Digesting the literature 5 May 2009 Many years ago, ians, really, I naively asked my lecturer who I thought knew everything in the field, how he kept up with the literature. He shrugged and said he couldn’t, and neither could anyone else. I thought he was just being self deprecating. Experience taught me better shortly. But there are tools that help, and now, in this all-electric age, they are online. A Philosopher’s Digest has just been started, which will give brief summaries of important papers, so those of us who do not follow every paper in every field can sound more intelligent and erudite. Damned nice of them, really. Hat tip to Leiter. While I’m at it, go read how sausages journals are made, by the editor of Nature. Philosophy
Accommodationism Can Religion Accommodate Science? 12 Feb 201420 Feb 2014 Recent posts and stuff online has led me to suspect it would be worthwhile my writing a book on this topic, as short posts often lead to misunderstandings and trolls. I’ve started sketching out the contents, and putting in various posts from here to use as a skeleton, but I… Read More
Administrative Crowdsourcing – online database in WordPress 28 Sep 201128 Sep 2011 Hi everyone. I have an idea: to set up a database of aphorisms by philosophers to which everyone can contribute, but which I will approve before it shows, and which everyone can search. Each record must include the bibliographical details and be by a recognised philosopher or historically important source… Read More
Evolution Notes on Novelty 4: Examples – the beetle’s horns and the turtle’s shell 29 Dec 201121 Jun 2018 Notes on Novelty series: 1. Introduction 2. Historical considerations – before and after evolution 3: The meaning of evolutionary novelty 4: Examples – the beetle’s horns and the turtle’s shell 5: Evolutionary radiations and individuation 6: Levels of description 7: Surprise! 8: Conclusion – Post evo-devo The Beetle’s horns Beetles often have projections on their carapace… Read More
*ians = eons? It seems like making philosophy more accessible is a theme in the field at the moment – I’m glad many are making strides in this direction. =)
Many years ago, ians, really, I naively asked my lecturer who I thought knew everything in the field, how he kept up with the literature. He shrugged and said he couldn’t, and neither could anyone else. This is one of the major reasons why I never finish anything. There are always five more papers or books that I have to read before I close my research/reading on a subject and those five lead to ten more and those ten to twenty… At some point editors just stop asking when my paper will be finished. I’m incredibly well read but have the world’s worst publication record. I wonder why?