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Showing papers in "Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines in 2019"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article argued that this terminology is not up to scratc... and argued that it is not suitable for academic work that fixes its subject matter using the terms "fake news" and "post-truth".
Abstract: Since 2016, there has been an explosion of academic work that fixes its subject matter using the terms ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’. In this paper, I argue that this terminology is not up to scratc...

87 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is necessary to understand exactly what fake news is in order to address this threat to knowledge and democracy, and the various definitions that surround it.
Abstract: Fake news poses a serious threat to knowledge and democracy. In order to address this threat, it is important to understand exactly what fake news is. After surveying the various definitions that h...

30 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper defined epistemic injustice as "a kind of injustice in which someone is wronged specifically in her capacity as a knower" (2007, Epistemic injustice: Power & the ethics of... ).
Abstract: Miranda Fricker has characterized epistemic injustice as “a kind of injustice in which someone is wronged specifically in her capacity as a knower” (2007, Epistemic injustice: Power & the ethics of...

29 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that experiments aiming to test theories are best understood as controlled investigations of specimens, in virtue of both control and specimenhood, that provide powerful confirmatory evidence.
Abstract: Experimentation is traditionally considered a privileged means of confirmation. However, how experiments are a better confirmatory source than other strategies is unclear, and recent discussions have identified experiments with various modeling strategies on the one hand, and with ‘natural’ experiments on the other hand. We argue that experiments aiming to test theories are best understood as controlled investigations of specimens. ‘Control’ involves repeated, fine-grained causal manipulation of focal properties. This capacity generates rich knowledge of the object investigated. ‘Specimenhood’ involves possessing relevant properties given the investigative target and the hypothesis in question. Specimens are thus representative members of a class of systems, to which a hypothesis refers. It is in virtue of both control and specimenhood that experiments provide powerful confirmatory evidence. This explains the distinctive power of experiments: although modellers exert extensive control, they do not exert this control over specimens; although natural experiments utilize specimens, control is diminished.

25 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the theoretical scientific image (of the posits of the successful sciences) and the practical scientific image, which includes every first-order logic, are distinguished. But they do not distinguish between the theoretical and practical scientific images.
Abstract: This paper distinguishes between the theoretical scientific image (of the posits of the successful sciences) and the practical scientific image (which, besides explanatory posits, includes everythi...

24 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Despite sustained feminist criticism, the production and consumption of pornography does not show signs of waning. as discussed by the authors offers a critical review of the existing feminist anti-pornography debate,...
Abstract: Despite sustained feminist criticism, the production and consumption of pornography does not show signs of waning. Here, I offer a critical review of the existing feminist anti-pornography debate, ...

22 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, it seems natural to think that Carnapian explication and experimental philosophy can go hand in hand, but what exactly explicators can gain from the data provided by experimental philosophers is explored.
Abstract: It seems natural to think that Carnapian explication and experimental philosophy can go hand in hand. But what exactly explicators can gain from the data provided by experimental philosophers remai...

19 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a close reading of GS 301 and related passages is shown to be misguided in taking Nietzsche's talk of value creation as expressing (or playing a significant role in) a meta-ethical view according to which the evaluative attitudes of philosophers ground what is valuable.
Abstract: This article considers Friedrich Nietzsche’s claims about value creation alongside his proclamation that ‘nature is always value-less’ (GS 301), assessing their implications for his metaethics. It begins by weighing the evidence for a recent constructivist interpretation of Nietzsche’s metaethics, arguing that despite several apparent interpretive advantages, Nietzschean constructivism ultimately fails. Through a close reading of GS 301 and related passages, the constructivist interpretation is shown to be misguided in taking Nietzsche’s talk of value creation as expressing (or playing a significant role in) a metaethical view according to which the evaluative attitudes of philosophers ground what is valuable. Against this, it is argued that GS 301 should be understood as an assertion of the status of philosophers as the causal sources of new evaluative outlooks that shape the held values of their respective cultures, a claim developed through analysis of passages in which Nietzsche discusses his ...

