The Ambiguity of ‘That’

I have previously discussed Devitt’s claim that definite descriptions are ambiguous as between a referntial and an attributive meaning. In my earlier post I gave an argument from Kripke that to my mind is pretty convincing and for which I can’t see a plausible reply. One of the positive arguments that Devitt gives is a [...]

Transworld Saints

I have been thinking about Plantinga’s free will defense lately for my philosophy of religion course. As is well known central to Plantinga’s argument is teh concept of transworld depravity. A creaturly essence (a person) suffers from transworld depravity just in case there is no possible world in which this creature exists, has morally significant [...]

The Problem with 2-Dimensional Semantics

Central to the claim of Chalmers’ two dimensional semantics is the idea that there are two different ways of considering a possible world. We may consider it counter-factually in which case we hold the actual world fixed or we may consider as actual in which case the proposed possible world is thought of as being [...]

Some Quick Thoughts on Alterman’s Comments

UPDATE: It turns out that I am an insensitive jerk and that my commentator was Anton AlTerman not AlDerman…sorry about that!! I am working my way through the comments on my paper for tomorrow and thought it would be helpful to make some quick responses. First I would like to thank Anton for his comments; [...]

Comments on Reverse-Zombies

Tomorrow, bright and early, I am off to St. John’s University to present the Reverse-Zombie argument at the Long Island Philosophical Society; should be fun. You can see a video of me rehearsing the paper here and the actual paper here. The commentator for my session is Anton Alterman, a local independent scholar and blogger (Brain [...]

You’ve Been Served

Some of you may remember last year I found out about this gem where a Nebraska legislator named Ernie Chambers jokingly tried to file an injunction against God…well apparently the court has thrown out the lawsuit because God lacks an address at which He can be served. I think that Chamber’s response it entirely correct; “The court [...]

Shark Messiah?

Shark Virgin Birth!

Virtual Presentations: Video vs. Narrated Powerpoint

I’m Back!! I have been absent from cyberspace for a few weeks due to generally being caught up in meatspace affairs, but I am going to make an effort to get back into blogging…I see several interesting comments and I will try to get to them soon. In the meantime I am conducting a bit [...]