Metaphysics of Science papers 27 Jul 2009 I wasn’t able to go to the Metaphysics of Science conference in Melbourne recently, because it unfortunately conflicted with the AAHPSSS conference in Brisbane (not good planning!), but some of the papers are available online. Devitt’s and Dowe’s papers in particular are very interesting. I agree with Dowe and as always have fun disagreeing with Devitt. I should add that Instructions’ paper is very boring… Metaphysics Philosophy Science
Evolution Is Physicalism coherent? 11 Oct 201411 Oct 2014 In my last post I argued that physicalism cannot be rejected simply because people assert there are nonphysical objects which are beyond specification. Some are, however, specifiable, and one commentator has identified the obvious ones: abstract objects like the rules of chess or numbers. I have dealt with these before… Read More
Book Stephen Hawking and the creation of the universe 4 Sep 201024 Nov 2022 I should begin by saying that I haven’t read Hawking’s book with Leonard Mlodinow, The Grand Design, and I probably won’t. But the way it is being hyped in the media, social and mainstream, suggests that what he is claiming, which is nothing novel, is that we have finally done… Read More
Cognition New publications 25 Aug 201225 Aug 2012 I have added some under-review drafts of my papers to the PhilPapers archive: Essentialism in Biology. Essentialism in philosophy is the position that things, especially kinds of things, have essences, or sets of properties, that all members of the kind must have, and the combination of which only members of the… Read More