bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Language, Modularity, and Evolution
Authors: Sterelny Kim 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Language is at the core of the cognitive revolution that has transformed that discipline over the last forty years or so, and it is also the central paradigm for the most prominent attempt to synthesize psychology and evolutionary theory. A single and distinctively modular view of language has emerged out of both these perspectives, one that encourages a certain idealization. Linguistic competence is uniform, independent of other cognitive capacities, and with a developmental trajectory that is largely independent of environmental input (Pinker 1994, 1997). Thus language is seen as a paradigm of John Tooby and Leda Cosmides’ concept of ‘evoked culture’: linguistic experience serves only to select a specific item from a menu of innately available options (Tooby and Cosmides 1992). In explaining this concept, Tooby and Cosmides appeal to the metaphor of a jukebox. The human genome prestores a set of options, and the different experiences provided by different cultures select different elements out of this option set. I shall argue to the contrary that variability between speakers, the sensitivity of linguistic development to environmental input, and the limits of encapsulation are not noise. They are central to the language and its evolution.
Representation, Teleosemantics, and the Problem of Self-Knowledge
Authors: Dretske Fred 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
A verbal description of Clyde represents him as having three children. A portrait of him as a young man represents him as having had a bushy moustache. A thermometer represents him as now having a temperature of 103 F. Verbal descriptions, portraits, and thermometers are ordinary physical objects. So thinking of the mind in representational terms is the first step in conceiving of the mind in naturalistically congenial terms— as like other physical objects and events: measuring instruments, words, and pictures. Thoughts and experiences of Clyde, just like thermometers, words, and pictures, are physical objects that say things about Clyde that may or may not be true.
On Thinking of Kinds: A Neuroscientific Perspective
Authors: Ryder Dan 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Reductive, naturalistic psychosemantic theories do not have a good track record when it comes to accommodating the representation of kinds. In this chapter, I will suggest a particular teleosemantic strategy to solve this problem, grounded in the neurocomputational details of the cerebral cortex. It is a strategy with some parallels to one that Ruth Millikan has suggested, but to which insufficient attention has been paid. This lack of attention is perhaps due to a lack of appreciation for the severity of the problem, so I begin by explaining why the situation is indeed a dire one.
Teleosemantics and the Consumer
Authors: Matthen Mohan 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Perceptual systems are automatic sorting machines. (See Matthen 2005, pt.) By processing the energy or chemical signals emanating from environmental stimuli, they sort these stimuli into classes on some consistent basis. From the perceiver’s point of view, this activity culminates in perceptual appearance . Stimuli that have been assigned to the same class present the same appearance: for example, things that are assigned to the same class by the colour vision system look the same with respect to colour. Conversely, things that have been assigned to different classes present different appearances: things that have been assigned to different classes by colour vision look different with respect to colour.
The Practice Of A Philosopher
Authors: Woolf Raphael 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
IN a competitive field, Socrates’ pronouncement that the philosopher practises dying and being dead (Phaedo 64 A 5-6) must rank as one of the most startling in all of Plato’s works. What does he mean by it? The following, at least, seems tolerably clear. Death is the release or separation of the soul from the body (64 c), so that one who practises death strives even in life to effect this separation to the greatest possible extent. Given that the soul is one’s true self, 1 the philosopher’s task is to keep his soul-i.e. himself-free from his body. This in turn seems to encompass two related forms of disengagement. Firstly, the philosopher avoids the snares of bodily indulgence. He has no interest in the pleasures of food, drink, sex, fine clothing, and so on (64 D-65 A). At best these are a matter of indifference to him, and at worst a positive distraction from the philosopher’s goal, which is the attainment of wisdom.
Quiddistic Knowledge
Authors: Schaffer Jonathan 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Is the relation between properties and the causal powers they confer necessary, or contingent? Necessary, says Sydney Shoemaker on pain of scepticism about the properties. Contingent, says David Lewis, swallowing the sceptical conclusion. I shall argue that Lewis is right about the metaphysics, but that Shoemaker and Lewis are wrong about the epistemology. Properties have intrinsic natures (quiddities), which we can know. On route I shall also argue that (i) the main necessitation arguments do not converge on a single view, (ii) properties are trans world entities that cannot be handled by counterpart theory, and (iii) quiddistic scepticism is merely external world scepticism writ small. Could like charges attract? In general, is the relation between properties and the causal powers they confer necessary, or contingent? Necessary, says Shoemaker [1980, 1998], on pain of scepticism about the properties. Contingent, says Lewis [forthcoming], swallowing the conclusion that, ‘we are irremediably ignorant about the identities of the fundamental properties’. I shall argue that Lewis is right about the metaphysics, but that Shoemaker and Lewis are wrong about the epistemology. That is, I shall argue that properties have intrinsic natures, or quiddities; and that we can knowthe quiddities. Is the relation between properties and their powers necessary, or contingent? If necessary, why so? If contingent, to what extent so? There are at least five distinct viewsrevealed by these questions, which differ in the range of worlds they countenance.
