Travel Diary 4 7 Oct 2009 I am in Göttingen now, talking to primatologists at the DPZ (Deutsches Primatenzentrum) conference on hybridisation. Neither I nor any of the said primatologists are in the picture above. This is an appropriate place to give a talk on species concepts, because in the 18th century, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach worked here, and he is the originator of the so-called biological species concept. Tonight is a talk on the tree of life, a subject dear to my heart, by Mike Arnold of the University of Georgia, and the conference proper begins tomorrow. Biology Ecology and Biodiversity Evolution Philosophy Science
Epistemology The relation of classification to abductive reasoning 3 Feb 20135 Feb 2013 In my last post, commentator DiscoveredJoys raised the question of abductive reasoning and how it relates to my claim that classification is basically pattern recognition. It’s a fair question. First I’ll repeat my response, and then go into it a little more. In my view, abduction is larger in scope… Read More
Epistemology Can one do philosophy of religion? 6 Jan 20114 Oct 2017 A while back, philosopher of religion Keith Parsons (Houston, Clear Lake) announced that he could no longer do philosophy of religion because I have to confess that I now regard “the case for theism” as a fraud and I can no longer take it seriously enough to present it to… Read More
Philosophy My Absent Career 13: Critical mass 17 Jan 202318 Jan 2023 Having taught critical reasoning and studied the usual logic for philosophy undergrads, I felt that I had a pretty good understanding of logic and reasoning, at least without getting into modal logics and other such aberrations. Not for the first or last time I mistook confidence for competence. Neil Thomason,… Read More