Why Did Sex Evolve? Some reproduction is sexual and some is asexual. There is no biological necessity about sexual reproduction, despite its prevalence. How could there be any such necessity, given that the basic principle of evolutionary biology is just that organisms are designed to maximize the presence of their genes […]
Therapy and Theory In section 255 of Philosophical Investigations Wittgenstein remarks: “The philosopher’s treatment of a question is like the treatment of an illness.” In section 593 he says: “A main cause of philosophical disease—a one-sided diet: one nourishes one’s thinking with only one kind of example.” In section 133 […]
Science and Philosophy What does the value of science consist in? There are two possible answers: its usefulness and its interest. Nothing needs to be said about the first, but the second raises the question of what kind of interest science has. Let me distinguish specialist interest and general […]
Proving the Self Is it possible to prove that the self exists? First let’s consider the existence of material objects, particularly the relationship between property instantiation and object-hood. An ordinary material object, such as a table or a bee, does not instantiate a single property but a collection of properties—a cluster of […]
Principles of Radical Interpretation How should we set about interpreting an alien language and the people who speak it? Specifically, how should we ascribe beliefs to others? One idea is that we should use a principle of charity: ascribe to others the beliefs that we have, so that interpreter and interpreted […]
Parables in Philosophy Parables have their uses and merits in philosophy, even in these desiccated days. They can impart vivid life to elusive abstractions. Plato’s parable of the cave is the most famous philosophical parable, and it is powerfully memorable. It has its defects: notably, the cave wall and the […]
