Again, Supervenience There is a well-known problem with physicalism: the problem of defining it. Briefly: do we mean the mind is reducible to the brain as now understood, or do we mean the mind is reducible to the brain as it may be understood in the future? Do we mean current actual neuroscience or do […]
Freedom and Tariffs Tariffs raise prices on imported goods, as importers pass on costs to consumers. This decreases demand, by the basic laws of economics. It may reduce it to zero. This means that consumers don’t buy what they would have bought if it were not for tariffs. They would prefer to buy what they […]
Due Process The Fifth Amendment of the United States constitution states: “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” This condition derives from the Magna Carta, clause 39, of 1354. Due process of law requires, at a minimum, notice of alleged offence, a proper hearing, and a neutral […]
Convergence, Truth, and History We tend to converge on the truth. Independent investigators often arrive at the same truth because it is the truth. If investigators are not independent, their coinciding beliefs may well be explained by influence not truth: they have the same beliefs because of interpersonal contact. Convergence of belief in independent investigators […]
Kings and Queens The President was in his bathroom fantasizing about torturing his political enemies. They clearly deserved it. It was a habit of his; he meant no harm by it (or not much). He stood up and his ample buttocks were reflected in the gold plate of his Presidential toilet. He gazed at his […]
Am I an Analytical Philosopher? The question is not easy to answer. On the one hand, I have written extensively on topics not usually covered in the analytic tradition typified by Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Moore, and their successors—disgust, good and evil in literature, sport, mind manipulation, Shakespeare, dreams, movies, the hand. I happen to have […]
An Audacious Solution to the Mind-Math Problem The mind-math problem is the problem of explaining how the mind and mathematical reality manage to come together: how do numbers and geometric figures get to be apprehended by the mind? Suppose we adopt a Platonic view of mathematical reality—it consists of abstract objects, existing outside space and […]
