Monday 23 April 2007

The 46th International Philosopher's Carnival

A NARROW CROSS-SECTION OF PHILOSOPHY
FROM ACROSS THE WEB

A Philosophy (Pseudo) Conference
Hosted by the Space of Reasons
Monday, April 23rd, 2007


Welcome to the 46th instalment of the Philosopher's Carnival, which takes the form or a philosophy pseudo-conference, showcasing a narrow cross-section of philosophy on the web. A special thank you goes out to Professor Daniel Dennett for his submission, which raises important questions with regards to what constitutes a worthwhile philosophical research program. In the three "presentations" immediately following the "keynote address" (under the heading of METAPHILOSOPHY), two philosophy students and one non-philosopher share their views on the status and role of philosophical theories. We then turn to the heart and soul of the Carnival which features a number of “presentations” that fall under the heading of Language, Epistemology, Metaphysics and Mind (or LEMMINGS). Finally, we top it all off with a sprinkling of ETHICS and a brief IN DISCUSSION section. Enjoy!


KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Topic: Higher Order Truths about Chmess
Presenter: Daniel C. Dennett


METAPHILOSOPHY

Topic: Theory and Philosophy
Presenter: Peter Schombe

Topic: Thoughts on Theories
Presenter: Adrian Tan

Topic: The Role of Philosophy
Presenter: Quincy Faircloth


LEMMINGS

Topic: Evidence and Armchair Access.
Presenter:Clayton Littlejohn

Topic: A Problem for Externalist?
Presenter: Michael Horton

Topic: Jackson's Mary and Complete Physical Knowledge
Presenter: Ignacio Prado

Topic: Luminosity, Coziness and Borderline Cases
Presenter: Aidan McGlynn

Topic: The Modified Turing Test
Presenter: Christopher Anderson

Topic: Are Causal Facts Observable?
Presenter: Gualtiero Piccinini

Topic: Lewis on Non-Trivial Counterpossibles
Presenter: Joe Salerno

Topic: Infinite Regress and Geisler on Infinite Regress
Presenter: Bryan Norwood

Topic: Libertarian Compatibilism
Presenter: Kenny Pearce

Topic: Arguments for Compatibilism
Presenter: Jeremy Pierce


ETHICS

Topic: Second-Person Reasons and Causally Amorphous Aid.
Presenter: Brian Berkey

Topic: The necessary-condition interpretation of the subjectivity of welfare
Presenter: Michele Loi

Topic: Thom Brooks on “Is Bradley a Retributivist”
Presenter: Thom Brooks


IN DISCUSSION

Our Carnival's discussion section features a brief exchange between Jeremy Stangroom and Richard Chappell on what constitutes "brainwashing"?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Dennett's piece is wonderful, as I thought the first time I read it four or five years ago, but isn't the Philosopher's Carnival intended to highlight articles or blog posts recently put online? Dennett's article has already been published by Springer in Topoi (in 2006).

AVERY ARCHER said...

Anonymous,
Thanks for the question. I invited Dennett to submit a special guest post on a topic of his choice, and he felt that the issues raised in this specific article where particularly pertinent for the young philosophers who regularly read the Carnival. After reading the article myself, I came to agree with him fully, which is why it is being featured. However, if your worry is that his post is taking a slot that would have otherwise gone to some more recent blog post, I can assure you that this is not the case. I knew, going into the Carnival roughly how many posts I wished to have featured and since Dennett’s post was by special invitation, it did not have any impact on which posts where ultimately selected.

Anonymous said...

You write very well.