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 […]
Impersonating Trump Impersonating Trump has become a growth industry. I’d like to see a Trump AI robot. But have you noticed that Trump officials and followers are beginning to impersonate him—his bluster, his insults, his nastiness? I wonder how much his personality and style have seeped into the culture—here and abroad. One Donald Trump is […]
Action and Trying Davidson once memorably said, “We never do more than move our bodies; the rest is up to nature”. This aphorism has the sound of an illuminating truism, but does it stand up to critical examination? Suppose you are suffering from paralysis, total or partial, following an accident. Your physiotherapist asks you to […]
Good Intentions I was in my local supermarket, Milams, yesterday, doing my weekly food shopping—not a place of moral drama, you might think. Only one checkout line was open, I was dismayed to discover; a passing supervisor (big, black, vaguely professorial) observed my distress and suggested I take the empty express line (10 items or […]
Barbados I am seriously thinking about moving to Barbados. The political situation in this country has become intolerable and has been for a while (I’m thinking of the political situation in American academic philosophy, but national politics is pretty bad too). Barbados is a British protectorate, not American, so you can get away from that […]
The President The president wants to put on a TV show about deporting criminals. He rounds up a bunch of guys capable of acting the part of deportable criminals. He has them filmed and broadcasts the footage. It makes for great TV. There would be a problem if he insisted on due process for this […]
Degrees of Mind and Body We are accustomed to a sharp and rigid distinction between mind and body, between “the mental” and “the physical”. We also tend to think that these are absolute concepts: something is either one or the other with no degrees. One thing can’t be more mental than another, or more physical. […]
3/20 I find my mind going back to 9/11 a lot. That state of mind is rising up in me again (does it ever really leave?). It’s a mixture of moral outrage, nausea, despair, fear, and anger. It is exceedingly unpleasant. What is causing it? The current political situation, of course. The planes flying into […]
Miami and Me When I moved to the University of Miami in 2006 the plan was to improve the standing of the philosophy department. The hope was to “do a Rutgers”, where I had worked for the previous sixteen years. Peter Klein, the chief architect of Rutgers’ success, had been approached by the university to […]