Rorty has died 8 Jun 200724 Nov 2022 The Leiter Report has a brief obit. Richard Rorty was a significant thinker, although I must say that what I learned from his work Philosophy and the MIrror of Nature, I had to unlearn later on. But that is the way of philosophical discussions. More from Telos, courtesy of Mixing Memory. I just heard from those who knew him that he died after a 15 month battle with pancreatic cancer. Until shortly before his death, he was quite active. Logic and philosophy
Humor A template for philosophical debates 16 Jul 201216 Jul 2012 [Click through to Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal] Mind, equally popular is this syllogism: If P is true, then my opponent will be sad. I wish my opponent to be sad. Therefore P is true. Read More
Biology Articles of faith: The theological and philosophical origins of the concept of species 22 Oct 201329 Oct 2013 It takes a while for the implications of one’s own work to sink in. In my 2009 book Species, a History of the Idea (see here), I argued that the notion that before Darwin people were essentialistic and fixist about species was false. A recent paper by Jack Powers about Mayr’s misreading… Read More
Evolution Could God Have Set Up Darwinian Accidents? 9 Jul 20119 Jul 2011 I have a paper forthcoming in the Theology and Philosophy journal Zygon, that I thought some of the readers of this blog might find interesting. Here’s the PhilPapers entry: John S. Wilkins (forthcoming). Could God Have Set Up Darwinian Accidents? Zygon. Charles Darwin, in his discussions with Asa Gray and in… Read More
I’m not exactly a fan of Rorty, but I’ll still pay him respect. He was indeed a significant thinker, even if a lot of his though was horribly muddled and confused (IMO, at least).