Content Externalism, Entitlement, and Reasons
Authors: Brueckner Anthony 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
I want to explore the question of whether there is some connection between externalism about mental content and the concept of epistemic justification. One quick, naive, negative thought concerning the possibility of such a connection runs as follows. Externalism is, in part, a thesis about the truth conditions of a believed content, which are distinct from justification conditions, conditions under which a belief of the content is epistemically justified. So it is prima facie hard to see how externalism about content could tell us anything deep about justification. A quick, not-so-naive response to the prima facie worry proceeds from the idea that justification is truth-conducive.
Semantic Externalism and Epistemic Illusions
Authors: Goldberg Sanford C 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Potential sources of false belief is a topic that is of some interest in epistemology. The topic is relevant to the theory of justified belief since, whatever else it is, justified belief is belief that is epistemically reasonable—where the relevant notion of reasonableness will have to do with the adequacy of the belief‘s grounds (or the processes through which it was formed) in connection with the twin aims of acquiring (interesting) truths and avoiding falsehoods. And the topic is relevant to the theory of knowledge as well since, whatever else it is, knowledge involves true beliefs whose truth is not a matter of luck—where the relevant notion of luck will reflect the way(s) in which the subject might have gone wrong in coming to believe what she did in the manner that she did.1
Did Socrates Agree to Obey the Laws of Athens?
Authors: Brown Lesley 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Plato’s Crito contains a justly famous discussion of what has come to be known as the problem of political obligation, of what obligations a citizen has to the government, and what are the grounds of those obligations. To many, the most surprising aspect of the work is that it appears to argue, on many grounds, that a citizen owes absolute obedience to the laws; a position scarcely to be credited to Socrates of all people. But one argument in particular caught the attention of David Hume.
Interpreting Plato’S Early Dialogues
Authors: Wolfsdorf David 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Interpretation of philosophical texts usually proceeds on the assumption that philosophers have written in order to disseminate their beliefs. Interpreting their texts, therefore, aims to clarify their beliefs on the topics the texts engage, where the texts constitute the evidence for those beliefs. Difficulty tends to lie in determining the author’s meaning or the cogency of the author’s arguments rather than whether the author believes what is written.
The Tree of Life: Agency and Immortality in a Metaphysics Inspired by Quantum Theory
Authors: Forrest Peter 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Recently several philosophers including Huw Price, Peter Lewis, and David Lewis have argued that on one interpretation of quantum theory (genus Indeterminacy, species No Collapse) death is an illusion.1 Taking Schroedinger’s unhappy cat as the standard example, this interpretation tells us that it is as if the whole universe splits into two copies in one of which the cat survives and in the other there is a corpse. Fission into a living organism on the one hand and a corpse on the other is, most of us agree, a way of surviving.2 So we arrive at the first premise, namely that organisms survive situations like that of SchrÖdinger’s cat.
A Byzantine Encyclopaedia of Horse Medicine
Authors: Mccabe Anne 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
How were Greek texts on the care and medical treatment of the horse transmitted from antiquity to the present day? Using the evidence of Byzantine manuscripts of the veterinary compilation known as the Hippiatrica, Anne McCabe traces the journey of the texts from the stables to the medieval scriptorium and ultimately to the printed edition. Surviving manuscripts include both magnificent presentation copies and plain ones intended for use in the field. The Hippiatrica is a rich and little-known source of information about horses, medicine, and magic. This book provides a guide to its complex history as well as a host of fascinating details, and includes colour illustrations of a number of manuscript pages.
Serial Verb Constructions in Tariana
Authors: Aikhenvald Alexandra Y 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Tariana is an endangered North Arawak language spoken in the linguistic area of the Vaupes river basin. This area is known for its institutionalized multilingualism based on the language group exogamy operating between speakers of Tariana and of languages belonging to the East Tucanoan subgroup (with Tucano as its major representative). Long-term interaction between East Tucanoan languages and Tariana has resulted in the rampant diffusion of grammatical and semantic patterns (although not so much of forms) and calquing of categories.
Serial Verb Constructions in Mwotlap
Authors: François Alexandre 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Mwotlap is an Austronesian language of the Oceanic branch, spoken by about 1,800 speakers on Motalava, a smaIJ island of the Banks group, north of Vanuatu (François 2001, 2003). Contrary to many languages from the same area-for example, Paamese (Crowley 1987), Ambae (Hyslop 2001), Araki (François 2002)-Mwotlap has almost no traces of serialization between verb phrases (of the type I’ll PUSH you you’ll FALL).
