We conceptualize observation selection effects (OSEs) by considering how a shift from one process of observation to another affects discrimination-conduciveness, by which we mean the degree to which possible observations discriminate between hypotheses, given the observation process at work. OSEs in this sense come in degrees and are causal, where the cause is the shift in process, and the effect is a change in degree of discrimination-conduciveness. We contrast our understanding of OSEs with […]

This paper offers a new angle on the common idea that the process of science does not support epistemic diversity. Under minimal assumptions on the nature of journal editing, we prove that editorial procedures, even when impartial in themselves, disadvantage less prominent research programs. This purely statistical bias in article selection further skews existing differences in the success rate and hence attractiveness of research programs, and exacerbates the reputation difference between the […]

Recent discussions of emotions in Buddhism suggest that one of the canonical self-conscious emotions, shame (the received translation of the Pāli term ‘hiri’), is an emotion to be endorsed and indeed cultivated. The canonical texts in the Abhidharma Buddhist tradition, endorse hiri as one of the wholesome (kusala) factors “always found in all good minds” and as one of “the guardians of the world”. Shame is widely taken to be a self-conscious emotion, and so if hiri counts as shame, […]

The phenomenal particularity thesis says that if a mind-independent particular is consciously perceived in a given perception, that particular is among the constituents of the perception’s phenomenology. Martin, Campbell, Gomes and French and others defend this thesis. Against them are Mehta, Montague, Schellenberg and others, who have produced strong arguments that the phenomenal particularity thesis is false. Unfortunately, neither side has persuaded the other, and it seems that the debate […]

Although inference to the best explanation (IBE) is ubiquitous in science and our everyday lives, there are numerous objections to the viability of IBE. Many of these objections have been thoroughly discussed, however, at least one objection to IBE has not received adequate treatment. We term this objection the “Disjunction Objection”. This objection challenges IBE on the grounds that it seems that even if H is the best explanation, it could be that the disjunction of its rivals is more […]

Naomi Zack, professor of philosophy at Lehman College, City University of New York (CUNY), has been awarded the 2019 Romanell – Phi Beta Kappa Professorship. The award includes delivering three lectures open to the public, the opportunity to publish the lectures in the Romanell Lectures Series from Oxford University Press, and a prize of $7,500. It is given annually to scholars working in philosophy to recognize “not only distinguished achievement but also the recipient’s […]

If there are two concepts that ought to be antithetical those are science and myths. Science, after all, began with the Pre-Socratic philosophers, who made the very conscious move of rejecting the worldview of “the poets,” that is, people like Homer and Hesiod, in favour of looking at the cosmos as the result of natural phenomena that could, at least potentially, be understood by the human mind.Xenophanes (c. 570 – c. 475 BCE), for instance, was the first philosopher to […]

Will Kymlicka, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy at Queen’s University, is this winner of the 2019 Gold Medal from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canada’s federal agency for the funding and promotion of research in those areas. The Gold Medal is the highest research honor among the SSHRC’s five “Impact Awards.” According to a press release from the SSHRC, the Gold Medal “is awarded to an individual whose […]

Three members of the Department of Philosophy at St. Cloud State University (SCSU) in Minnesota may lose their jobs if the school’s administration decides to proceed with plans for “retrenchment.” The SCSU administration has led the school into a position of projected budget shortfalls and declining enrollment over the next couple of years, according to the University Chronicle. In a scramble to avoid these problems, it has recommended dismissing eight faculty, […]

After Rawls. He is the central figure in political philosophy, despite a sea change in our political reality. It’s time for something new Continue reading . . . News source: Arts & Letters Daily Click the title to visit philosophynews.com for mor