Mark Colyvan (University of Sydney): “Logic in Fiction"
Seminar
Abstract: This paper will address the question of whether the logic of a fiction can be specified as part of the fiction. For example, can one tell a fictional story in which it is part of the story that the logic in question is, say, K3? It seems unproblematic that we can do this. After all,…
Jenny Hung: On the same-order representational theory of consciousness
Seminar
In recent years, much debate has centered around the same–order representational theory of consciousness, according to which (1) conscious mental states are mental states of which we are aware, (2) any experience is partially constituted by reflexive (immediate and non-conceptual) awareness; and…
John Basl (NEU): Why Everyone Has It Wrong About the Ethics of Autonomous Vehicles
Seminar
Many of those thinking about the ethics of autonomous vehicles believe there are important lessons to be learned by attending to so-called Trolley Cases, while a growing opposition is dismissive of their supposed significance. The optimists about the value of these cases think that because AVs…
Mario Guenther (ANU): An Analysis of Actual Causation
Seminar
Abstract: Lewis (1973) analysed actual causation in terms of counterfactual dependence. Roughly, c is a cause of e only if, had c not occurred, e would not have. The counterfactual approach has been developed further by Hitchcock (2001) and Halpern and Pearl (2005) who use causal models to deal…
Alexandra Oprea (ANU): Counterproductive Altruism: The Other Heavy Tail
Seminar
Effective Altruism (henceforth EA) is an influential new social movement and philosophical approach “which applies evidence and reason to working out the most effective ways to improve the world” and is dedicated to asking “How can I make the biggest difference I can?” (MacAskill 2016, Singer 2015…
Atoosa Kasirzadeh (ANU): “Causal and mathematical faces of explainable AI"
Seminar
Abstract: Recent conceptual discussion on the nature of the explainability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has largely been limited to causal investigations. This paper identifies some shortcomings of this approach to help strengthen the debate on this subject. Building on recent philosophical work…
Francois Kammerer: “‘But it’s right there!’ Our sense of acquaintance with experiences and the meta-problem of consciousness"
Seminar
Abstract: Solving the ‘meta-problem of consciousness’ (Chalmers) means explaining why we have certain problematic intuitions regarding consciousness. Amongst these intuitions arguably features a sense of acquaintance: we tend to think that our conscious experiences are presented to us in a way…