Spinoza and Spinozism
Authors: Hampshire Stuart 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Stuart Hampshire, one of the most eminent British philosophers of the twentieth century, will be perhaps best remembered for his work on the seventeenth-century philosopher Spinoza, all of which is gathered now in this volume. Among the great thinkers of modern times, only Spinoza created a complete system of philosophy that rivals Plato’s, with crucial contributions to every major philosophical topic. Hampshire’s classic 1951 book Spinoza remains the best introduction to this thinker, and it is reprinted here. But what gives particular interest to this new volume is the first publication of Hampshire’s last work “Spinoza and Spinozism,” an extended presentation of a Spinozist philosophical worldview. Hampshire’s influential 1962 essay "Spinoza and the Idea of Freedom" is also included. Spinoza and Spinozism is thus an ideal companion to the study and interpretation of this great philosopher.
Success Semantics
Authors: Blackburn Simon 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
How come we are so successful, unless we are hooked up right to the world? A good question, and one that suggests a way of thinking of our hook-up to the world. Success semantics is the result of that suggestion. It is the view that a theory of success in action is a possible basis for a theory of representation, or a theory of content or intentionality (throughout this chapter I shall use these interchangeably). At its most simple we can think of representation in terms of disquotation, as in the famous ‘Fido’–Fido relationship.
Ramsey Sentences and Avoiding the Sui Generis
Authors: Jackson Frank 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Many philosophers say that the history of conceptual analysis is a history of failure. This is an exaggeration. The foundations of logic and mathematics contain many successful analyses. But you can understand why they say what they say. There have been many attempts to analyse knowledge since Gettier (1963) disturbed the ‘justified true belief’ conventional wisdom and we are still arguing the toss. And this is not an isolated example. The following seems a fair statement of the situation we find ourselves in.
The Cartesianism of Desgabets and Arnauld and the Problem of the Eternal Truths
Authors: Faye Emmanuel 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
It is a well-known fact that those whom we today consider the ‘major’ post—Cartesians-Spinoza, Malebranche, and Leibniz—all resolutely rejected the Cartesian thesis of the creation of the eternal truths. From this one can draw a general argument to the effect that Descartes’s position was a solitary and completely aporetic one, while conceding in a footnote that only some ‘minor’ Cartesians—such as Cally, Desgabets, Regis, or Poiret—’followed’ their mentor’s thesis. It seems that this account, however, needs to be questioned, and in two ways: first, through a reconsideration of the position of a figure as important as Arnauld, who occupies an exceptional position in the century, since he was, in turn, one of Descartes’s objectors, the principal opponent of Malebranche, and the interlocutor sought by Leibniz when he was composing the Discourse on Metaphysics; second, through a closer examination of why and how the above-mentioned ‘Cartesians’ adopted the orthodox Cartesian thesis.
Moral Virtue And Assimilation To God In Plato’S Timaeus
Authors: Mahoney Timothy A 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
So begins David Sedley’s ‘The Ideal of Godlikeness’,1 an article that is a significant step towards remedying the modern neglect of this important Platonic theme. None the less, I shall dispute one of Sedley’s central claims: the Timaeus suggests that Plato’s ideal ‘leaves moral virtue behind and focuses instead on purely intellectual development’ (CB, 335 Fine, 324). I hope both to demonstrate that Sedley’s arguments are flawed and to show how and why this ideal in the Timaeus includes moral virtue as an essential component.
Ethics And Politics In Plato’S Laws
Authors: Brisson Luc 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The present article has its origin in a critical discussion of Christo pher Bobonich’s book Plato’s Utopia Recast.1 The main question raised by this work is the following: did Plato radically change his mind on the subject of ethics and politics between the Republic and the Laws? I shall first present a summary of Bobonich’s thesis, then develop three series of criticisms concerning the doctrine of the Laws on the questions of economic, social, and political autonomy. My contention will be the following. Like the Republic, the Laws is a radical critique of Athenian democracy as known to Plato. This critique was to lead to the construction of another kind of city, most of whose features are in the Laws akin to those of the Republic.
How Good People Do Bad Things: Aristotle On The Misdeeds Of The Virtuous
Authors: Curzer Howard 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Some people take the project of sketching the ideal character to be central to virtue ethics. Some interpreters of Aristotle take him to be engaged in this project. They take his virtuous person to be morally perfect, to act and feel exactly right in every situation. Of course, the flip side of this thesis is that anyone who acts and feels otherwise must be less than virtuous. Aristotle does make remarks that suggest this idealization interpretation. He says, for example, [A] The sense of disgrace is not even characteristic of a good man, since it is consequent on bad actions ... and the good man will never voluntarily do bad actions.
