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The Explanatory Gap and Dualism Reconsidered

Steven Horst

in Beyond Reduction: Philosophy of Mind and Post-Reductionist Philosophy of Science

This chapter examines the implications of post‐reductionist philosophy of science for dualism and the status of the explanatory gaps. The primary argument for dualism is based on a Negative ... More

This chapter examines the implications of post‐reductionist philosophy of science for dualism and the status of the explanatory gaps. The primary argument for dualism is based on a Negative Explanation‐to‐Metaphysics Connection Principle (“Negative EMC”), to the effect that if A is not reducible to B, then B→A is not metaphysically necessary and A is not metaphysically supervenient upon B. But if other special sciences are not reducible to physics either, the dualist is faced with a dilemma. Either she must give up Negative EMC, and with it the principal argument for dualism, or she must draw similar conclusions with respect to other irreducible phenomena, the result being not a dualism but a pluralism of higher ordinality. Dualism can be reconciled with explanatory pluralism only by producing a reason to think that only the mind‐body gap implies a failure of supervenience.Less

Rationalizing the Commandments II: Rationalizing the Commandments II: The Soloveitchikian Method

Daniel Rynhold

in Two Models of Jewish Philosophy: Justifying One's Practices

The apparently contrasting method of rationalization of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik is subjected to a detailed critical analysis. Following a summary of Soloveitchik’s general method of descriptive ... More

The apparently contrasting method of rationalization of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik is subjected to a detailed critical analysis. Following a summary of Soloveitchik’s general method of descriptive reconstruction as presented in The Halakhic Mind, we first consider the scientific model of rationalization that Lawrence Kaplan finds within Soloveitchik’s reflections on halakhah. Despite humanistic and hermeneutic strands reminiscent of those found in the later thought of Wilhelm Dilthey, it is argued that ultimately this method remains a scientific explanatory method that attempts to subsume particular instances under general laws. There is, however, a contrasting model of rationalization found in The Halakhic Mind that is far more Gadamerian in tone, focusing on the meaning of the commandments rather than on their explanation. Some of the implications of the differences between the two models are discussed, though both models are argued to be highly conservative and lacking the capacity for objectivity.Less

A Closer Look at the Turtle’s Eyes

Andrea Moro

in Impossible Languages

What can we expect to be our understanding of human languages given what we have understood from exploiting the notion of impossible language? The chapter discusses the limits of our understanding, ... More

What can we expect to be our understanding of human languages given what we have understood from exploiting the notion of impossible language? The chapter discusses the limits of our understanding, highlighting the elusiveness of linguistic creativity, and suggest a possible scenario where all syntactic rules can be translated in a geometrical representation (call it “Euclidean Grammars”).Less

Induction

Christopher Peacocke

in The Realm of Reason

Argues that the same principles of complexity reduction that he used to explain principles of perceptual entitlement in the preceding chapter can be used to explain the principles of inductive ... More

Argues that the same principles of complexity reduction that he used to explain principles of perceptual entitlement in the preceding chapter can be used to explain the principles of inductive inference. When we have a sound, non‐conclusive inductive inference from a variety of Fs being G to the conclusion that all Fs are G, this holds because the easiest way for the evidence to hold is one that also makes it the case that all Fs are G. Clarifies and elaborates this thesis and traces out its consequences.Less

Expansion

Honey Meconi

in Hildegard of Bingen

The expansion of Hildegard’s world and influence is the subject of this chapter. It describes the numerous preaching tours she undertook and her close relationship with Trier, with special attention ... More

The expansion of Hildegard’s world and influence is the subject of this chapter. It describes the numerous preaching tours she undertook and her close relationship with Trier, with special attention given to her so-called hymn Mathias sanctus, written for the monastery of St. Eucharius. Also discussed are Hildegard’s connection to Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, her theological treatise Liber vite meritorum, her connection with the community at Eibingen, her Explanation of the Athanasian Creed, and the numerous exorcisms she performed. The vitae she wrote for St. Disibod and St. Rupert, and the music composed in their honor (especially the sequence O ierusalem, the antiphon O beata infantia, and the responsory O felix anima), are treated as well.Less

