History Hume’s Dialogues: A coloured edition 18 Mar 201212 Feb 2019 Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is one of the very best philosophical works ever written, as I was reminded this morning while seeking a passage. But it is not easily available in a decent format online. Sure, you can download a facsimile of the second edition (1779) from Archive.Org, and I… Read More
Biology Natural classification 23 Jan 201423 Jan 2014 It occurs to me that I haven’t plugged my own book here. What a failure on my part! It was published in December, so it is really time I did so. In this book, Malte Ebach and I discuss a topic not often discussed in the philosophy of science: the… Read More
Epistemology 50 words for snow, or conceptual confusion 11 Sep 20171 Mar 2019 Series Conceptual confusion The economics of cultural categories What are phenomena? What counts as sociocultural? Species Constructing phenomena Explanations and phenomena In a well-known and generally debunked story, Inuit people have around 50 words for snow. Or so the argument by anthropologist Franz Boas goes. In fact, people who engage… Read More
Some like to blame scientists for the demise of faith in our world. Some even suggest that most scientists are “amoral hedonists that use their belief system as a way to justify their “lifestyle” and encourage others to join them”. This criticism is unfortunate! Most scientists are disciplined, rational thinkers that live lives that are no more amoral than most Christians. Their dedication and devotion to their careers have been instrumental in bringing us advancements in health care, communication, transportation, food production, and all the modern conveniences of life that we all take for granted.