Introduction
Authors: Kalderon Mark Eli 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Modern fictionalism emerged in 1980 with the publication of Hartry Field’s Science Without Numbers and Bas van Fraassen’s The Scientific Image. Field maintained that mathematics does not have to be true to be good, and van Fraassen maintained that the aim of science is not truth but empirical adequacy. The suggestion common to each is that the aim of inquiry need not be truth, and that the acceptance of a mathematical or scientific theory need not involve belief in its content.
The Myth of the Seven
Authors: Yablo Stephen 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Mathematics has been called the one area of inquiry that would retain its point even were the physical world to disappear entirely. This might be heard as an argument for platonism: the view that mathematics describes a special abstract department of reality lying far above the physical fray. The necessary truth of mathematics would be due to the fact that the mathematical department of reality had its properties unchangingly and essentially.
Quasi-Realism no Fictionalism
Authors: Blackburn Simon 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Suppose that Simon Blackburn’s quasi-realist program has succeeded perfectly on its own terms-something I think not unlikely. Given the controversial nature of the program, this much endorsement from a philosopher and logician of Lewis’ stature is pleasant indeed. And for the purpose of this chapter I am going to bask in its light. In other words, I am not going to say very much directly to defend my program, or render it more or less likely to be successful than it is already.
The All-Seeing Eye: A Blind Spot in the History of Ideas
Authors: Sorensen Roy 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Don’t be in such a hurry to believe next time— I’ll tell you why— If you set to work to believe everything, you will tire out the muscles of your mind, and then you’ll be so weak you won’t able to believe the simplest true things. Only last week a friend of mine set to work to believe Jack-the-giant-killer. He managed to do it, but he was so exhausted by it that when I told him it was raining (which was true) he couldn’t believe it, but rushed out into the street without his hat or umbrella, the consequence of which was his hair got seriously damp, and one curl didn’t recover its right shape for nearly two days.
Consciousness, Reasons, and Moore’s Paradox
Authors: Gallois André 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
On a number of occasions Wittgenstein discusses what he calls Moore’s Paradox. Moore himself discussed the phenomenon Wittgenstein so labels in his paper, ‘Russell’s ‘‘Theory of Descriptions’’ ‘, and in a reply to Charles Stevenson. Moore’s own treatment of the paradox is perfunctory. He clearly thinks of the problem posed by examples of Moore paradoxicality as having minor signiﬁcance with a relatively straightforward solution. Evidently Wittgenstein disagreed.
Moorean Absurdity and Showing What’s Within
Authors: Green Mitchell 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Moorean absurdity occurs in any utterance or thought in which an agent overtly expresses an intentional state that she also explicitly disavows; it also occurs in any utterance or thought in which an agent overtly expresses an intentional state whose content is incompatible with that of another intentional state that she also explicitly avows.
On Perceiving Conceptual Art
Authors: Lamarque Peter 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
In a recent graduation exhibition at a British art school a work was displayed which consists of a man bearing two full-length sandwich boards on which is printed, in large Times Roman type: ‘This is not “Art” in itself but a means of creating it’. I have not seen the display, only a photograph of it on a flier sent to me by the art school. But it has some paradigmatic features of the kind of conceptual art that I want to consider. It uses language as its central medium; it is a reflection on the status of art; it involves a mildly witty self-referential paradox; it is partially a performance work in that the man carrying the boards is standing outside at the edge of a park; and finally my description captures, I believe, enough to give you a pretty clear idea of the essence of the work itself. In fact the work is not especially original.
Creativity and Conceptual Art
Authors: Boden Margaret A 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
If one has a view about the nature of creativity in general, it should apply to all forms of art (and to science too, though that is not our concern here). In particular, if one believes that there are several different types of creativity, one must say how these map onto various examples of art— whether these are general movements, specific art forms, or individual artworks. With respect to conceptual art, do all examples of this genre spring from the same type of creativity? And if so, what is it?
On Realism about Chance
Authors: Percival Philip 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
‘Chance ‘ is a single-case, temporally relative, objective probability for which a normative principle of direct inference holds. It is single case in so far as it applies to particular events, such as the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle (or, better, to propositions asserting the occurrence of such events); it is temporally relative in so far as it changes over time, as when, seemingly, the chance of the Challenger exploding increased as the temperature dropped; it is objective in so far as claims of the form ‘the chance at t of E is r ‘ purport to be true independently of what anyone thinks; and a normative principle of direct inference holds for it in so far as the chance of an event, or at any rate a cognitive attitude, such as belief, or credence (i.e. partial belief), towards that chance, normatively constrains cognitive attitudes towards the event itself, in the manner, e.g. of a requirement that an agent who believes there to be a one half chance of heads on a certain coin-toss ought, in the absence of direct evidence regarding the outcome, to distribute his credence in heads and tails equally.