Terrorism, Torture and the Problems of Evil

Phillip Cole

in The Myth of Evil

This chapter introduces the four secular models of evil that frame discussions about the idea: the monstrous, that evil is perpetrated by monster sin human shape; the pure, that ordinary human beings ... More

This chapter introduces the four secular models of evil that frame discussions about the idea: the monstrous, that evil is perpetrated by monster sin human shape; the pure, that ordinary human beings are capable of willing evil for its own sake; the impure that ordinary human beings are capable of willing evil, but for the sake of some other goal; and the psychological, that in order to understand evil we must look, not at the human will, but the human condition. It sets the abstract discussion in the context of current events, specifically the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison between 2002 and 2004. How could seemingly ordinary people carry out such extreme abuse? How are we to understand the human capacity for cruelty?Less

Justified and Unjustified Belief

Larry Shapiro

in The Miracle Myth: Why Belief in the Resurrection and the Supernatural is Unjustified

Some beliefs are justified, some not. Some beliefs are true, some not. Even justified beliefs might be false, and even true beliefs might not be justified. These ideas are important for understanding ... More

Some beliefs are justified, some not. Some beliefs are true, some not. Even justified beliefs might be false, and even true beliefs might not be justified. These ideas are important for understanding why beliefs in miracles, even if true, may not be justified.Less

Miracles

Larry Shapiro

in The Miracle Myth: Why Belief in the Resurrection and the Supernatural is Unjustified

Because miracles have supernatural causes, a justified belief that a given event is a miracle requires that one be justified in believing that its cause is supernatural. But the only way to infer ... More

Because miracles have supernatural causes, a justified belief that a given event is a miracle requires that one be justified in believing that its cause is supernatural. But the only way to infer that a supernatural cause exists is through a kind of inference -- inference to the best explanation. Unfortunately, inference to the best explanation cannot justify belief in the supernatural. Thus, belief in miracles is unjustified.Less

Coda: Onward, Upward, Inward, Outward

Bernhard Nickel

in Between Logic and the World: An Integrated Theory of Generics

A brief summary of the book and an indication for directions opened up by the theory presented.

Theory: explaining financial crisis and conceptualising capitalism

Jonathan Hearn

in Salvage Ethnography in the Financial Sector: The Path to Economic Crisis in Scotland

Building on the historical perspective of the previous chapter, this chapter begins by posing the basic questions ‘what is theory for?’. It argues that in the present case it is to situate the events ... More

Building on the historical perspective of the previous chapter, this chapter begins by posing the basic questions ‘what is theory for?’. It argues that in the present case it is to situate the events under scrutiny within a hierarchy of more proximate and more general causes impinging on those events. Towards this end it first surveys a range of explanations that have been brought to bear on the post-2008 crisis, and then surveys a range more general theories of the long-term trajectory of capitalism. In both cases it suggests which theories and explanations are probably the most significant. It concludes by reflecting on the challenge of situating relatively small-scale ethnographic data within large historical explanations that seem to dwarf human agency.Less

Return to the Paleocene

Benjamin Hale

in The Wild and the Wicked: On Nature and Human Nature

This chapter introduces the reader to philosophical and ethical inquiry by forging a distinction between descriptive and normative claims, as well as explanatory and justificatory arguments. It ... More

This chapter introduces the reader to philosophical and ethical inquiry by forging a distinction between descriptive and normative claims, as well as explanatory and justificatory arguments. It utilizes cases of paleontological discovery and climate communication to argue that “catastrophe reasoning” about climate change is not only politically but also ethically problematic. In this respect, it relies on the current climate discussion to frame the general argument criticized in this book: that the mere demonstration of nature’s value is enough to generate obligations to protect nature.Less

Explanation

Lasana T. Harris

in Invisible Mind: Flexible Social Cognition and Dehumanization

The fourth chapter argues that explanation may be the function of social cognition, aiding survival and driving human evolution. It explores the psychological literature on anthropomorphism—instances ... More

The fourth chapter argues that explanation may be the function of social cognition, aiding survival and driving human evolution. It explores the psychological literature on anthropomorphism—instances where people bring non-human agents and entities to life by engaging social cognition—and describes it as a type of ‘magical’ or imaginary thinking. It then contrasts this ability with dehumanizing people, describing the brain mechanisms enabling dehumanization, and the functions of withholding social cognition to people. It then considers extending social cognition to animals as a domain where the flexible nature of social cognition is revealed. Finally, it implicates explanation as a causal factor in intractable group conflict.Less

