An essay that displays a basic comprehension of one of Sellars’ main ideas from Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind (The Myth of the Given).
Concepts, Methods, & Heuristics in Proofs and Refutations - Chapter 1, §§1-3
An ongoing list of the concepts, methods, and heuristics used by the characters of Proofs and Refutations: The Logic of Mathematical Discovery, by Imre Lakatos. This is what I would have found useful the first time reading Proofs and Refutations, and I hope you find it useful too.
Chapter 1, §§1-3 focus on a proposed proof for the Descartes-Euler conjecture (the Cauchy proof) and types of counterexamples.
Two Ways of Thinking About ‘Meta’-ness
Some meta-philosophy about how we might think about the potential for an infinite recursion of ‘meta’-ness in philosophy.
An Asymmetry in Is/Ought
Statements about what is the case do not seem to imply what ought to be—but statements about what ought to be must imply certain things about what is the case. This post describes that observation, plus describes why I think the observation is helpful.
When Meaning Isn’t Use
Wittgenstein is famous for saying that meaning is use. But in the text, he says this is only so for “a large class of cases”. Why not for all cases?
A Philosophical Joke
This is the joke that made me understand what Wittgenstein meant when he said “that a serious and good philosophical work could be written that would consist entirely of jokes (without being facetious).”
Where to Put My Time and Effort? On Effective Altruism
I think it is morally acceptable for people to care more for those closer to them, but only if we also morally require that people also extend such aid to those structurally deprived and disadvantaged.
Game Theory, the Military Industrial Complex, & Privatization of Public Goods
Notes & Reflections on Analyzing Politics: Rationality, Behavior, and Institutions (2nd Ed.) by Kenneth A. Shepsle, Chapters 9 and 10 on ‘Collective Action’ and ‘Public Goods’.
Why are public goods and services so tied up with private contractors and private money? Some game theory…
Fruitful Explication in Philosophical Investigations
I find later-Wittgenstein more convincing than Carnap and the Vienna Circle where their views disagree about metaphysics and language. Yet as I am sympathetic to the idea that a thoughtful coordination of philosophy and science can be fruitful, I am glad to see some compatibility among later-Wittgenstein and Carnap’s views in “On Explication”.
Simplicity and Sense-Data
I compare Russell's response to skepticism about material objects in The Problems of Philosophy (1912) and Our Knowledge of the External World (1914). Notably, his view on simplicity changes between the two books.
Left Revolution & the Madisonian Model
The Madisonian model of American government is why mass movements in America tend to get co-opted and folded into institutional politics. This weakens mass movements, and is an issue if we want anything resembling a revolution in the United States. I examine what possibilities we have going forward to a Left American Revolution.
Asymmetries of Information: Intellectual Property & Social Capital
When we discuss inequality and injustice in our modern economy, should we put less emphasis on the asymmetries of ownership of physical means of production, and more emphasis on the unequal possession of knowledge and information?
I discuss ‘monopolies founded on intellectual property’ and ‘the economic role of universities to produce social capital’.