Title: Beliefs based on conflicting and uncertain evidence: connecting Dempster-Shafer theory and the topology of evidence Abstract: One problem to solve in the context of information fusion, decision-making, and other artificial intelligence challenges is to compute justified beliefs based on evidence. In real-life examples, this evidence may be inconsistent, incomplete, or uncertain, making the problem…
This week, we’ll have a reading session. We will read (available online): Lee, Andrew Y. (2024). Objective Phenomenology.聽Erkenntnis聽89 (3):1197鈥�1216.聽 Rasmus Overmark will lead the session.
This will be a pre-read discussion. To obtain a copy of the discussed paper, email the speaker via sen1@st-andrews.ac.uk. We ask participants to read the discussion paper ahead of the session and to prepare questions.
Have a good break and see you in the new year!
Title: On the Hyperintensions of Properties Abstract: Hyperintensionalists encounter two serious problems that cast doubt on their view of property identity, both stem from when insufficient attention is paid to the hyperintensions of properties. The first problem is what I call the 鈥楪ranularity Problem鈥�. It is the problem of finding a criterion of identity for…
Title: Motion(less) Pictures and Temporal Appearances Abstract: In this session I will present some work-in-progress which connects issues in the philosophy of mind, concerning temporal appearances, with the metaphysics of aesthetics, while also incorporating some insights regarding our use of perceptual verbs. Viewing typical moving images (i.e., animations/video recordings), we see what appears to be…
It is a hallmark of social and psychological science that its findings should be reproducible across relevant contexts, playing a key role in showcasing the reliability of detected effects. However, following what some have called a 鈥渨atershed鈥� moment, a 鈥渃risis of confidence鈥� has befallen the discipline, with commentators zeroing in on the Reproducibility Project鈥檚 low…
Title: On the Plurality of Analyses: From Lewis Back to Russell and Moore Abstract: It is often argued that, amongst the various existing philosophical traditions, the one that enjoys the widest support is the analytic tradition. And, indeed, it is undoubtedly true that many philosophers would be prepared to describe themselves as ‘analytic philosophers’. Yet…
We will be reading Z. Quanbeck & A. Worsnip’s 鈥淎 Permissivist Alternative to Encroachment,鈥� Philosophers鈥� Imprint (forthcoming).
Title: Vague Mereology and Supervaluationism Abstract: What is the referent of 鈥楳t Everest鈥�, 鈥楨dinburgh鈥�, and even of 鈥楳eta鈥� and 鈥楳ark Zuckerberg鈥�? Like dust, vagueness 鈥榞ets into everything鈥� (Dummett, 1995, p. 207) but, unlike dust, it is often taken to be only a semantic phenomenon. Standard supervaluationist accounts explain failures of reference fixing by appealing to…
We will be reading excerpts from Jos茅 Medina’s聽The Epistemology of Protest聽(2023).
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