Cover of The Journal of Philosophy
Already a subscriber? - Login here
Not yet a subscriber? - Subscribe here

Browse by:



Displaying: 1-20 of 43 documents


1. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 12
Matthew Mandelkern If P, Then P!
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The Identity principle says that conditionals with the form 'If p, then p' are logical truths. Identity is overwhelmingly plausible, and has rarely been explicitly challenged. But a wide range of conditionals nonetheless invalidate it. I explain the problem, and argue that the culprit is the principle known as Import-Export, which we must thus reject. I then explore how we can reject Import-Export in a way that still makes sense of the intuitions that support it, arguing that the differences between indicative and subjunctive conditionals play a key role in solving this puzzle.
2. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 12
Holger Andreas, Mario Günther Difference-Making Causation
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
We put forth an analysis of causation. The analysis centers on the notion of a causal model that provides only partial information as to which events occur, but complete information about the dependences between the events. The basic idea is this: an event causes another just in case there is a causal model that is uninformative on both events and in which the first event makes a difference as to the occurrence of the other. We show that our analysis captures more causal scenarios than the other counterfactual accounts to date.
3. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 12
Call for Submissions: The Isaac Levi Prize
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
4. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 12
Index to Volume CXVIII
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
5. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 11
Benjamin Lennertz Quantificational Attitudes
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The literature contains a popular argument in favor of the position that conditional attitudes (especially intentions and desires) are not simple attitudes with conditional contents but, rather, have a more complex structure. In this paper I show that an analogous argument applies to what we might call quantificational attitudes—like an intention to follow every bit of good advice I receive or a desire to get rabies shots for each bite I incur from an infected bat. The conditions under which these attitudes are satisfied and thwarted are not captured by claiming that they are simple attitudes with quantificational contents. So, the argument supports a novel position—that quantificational attitudes have a more complex structure. After sketching the form of this extra structure, I show how similar considerations count in favor of the existence of genuinely quantificational speech acts.
6. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 11
Zachary C. Irving Drifting and Directed Minds: The Significance of Mind-Wandering for Mental Agency
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
Perhaps the central question in action theory is this: what ingredient of bodily action is missing in mere behavior? But what is an analogous question for mental action? I ask this: what ingredient of active, goal-directed thought is missing in mind-wandering? My answer: attentional guidance. Attention is guided when you would feel pulled back from distractions. In contrast, mind-wandering drifts between topics unchecked. My unique starting point motivates new accounts of four central topics about mental action. First, its causal basis. Mind-wandering is a case study that allows us to tease apart two causes of mental action––guidance and motivation. Second, its experiential character. Goals are rarely the objects of awareness; rather, goals are “phenomenological frames” that carve experience into felt distractions and relevant information. Third, its scope. Intentional mind-wandering is a limit case of action where one actively cultivates passivity. Fourth, my theory offers a novel response to mental action skeptics like Strawson.
7. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 10
Ayelet Shavit, Aaron M. Ellison Diverse Populations are Conflated with Heterogeneous Collectives
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The concept of difference has a long and important research tradition. We identify and explicate a heretofore overlooked distinction in the meaning and measurement of two different meanings of 'difference': 'diversity' and 'heterogeneity'. We argue that ‘diversity’ can describe a population well enough but does not describe a collective well. In contrast, ‘heterogeneity’ describes a collective better than a population and therefore ought to describe a collective. We argue that ignoring these distinctions can lead to a surprising and disturbing conflict between diversity and heterogeneity. In particular, focusing on the 'diversity' of human communities can be self-defeating for those who truly care about the importance of diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
8. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 10
Giorgio Sbardolini Aboutness Paradox
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The present work outlines a logical and philosophical conception of propositions in relation to a group of puzzles that arise by quantifying over them: the Russell-Myhill paradox, the Prior-Kaplan paradox, and Prior's Theorem. I begin by motivating an interpretation of Russell-Myhill as depending on aboutness, which constrains the notion of propositional identity. I discuss two formalizations of of the paradox, showing that it does not depend on the syntax of propositional variables. I then extend to propositions a modal predicative response to the paradoxes articulated by an abstraction principle for propositions. On this conception, propositions are “shadows” of the sentences that express them. Modal operators are used to uncover the implicit relation of dependence that characterizes propositions that are about propositions. The benefits of this approach are shown by application to other intensional puzzles. The resulting view is an alternative to the plenitudinous metaphysics of impredicative comprehension principles.
comments and criticism
9. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 10
Paiman Karimi Is Relaxed Realism a Genuinely Novel View?
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
In this paper I argue that relaxed realism can answer questions about normative language and thought without collapsing into one of the familiar views in the literature or becoming implausible. More specifically, contrary to Michael Ridge, I argue that relaxed realists can use an inferentialist approach to metasemantics without their view collapsing into naturalism or quasi-realism. The inferentialist account that I propose is that the role of normative expressions involves language-entry transitions construed as rational intuitions and language-exit transitions explained in terms of rational agency. I argue that this account fits with relaxed realism and keeps the view distinct from naturalism, quasi-realism, and other familiar views in the literature.
10. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 9
Matthew Vermaire Against Schmought
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
