End Times archive

Here he takes us through those ideas about colour and the rivals, the influence CL Hardin, eliminativism, realism, introspection, differences between audition and vision, self-location, functionalism, special laws of nature for the working of the mind, his better best system, computational modelling of the mind, the puzzling duality of perceptual system response and how to understand the place of philosophy in the interdisciplinary work of philosophy of mind. This one eats all the cookies, and then some.... Jonathan Cohen Published on: Mar 20, 2016 @ 22:38

Here he's brooding on complexity theory and what it must do, the role of probability in such a theory, whether such a theory might apply to social as well as physical science, how complexity relates to chaos, about the nature of scientific explanation, on Cartwright's dappled world,about whether children are Platonic or Aristotelian essentialists, on whether we are all born with a physics genius in our head and on whether objective evidence in science is possible. This is a big beast from the deepest depths of the deepest depths... Michael Strevens Published on: Mar 19, 2016 @ 11:26

Here he thinks on why direct reference isn't incompatible with physicalism, on the relationship between language and metaphysics, on his defence of monism, on his disagreement with Kit Fine over this, on transparency, on material objects and whether metaphysical matters boil down to linguistic ones, on why even if they do this doesn't trivialise the issue and finally on whether anything in ethics is just plain good. Here comes another young turk on the metalinguistic block... zoom zoom... Mahrad Almotahari Published on: Mar 12, 2016 @ 18:35

Here she broods on what the imagination is, on the simulationist approach, on the connection between imagination and supposition, on whether the imagination is always perspectival, on thought experiments, on imagination and the acquisition of new knowledge, on imagination's relation to the self, on imagining from the inside, on the relationship between the humanities and science, on gender bias at the academy and on whether interdisciplinary work enhances or waters down. A new mind on the block. Create some space and time - read on... Margherita Arcangeli Published on: Feb 29, 2016 @ 18:29

Here she broods on all of this: on ancient inspired alternatives to doing ethics, on Pyrrhonian skepticism, what abstention from dogmata might mean, on how Pyrrhonians can act, on the defects of belief, on not solving Moore's paradox, on why the Stoic political theory isn't crazy, on why Stoics aren't scary, on changing the conversation in ethics by following the lead of Elizabeth Anscombe, on her own theory of agential action and ethics and on avoiding professional suicide when recommending books from her neck of the philosophical woods! This is one to turn your mind to the ever-urgent question: 'what's to be done?'... Katja Maria Vogt Published on: Feb 28, 2016 @ 17:14

In this interview he thinks aloud about his long standing interest in consciousness, the epistemic agent model of the self, the ego tunnel as a metaphor of conscious experience, the problem with the idea of a 'first-person' point of view, introspective Superman and Superwoman as advanced practitioners of classical mindfulness meditation, why nothing lives in the ego tunnel, what the rubber hand illusion shows, why we're unconscious and mind-wander most of the time, what the narrative default-mode does, the impact of culture on the ego tunnel, why trendy 'illusion talk' annoys him, what dreaming shows us, why AI is ethically dangerous, why meditation and spirituality need the cold bath of good analytic philosophy and the challenges facing young philosophers of cognitive science and what he is trying to do to help them. Take your time with this one: after all, that ego tunnel, it's you... Thomas K Metzinger Published on: Feb 25, 2016 @ 21:45

Here he broods on digital ghosts, the digital brain, whether the ghosts are intelligent and why they're not fake, on whether everything is computable, on the Calvanism of anti-digitalism, on the ontology of software, on tribal religions and why they might go away, on morally satisfactory atheism as Platonism, on why Aquinas helps, on why Nietzsche helps, on Buddhism, drugs, magic, raves, and on drawing the metaphysical conclusions from Dawkins that Dawkins fails to draw. Here we go, to infinity and beyond... Eric Steinhart Published on: Feb 20, 2016 @ 21:28

He is always thinking about why we're not brains in vats or being tricked by devils, mastering the answers to the sceptics, developing Nozick's tracking account of knowledge, working out whether it applies everywhere and fends off all the doubts including Gettier et al, whether what he's offering is a half-way house between realist and anti-realist conceptions of cognition; and if he's not doing that then he's thinking about Wittgenstein, finding his early work intriguing and attractive and continually broods on whether the propositions of the Tractatus are nonsensical, on Russell's theory of judgement and its fatal weakness, on the relationship between the young and the later Wittgenstein and whether what Wittgenstein is doing is philosophy or not. Come closer and listen in to Wittgenstein still speaking through one of his most serious and original readers... Jose_Zalabardo Published on: Feb 13, 2016 @ 13:01

Here she starts the ball rolling on truth and knowability, modal realism, temporalism and propositional content, the phenomenology of mind, ignorance and vagueness, synethesia and representationalism, perception, Russellian monism and mentons, romantic love and finally women in the philosophical academy. So much to do, so little time... Berit Brogaard Published on: Feb 7, 2016 @ 10:08

He broods on Nietzsche and in so doing finds a Nietzsche interested in culture and politics, a Nietzsche who is dangerous, elitist, not clearly an ethical skeptical anti-realist and who thought life and art should be more entwined than they are. Huddleston also broods on aethetics and aesthetic value, authorial intention, Geuss's 'Art and Theodicy', Nietzsche and Wagner and the philosophical issues of absolute music. This one isn't humming a simple tune, but finding a way to do the neo-Hegelian art jive once more. Slam on your Parsival and get your throwback on ... Andrew Huddleston Published on: Jan 31, 2016 @ 17:05

He is a metaphysician from the world's north who thinks about the contemporary Aristotelian tradition, the relationship between metaphysics and science, whether Kant was wrong, naturalised metaphysics, E.J. Lowe, natural kinds and essences, the law of contradiction, infinite regress, whether laws of nature are universal or not and why drawing continuous inspiration from the history of philosophy is a good thing. Pour yourself another phone and enjoy... Tuomas Tahko Published on: Jan 17, 2016 @ 21:40

He thinks all the time about the ethics of acts of killing, moral realism, repugnant conclusions, reasons and norms, utilitarianism, hedonism, human enhancement, genetic technologies in sport, global democracy, populist democracy and conservativism. As we enter a new year philosophy gets into some of our most pressing issues. Merry New Year... Torbjörn Tännsjö Published on: Jan 10, 2016 @ 08:41