On Quantum/Relativity Incompatibility
I’ve been very interested in the search for a theory of quantum gravity. General Relativity and Quantum theory, the twin crowning achievements of twentieth century physics, are not compatible, and the...
View ArticleHorizon Complementarity
Sean Carroll had an interesting post at the Cosmic Variance blog. The post discusses the idea, outlined in a couple of recent papers, of finding a concordance between the multiverses which exist...
View ArticleMind-Dependent Composition
The Russellian view of the mind-body problem explains why experience has qualitative content: the natural world has qualities, and this fact poses no conflict with physics, because physics offers only...
View ArticleUpcoming GPPC Event: Philosophy for Children
I'm helping to organize this GPPC forum on philosophy for children coming up on October 29. I've gotten interested in this topic over the last year, and have talked to a number of smart and passionate...
View ArticleIntrospection and Acquaintance
How reliable is knowledge gained through introspection? On the one hand, we have been learning that knowledge gained through introspection is surprisingly fallible. A philosopher who has worked on...
View ArticleCausal Regularity is not Universal but Rare
The picture of our universe as a machine governed by deterministic laws is hard to shake. Physics has profoundly undermined this vision of course, but even before this was known, it is a bit surprising...
View ArticleComposing the Mind
William Seager, of the University of Toronto, has written a number of interesting papers over the years on the mind, with panpsychism and emergence/reduction included as frequent topics. I’m grateful...
View ArticleThoughts on Edward Feser’s Aquinas
I recently read Aquinas, by Edward Feser (home page, blog). I would recommend the book; it is an excellent introduction to the thought of Aquinas (it deals with his philosophy – it is not a biography...
View ArticlePriority of Actual over Potential in Aristotle
Aquinas follows Aristotle in utilizing the interplay of potentiality and actuality to explain substance and change. And the idea that the actual is prior to the potential, which I got a bit hung up on...
View ArticleGPPC 2011-2012 Program
Lots of good Philly-area philosophy coming up!The GPPC website has the updated program information for 2011-2012. The site also has other news, including this year's discussion groups and other...
View ArticleAaronson on QM and Free Will
One thing that has frustrated me in the past is the fact that folks tend to think indeterministic means “just random”, where by random they mean some stochastic process (like a dice roll) where one...
View ArticleDispositional Modality as Restricted Possibility
I’ve been interested in the metaphysics of dispositional properties (or powers), and I’ve ordered Getting Causes from Powers, a new book from Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum. I look forward to...
View ArticlePhilosophy for Children Forum: 29 October
Coming up very soon is the next event on this year’s GPPC program: our Public Issues Forum. The topic this year is Philosophy for Children. The date is Saturday October 29th, 1pm, at the University of...
View ArticleDo We Need Essences?
I’ve just been starting to read and think more about essences, in particular the debate which has followed Kit Fine’s argument in “Essence and Modality” (1993) that essences cannot be understood in...
View ArticleA Note on Events and Causation
Presently I’m reading GettingCauses From Powers by Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum (and have finished six chapters out of ten). I expect to blog more about this book, of which I think very highly....
View ArticleDeterminism Doesn’t Imply Causal Necessity
A key part of the argument for causal dispositionalism in Mumford and Anjum’sGetting Causes FromPowers is the case against causal necessitarianism (chapter 3 in the book). Causality is commonly...
View ArticleMore on Causation and Reduction to Physics
I finished reading GettingCauses from Powersby Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum. I recommend the book highly to anyone interested in causation, and I’ll be thinking about many of its arguments and...
View ArticleShort Review of Getting Causes from Powers
In this book, Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum present their theory of causal dispositionalism, that is, causation based on dispositional properties, or powers. I highly recommend it to anyone...
View ArticleCausal Constraint
The notion of dispositional modality, discussed by Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum in Getting Causes from Powers, put me in mind of another analysis of the interplay between causation and modality:...
View ArticleUpcoming GPPC events
Philosophy on Film Series - EstrangementsThe Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium is sponsoring a film series at the Bryn Mawr FilmInstitute again this year featuring commentaries by GPPC...
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