A Story About John Searle In 1984 John Searle gave the Reith lectures in England. This was a big deal and quite an honor. I was asked by the BBC to join a small panel commenting on these lectures. After the program was recorded, we went to a boozy lunch set up by the Beeb. […]
Jennifer Hudin sent me this. Yes, actually, but I found a problem, I think, in John’s account of social ontology. I’m not sure anything theoretical rides on it, but it is a puzzle nonetheless. Everyone present agreed. I will polish the notes up for you. I was happy with the talk. I managed to […]
Attention and Knowledge In chapter XI (“Attention”) of The Principles of Psychology William James makes the point that the empiricists completely omit the contribution of attention in the generation knowledge. The reason is that attention possesses “a degree of reactive spontaneity” that breaks through the “circle of pure receptivity which constitutes ‘experience’” (402). Instead, he […]
Dear Prof. McGinn, I hope you are well. I saw that you recently posted an open call to dialogue on your blog, which reminded me that last year I wrote an essay in reply to one of your posts. You may find it interesting. https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/post/on-cancelling-and-repair Kind regards, Mary Dear Mary Peterson, To be honest […]
Block on Searle Ned Block says: “Searle was a pugilistic philosopher, much more interested in winning than in truth”. This is a nasty comment, coming so soon after Searle’s death. It isn’t so much the imputation of a desire to win as the suggestion that this was more Searle’s interest than the truth. The clear […]
Indictments I welcome the indictments the current administration intends to bring against a list of people; not because they are guilty of anything but because they are not. In each case the allegations will fall apart, thus exposing the meritless nature of the charges. This will not look good for the prosecutors. It will also […]
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 […]