Epistemological Origins What causes human (and animal) knowledge? Is it nature or God? The classical empiricists thought it was nature acting on the senses (for most knowledge anyway) not God. The classic rationalists thought it was God acting miraculously on the soul (for some knowledge anyway) not nature. Either nature implants the knowledge via experience […]
Empiricism Refashioned Historically, we can distinguish three theories of the origin of knowledge: empiricism, rationalism, and revelationism (as it may be called). The first locates the origin of knowledge in conscious sense experience, particularly vision; the second accords a significant role to innate endowment (instinct, genetics); the third regards true knowledge as emanating from an […]
Aspects of the A Priori It is now fifty years since I first tried to define a priori knowledge. I wrote a long paper on the subject in 1975 that was abbreviated to appear in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society in 1976 (“A Priori and A PosterioriKnowledge”). The basic idea was that a posteriori […]
Subject: First Set of Questions & Notes on the Interview Project Dear Professor McGinn, First of all, I want to sincerely thank you once again for giving me this opportunity. It truly means a great deal to me, and I consider it a rare honor. As I mentioned before, the interview I am preparing will […]
Aesthetic Tennis As Wimbledon builds towards its climax, the question on everyone’s mind is “Who is the most aesthetic player in the world?” We all have our views, some more informed and sensitive than others. I will wade into these shark-infested waters, in which one’s credibility is totally on the line. Like, totally. I think […]
Dear Professor McGinn, My name is Ehsan Ahrari, a sociologist and writer based in Iran. Over the past years, I have been engaged in a series of grassroots conversations under the banner of Sociology of the Everyday, where we explore ordinary life through a philosophical and ethical lens—often without institutional scaffolding, but with deep intellectual urgency. […]
Interests What am I not interested in and don’t enjoy? And what am I somewhat interested in but can do without? I am not interested in politics—in fact I am repulsed by it—but I follow it closely for purely utilitarian reasons. I find it intellectually dismal if not abysmal. I am not interested in business […]
Vanity It used to be said of certain people that they are “vain” or “arrogant” or “conceited” or “prideful” or “boastful”. Then it was said that such people are “big-headed” or a “bighead”, possibly “cocky” in some contexts (“He’s a cocky bugger”). Later it became “egotistical” or “egocentric”—a slightly more clinical name for the syndrome, […]
