Book More FAPPery 27 Apr 2010 Another review of What Darwin got wrong, by Kenan Malik, at The Literary Review. The money quote: Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini are no creationists, but ‘outright, card-carrying, signed-up, dyed-in-the-wool, no-holds-barred atheists’. That, however, only makes worse the incoherence of their understanding of Darwinism. There is much that Darwin got wrong, from… Read More
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Morality and evolution 2: Moral facts 1 May 201422 May 2014 [Morality and Evolution 1 2 3 4 5 6 7] In a forthcoming paper, “Evolution and Moral Realism”, Kim Sterelny and Ben Fraser, of the Australian National University, have argued that there can be moral facts that evolution by selection tracks. Their argument is that moral reasoning is complex, and relies upon rapid judgements (what Daniel… Read More
Evolution Notes on novelty 1: Introduction 14 Dec 201115 Jan 2012 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 I like to take the most extreme view I can… Read More
My copy of THE BOOK arrived today. Now if I’d known it was on sale already.. Given what you philosophers get up to on other threads however (NP? Lowenheim paradox?), how much will I take in, I wonder. But nothing venture… (Nothing venture, nothing win Blood is thick but water’s thin. In for a penny, in for a pound, It’s love that makes the world go round. WS Gilbert) Sorry, the second glass of wine and a liberal ingestion of red dust has strange effects…
It’s OK, I don’t do any serious metaphysics in that book. You can read it for enjoyment. I thought Sydney had just reacted to my spring cleaning.