A Symposium on Philosophical Progress
Conference
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~phildept/philosophicalprogress.html
Justin Clarke-Doane (Monash): What is the Benacerraf Problem?
Other
In "Mathematical Truth", Paul Benacerraf articulated an epistemological problem for mathematical realism. His formulation of the problem relied on a causal theory of knowledge which is now widely rejected. But it is generally agreed that Benacerraf was onto a problem…
Stephan Kubicki (ANU): Modelling Signalling
Other
Abstract: Sender-receiver games model signalling systems as solutions to coordination problems. I claim that sender-receiver games are minimal models of the evolution of signalling systems. They represent only difference makers for the evolution of signalling systems. I claim that these models…
Melissa Merritt (UNSW): "A Kantian View of Moral Reflection"
Other
Does Kantian ethics overvalue self-examination? Kant certainly places great emphasis on it, suggesting that we must have a standing concern for our own character in order to live well at all. Yet this emphasis invites the criticism that the Kantian figure of virtue is self-absorbed — a charge…
John Hadley (Western Sydney), "Mention of laboratory animal use in public communication: Making good of the nexus between biomedical research, animal ethics and the media"
Activity
In this paper I make an argument for the wider propagation of animal use data. At present, animal use data is collected by animal researchers and passed on to regulatory authorities who then publish the data in voluminous annual report style documents. The problem with this process as a means of…
Adrian Currie (ANU): Reduction, History and Unity; or, Fighting Dinosaurs with Dinosaurs
Other
Abstract: This paper contains both philosophical and literal dinosaurs. Philosophical dinosaurs use a ‘reductive model’ to analyze the sciences. The world is structured in an ontological hierarchy and scientific structures reflect that fact. Sciences are delineated according to which entity of…
Adam Bugeja, "Moral Testimony and Motivation" **MIDTERM REVIEW**
Other
Moral Testimony and Motivation When a person asserts a moral claim with the intention that her audience will believe it on trust, she is giving moral testimony. Described cases in which an agent forms a moral belief on the basis of testimony strike many people as intuitively puzzling or…