The Origin(s) of Interaction: Interaction in the Eugenics Controversy

James Tabery

in Beyond Versus: The Struggle to Understand the Interaction of Nature and Nurture

The origin of research on the interaction of nature and nurture is really a story of origins. For, in the 1920s and 1930s, two British biologists separately considered how nature and nurture might ... More

The origin of research on the interaction of nature and nurture is really a story of origins. For, in the 1920s and 1930s, two British biologists separately considered how nature and nurture might interact to bring about the development of human traits and differences in those traits. R. A. Fisher introduced what came to be the “biometric concept of interaction”, while Lancelot Hogben introduced what came to be the “developmental concept of interaction”. Most importantly, Fisher came to think of interaction as a nuisance and rare in nature, while Hogben thought of interaction as common in nature and vitally important to biological explanation. Fisher and Hogben, vehemently arguing during the height of the eugenics controversy, laid the framework for all future debates about the interaction of nature and nurture.Less

Race, Genetics, and IQ: Interactionin the IQ Controversy

James Tabery

in Beyond Versus: The Struggle to Understand the Interaction of Nature and Nurture

In 1969, Arthur Jensen drew on heritability measures from behaviour genetics to infamously claim genetic differences between black and white Americans best explained the gap in IQ scores between ... More

In 1969, Arthur Jensen drew on heritability measures from behaviour genetics to infamously claim genetic differences between black and white Americans best explained the gap in IQ scores between those two races. Jensen’s controversial thesis ignited what came to be known as the “IQ Controversy”. Richard Lewontin countered Jensen’s genetic hypothesis by appealing to the interaction of nature and nurture, but Jensen dismissed this criticism as confused and irrelevant. What explains the divide between Jensen and Lewontin? Scholars reflecting on this episode have appealed to racism and political bias to explain the debate. This chapter argues instead that what separated Jensen and Lewontin was an explanatory divide—a divide concerning how explanation works in science.Less

Population Thinking about Mechanisms: An Integrative Relationship

James Tabery

in Beyond Versus: The Struggle to Understand the Interaction of Nature and Nurture

What is the relationship between scientists who study the causal mechanisms responsible for the development of traits and scientists who study the causes of variation responsible for differences in ... More

What is the relationship between scientists who study the causal mechanisms responsible for the development of traits and scientists who study the causes of variation responsible for differences in those traits? A number of characterizations of this relationship have been proposed which treat the two scientific approaches to explanation as incommensurably distinct and isolated from one another. This chapter instead offers a formulation of the relationship that sees the two scientific approaches as integratively related—as capable of pluralistically co-informing one another. The chapter draws on scholarship from the new mechanical philosophy and research on the concept of causation to formulate the integrative relationship.Less

The Interaction of Nature and Nurture:An Integrated Concept

James Tabery

in Beyond Versus: The Struggle to Understand the Interaction of Nature and Nurture

Scientists have been debating the interaction of nature and nurture for nearly a century. Over those 100 years, two radically different visions of interaction have emerged—one side understanding it ... More

Scientists have been debating the interaction of nature and nurture for nearly a century. Over those 100 years, two radically different visions of interaction have emerged—one side understanding it to be a nuisance to biological explanation and rare in nature, and the other side understanding it to be common in nature and vitally important to biological explanation. This chapter surveys that 100 years of empirical research on the interaction of nature and nurture to offer up an integrative analysis of interaction that rises above the divisive debate. That new analysis is then applied to the contemporary debate over the serotonin transporter gene, exposure to stressful life events, and the development of depression.Less

The Unreasonable Sieve

Andrea Moro

in Impossible Languages

The regularities expressed by sentences are not guided by meaning as it is clear by jabberwoki or by contradictory statements. These regularities are rather governed by structural restrictions which ... More

The regularities expressed by sentences are not guided by meaning as it is clear by jabberwoki or by contradictory statements. These regularities are rather governed by structural restrictions which need to be explored on a par with other laws of nature. Unveiling these restrictions is in fact a step toward understanding language acquisition since they must precede linguistic experience in children.Less