17 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A structuralist account of linguistic items is proffer, along the lines of structuralism in the philosophy of mathematics, in which words are defined in part as positions in larger linguistic structures.
Abstract: Words form a fundamental basis for our understanding of linguistic practice. However, the precise ontology of words has eluded many philosophers and linguists. A persistent difficulty for m...

15 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined how the distinctively emotional manifestations of white fragility make it more distinctively different from physical fragility and found that emotional white fragilities make it different from other fragilities.
Abstract: We contribute to the growing literature on white fragility by examining how the distinctively emotional manifestations of white fragility (which we dub ‘emotional white fragility’) make it more dif...

15 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For example, the authors argues that if a certain kind of externalism is true, it might be nearly impossible to change what our words mean, even if we want to do so.
Abstract: Conceptual engineers sometimes say they want to change what our words mean. If a certain kind of externalism is true, it might be nearly impossible to do that. For some of the external factors that...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines and analyzes five definitions of existential risk, and adopts a pluralistic approach according to which the definition that scholars employ should depend up to a multiplicity of factors.
Abstract: This paper examines and analyzes five definitions of ‘existential risk.’ It tentatively adopts a pluralistic approach according to which the definition that scholars employ should depend up...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In response to Habgood-Coote (2019. “Stop Talking about Fake News!” Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 62 (9-10): 1033-1065), the authors argue that academ...
Abstract: In response to Habgood-Coote (2019. “Stop Talking about Fake News!” Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 62 (9–10): 1033–1065.) and a growing number of scholars who argue that academ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In a recent article, Krauss as mentioned in this paper raised some fundamental questions concerning what the desiderata of a definition of lying are, and how definitions of lying can account for partial belie...
Abstract: In a recent article, Krauss (2017) raises some fundamental questions concerning (i) what the desiderata of a definition of lying are, and (ii) how definitions of lying can account for partial belie...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A Stalnakerian model of communication based on multicentered worlds content is developed, and a suitable semantics for personal pronouns and predicates of personal taste is provided.
Abstract: The received picture of linguistic communication understands communication as the transmission of information from speaker's head to hearer's head. This picture is in conflict with the attractive L...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The edenic theory of the speech act of referring as discussed by the authors is a theory of an optimal function of the act of singular reference, defined directly in terms of Gricean communicative intents.
Abstract: I argue for a theory of the optimal function of the speech act of referring, called the edenic theory. First, the act of singular reference is defined directly in terms of Gricean communicative int...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In cognitive and computational neuroscience, this paper portrayed the neocortex as a hierarchically structured prediction machine, and several theorists have drawn on this research to challenge the notion of a hierarchical prediction machine.
Abstract: Recent research in cognitive and computational neuroscience portrays the neocortex as a hierarchically structured prediction machine. Several theorists have drawn on this research to challenge the ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present two new challenges for the view that we can become perceptually aware of meaning properties in auditory experience or, in brief, we can hear meanings in the course of utterance understanding.
Abstract: It is often observed that experiences of utterance understanding are what surfaces in hearer’s consciousness in the course of language comprehension. The nature of such experiences has been a hotly debated topic. One influential position in this debate is the semantic perceptual view, according to which meaning properties can be perceived . In this paper I present two new challenges for the view that we can become perceptually aware of meaning properties in auditory experience or, in brief, that we can hear meanings. The first challenge concerns the issue of providing a plausible model of meaning perception. The second challenge consists in accommodating the crucial role of cognition in the etiology of such experiences. Drawing on these observations, I will suggest a new account, according to which experiences of understanding have a complex, mixed nature involving both perceptual and cognitive elements.

