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Published 1 Jan 2018
50 words for snow 7: taxing attacks on taxa
We should consider in each case what Question it is that is proposed, and what answer to it would, in the instance before us, be…
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Published 11 Dec 2017
50 words for snow 6: constructing phenomena
Series Conceptual confusion The economics of cultural categories What are phenomena? What counts as sociocultural? Species Constructing phenomena Explanations and phenomena There is a naive…
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Published 12 Apr 2014
Closet Darwinism, and definitions
Every so often, somebody makes the case that “Darwinism”, “Darwinist” and “Darwinian”, being the generic noun, the individual term, and the adjective of Darwin’s name…
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Published 4 Sep 2013
Ooh! Shiny!
Just got the draft cover art of my new book with Malte Ebach: I designed the logo myself… clever, hey?
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Published 20 Sep 2012
Pizza reductionism, emergence and phenomena
Debates over reduction in science are as old as philosophy of science, but in the 1960s, Ernest Nagel’s book The Structure of Science really set things…
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Published 9 Sep 2012
Scientism and methodological naturalism
So I’ve been busy with work, and finding a flat and preparing to move. Larry’s been busy tearing strips off those who argue that the…
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Published 19 May 2012
Metaphysical determinism
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…
