This sums things up nicely (CMG): Thank you and I’m more than ready to tell you. I once told (I forget his name, but the guy who gossips all the time on the internet about Philosophy) that I could probably name some unsavory fact about anyone he mentioned, because rumors are just that—rumors. He had […]
I have permission from the writer to post this. It was forwarded to me by Tom Nagel. Let me add that I have spoken at length to other philosophers accused of this and that in the last twelve years: Peter Ludlow, Thomas Pogge, Jeff Ketland. My conclusion has been that none of these accusations has […]
Other Conceptions I have a conception of the world, commonly called my conceptual scheme. It can be investigated, probed, criticized. I also have a conception of myself, specifically my mind. This tends to be more private and more subject to philosophical and scientific controversy. Still, it is quite well-formed and available to my cogitations: I […]
George Soros The attempt to indict George Soros on some Trumped-up charge is patently absurd, but will probably happen. I wish him well dealing with this nonsense. However, I have mixed feelings about the man, who I once considered a friend. I spent many hours reading his attempts at philosophy and discussing them with him […]
Baby Finger All guitarists struggle with their smallest fretting finger: it just isn’t very strong or agile. You have to work on it. Recently I decided to go all-out on it. I began playing all my familiar licks with only that finger: Day Tripper, Wipe Out, Pretty Woman, I’ll Take You There, Walk This Way, […]
Earth Philosophy The planet we call Earth has specific properties, physically and geologically. It is reasonable to suppose that all of life reflects these properties—physiologically and psychologically. It is also reasonable to suppose that human science is imbued with these properties; on other planets with intelligent life forms the science may be quite different. A […]
A Letter from Concerned Philosophers Twelve years ago, a slew of philosophy professors was persuaded to sign a letter denouncing me for alleged “retaliation”. I am offering a cash prize for anyone of this crowd to write to me and give me their reasons for so signing. I predict there will be no takers, but […]
Is Necessity Good? Is there any sense in the idea that necessity is good and contingency bad? Is it somehow better to be necessary than contingent? I think there is a feeling that this is so, but it is hard to articulate. We know that many contingent truths or facts are bad, but are any […]
Logic of the Mind Modern logic employs an apparatus of quantifiers and variables. The variables are assigned a domain consisting of discrete individual objects such as dogs and houses—substances, in traditional terminology. Logical laws are formulated against the backdrop of this conception—an ontological conception. Logic is thus tied to an ontology of substances, in particular […]
Assemblages of Mind Every substance that we are aware of is an assemblage of smaller objects. Everything perceptible is a coming-together of parts. This includes human bodies and brains. We apprehend these things as assemblages. They are essentially assemblages. But the same is not true of the mind or person or self: we don’t apprehend […]