Matti Eklund has argued that a new problem in metanormative theory arises when we consider the possibility of "normative counterparts"—normative concepts with the same normative roles as OUGHT and RIGHT (for instance), but with different extensions. I distinguish two versions of the problem, and propose a solution: when we attend to the attitudinal commitments involved in the possession and application of some normative concepts, we find that tolerance for the possibility of normative counterparts is rationally ruled out.
11. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 9
Joe Horton New and Improvable Lives
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
According to weak utilitarianism, at least when other things are equal, you should maximize the sum of well-being. This view has considerable explanatory power, but it also has two implications that seem to me implausible. First, it implies that, other things equal, it is wrong to harm yourself, or even to deny yourself benefits. Second, it implies that, other things equal, given the opportunity to create new happy people, it is wrong not to. These implications can be avoided by accepting a complaints-based alternative to weak utilitarianism. However, complaints-based views face two decisive problems, originally noticed by Jacob Ross. I here develop a view that avoids these problems while retaining the advantages of complaints-based views.
12. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 9
Ben Bramble The Defective Character Solution to the Non-identity Problem
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The non-identity problem is that some actions seem morally wrong even though, by affecting future people’s identities, they are worse for nobody. In this paper, I further develop and defend a lesser-known solution to the problem, one according to which when such actions are wrong, it is not because of what they do or produce, but rather just because of why they were performed. In particular, I argue that the actions in non-identity cases are wrong just when and because they result from, or reflect in those who have performed them, a morally dubious character trait.
13. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 9
Call for Submissions: The Isaac Levi Prize
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
14. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 8
Andrew M. Bailey, Peter van Elswyk Generic Animalism
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The animalist says we are animals. This thesis is commonly understood as the universal generalization that all human persons are human animals. This article proposes an alternative: the thesis is a generic that admits of exceptions. We defend the resulting view, which we call ‘generic animalism’, and show its aptitude for diagnosing the limits of eight case-based objections to animalism.
15. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 8
A. C. Paseau Propositionalism
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
Propositionalism is the claim that all logical relations can be captured by propositional logic. It is usually regarded as obviously false, because propositional logic seems too weak to capture the rich logical structure of language. I show that there is a clear sense in which propositional logic can match first-order logic, by producing formalizations that (i) are valid iff their first-order counterparts are, and (ii) also respect grammatical form as the propositionalist construes it. I explain the real reason propositionalism fails, which is more subtle and more interesting.
comments and criticism
16. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 8
Hun Chung On Choosing the Difference Principle Behind the Veil of Ignorance: A Reply to Gustafsson
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
In a recently published paper entitled, “The Difference Principle Would Not Be Chosen behind the Veil of Ignorance”, Johan E. Gustafsson attempts to demonstrate that the parties in Rawls’s original position would not choose the difference principle. Gustafsson’s main strategy was to show that Rawls’s difference principle in both of its ex post and ex ante versions imply counterintuitive distributional prescriptions in a few contrived examples. The purpose of this paper is to precisely demonstrate exactly how Gustafsson’s arguments have failed to show that the difference principle would not be chosen behind the veil of ignorance.
17. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 8
Call for Submissions: The Isaac Levi Prize
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
18. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 7
Santiago Echeverri Putting I-Thoughts to Work
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
A traditional view holds that the self-concept is essentially indexical. In a highly influential article, Ruth Millikan famously held that the self-concept should be understood as a Millian name with a sui generis functional role. This article presents a novel explanatory argument against the Millian view and in favor of the indexical view. The argument starts from a characterization of the self-concept as a device of information integration. It then shows that the indexical view yields a better explanation of the integration function than the Millian view. The resulting account can rebut Millikan’s objections and it has broader implications for the debate on the essential indexical.
19. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 7
David Boylan, Ginger Schultheis How Strong Is a Counterfactual?
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The literature on counterfactuals is dominated by strict accounts (SA) and variably strict accounts (VSA). Counterexamples to the principle of Antecedent Strengthening were thought to be fatal to SA; but it has been shown that by adding dynamic resources to the view, such examples can be accounted for. We broaden the debate between VSA and SA by focusing on a new strengthening principle, Strengthening with a Possibility. We show dynamic SA classically validates this principle. We give a counterexample to it and show that extra dynamic resources cannot help SA. We then show VSA accounts for the counterexample if it allows for orderings on worlds that are not almost-connected, and that such an ordering naturally falls out of a Kratzerian ordering source semantics. We conclude that the failure of Strengthening with a Possibility tells strongly against Dynamic SA and in favor of an ordering source-based version of VSA.
20. The Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 118 > Issue: 6
Emanuel Viebahn The Lying-Misleading Distinction: A Commitment-Based Approach
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The distinction between lying and mere misleading is commonly tied to the distinction between saying and conversationally implicating. Many definitions of lying are based on the idea that liars say something they believe to be false, while misleaders put forward a believed-false conversational implicature. The aim of this paper is to motivate, spell out, and defend an alternative approach, on which lying and misleading differ in terms of commitment: liars, but not misleaders, commit themselves to something they believe to be false. This approach entails that lying and misleading involve speech-acts of different force. While lying requires the committal speech-act of asserting, misleading involves the non-committal speech-act of suggesting. The approach leads to a broader definition of lying that can account for lies that are told while speaking non-literally or with the help of presuppositions, and it allows for a parallel definition of misleading, which so far is lacking in the debate.