Journal Article
TL;DR: Mandy Barrett, Southwest Virginia Community College, mandy.barrett@sw.edu Lisa Branson, Northern Virginia Community college, lbranson@nvcc.edu Sheryl Carter, New River Community College as mentioned in this paper, scarter@nr.edu Justin Ellis, Reynolds Community College.
Abstract: Mandy Barrett, Southwest Virginia Community College, mandy.barrett@sw.edu Lisa Branson, Northern Virginia Community College, lbranson@nvcc.edu Sheryl Carter, New River Community College, scarter@nr.edu Frank DeLeon, Northern Virginia Community College, fdeleon@nvcc.edu Justin Ellis, Reynolds Community College, jellis@reynolds.edu Cirrus Gundlach, Paul D. Camp Community College, cgundlach@pdc.edu Dale Lee, Mountain Empire Community College, dlee@mecc.edu

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors provided a detailed explanation of why Schopenhauer's pessimism can not successfully argue against Nietzsche's optimism, which is a common view in the literature, but this is not the case here.
Abstract: While a common view in the literature is that Nietzsche cannot successfully argue against Schopenhauer’s pessimism, a detailed explanation of why this is so is lacking. In this paper I provide such...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the compatibility of different metaphysics of time with the powers view is investigated, and it seems natural to combine some sort of powers ontology with a dyadic ontology.
Abstract: In this paper, I will investigate the compatibility of different metaphysics of time with the powers view. At first sight, it seems natural to combine some sort of powers ontology with a dy...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The notion that "pain is unpleasant, universally unpleasant" has been rejected by various pain scientists because of several phenomena which allegedly show that there can be pain which i... as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Pains are unpleasant, universally unpleasant. What seems trivially true has been rejected by various pain scientists because of several phenomena which allegedly show that there can be pain which i...

Journal ArticleDOI
Daniel Coren1
TL;DR: In this paper, Korsgaard discusses the importance of intractability in the evaluation of intrinsic value of ideas in the context of philosophy, such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Brentano, Moore, and Chisholm.
Abstract: Philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Brentano, Moore, and Chisholm suggest marks of intrinsic value. Contemporary philosophers such as Christine Korsgaard have insightful discussions of int...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that we need to re-think the semantics/pragmatics distinction in the light of new evidence from embedding of irony and raise a new version of the old problem of "embedded impli...
Abstract: This paper argues that we need to re-think the semantics/pragmatics distinction in the light of new evidence from embedding of irony. This raises a new version of the old problem of ‘embedded impli...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, Somin, Talisse, Gordon Allen, and Enzo Rossi participated in a Symposium on Computational Artificial Intelligence (CAA) with the goal of finding a solution to the problem of artificial intelligence.
Abstract: Thanks to Inquiry for hosting this symposium, and thanks to Ilya Somin, Robert Talisse, Gordon Allen, and Enzo Rossi for participating it. It’s an honor.I’m especially grateful for their contributi...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: I am aware of the red and orange autumn leaves, according to many meditative traditions as discussed by the authors, but am I aware of my awareness of the leaves? Not so according to most philosophers.
Abstract: I am aware of the red and orange autumn leaves. Am I aware of my awareness of the leaves? Not so according to many philosophers. By contrast, many meditative traditions report an experience of awar...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A truthmaker semantics for essence is developed and the semantics are used to investigate the explanatory role of essence and the meaning of essence is investigated.
Abstract: In this paper, I develop a truthmaker semantics for essence and use the semantics to investigate the explanatory role of essence.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors discusses the metaphilosophical assumptions that have dominated analytic philosophy of mind, and how they gave rise to the central question that the best-known forms of non-reductivism a...
Abstract: This paper discusses the metaphilosophical assumptions that have dominated analytic philosophy of mind, and how they gave rise to the central question that the best-known forms of non-reductivism a...

Journal ArticleDOI
Kevin Lynch1
TL;DR: The authors investigates whether we can know how to do basic actions, from the perspective according to which knowledge of doing something requires knowledge of a way to do it, and the key argument from th...
Abstract: This paper investigates whether we can know how to do basic actions, from the perspective according to which knowing how to do something requires knowledge of a way to do it. A key argument from th...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue about the laws of logic and the nature of logical properties, and they show that classical and non-classical logicians disagree about these laws.
Abstract: What do we disagree about when we disagree about logic? On the face of it, classical and nonclassical logicians disagree about the laws of logic and the nature of logical properties. Yet, s...