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Here are some of the projects I've been working on recently.

Prichard's heresy

I examine H. A. Prichard's claim that Aristotle was a closeted hedonist. In: Philosophy 86(4): 503-524 (2011).
Download: pdf

Some remarks on Mthat

I examine Josef Stern's theory of metaphor in its relation to the contextualist debate. In: Meaning and Context (L. Baptista and E. Rast eds.), Peter Lang, 2010, pp. 213-234.

Possible worlds: a neo-Fregean alternative

I implement a neo-Fregean strategy in the debate over the nature of possible worlds. In: Axiomathes 21(4): 531-551 (2011).

Lewis' reduction of modality

I present two familiar and two novel arguments against David Lewis' realism about possible worlds. In: Acta Analytica 26(2): 95-114 (2011).

Reichenbach and Weyl on apriority and mathematical applicability

I examine the affinity between Reichenbach's axioms of coordination and Weyl's blank forms. Michael Friedman's take on the constitutive a priori provides a background to the discussion. In: Synthese 181(1): 63-77 (2011).

Review

Review of A Computational Model of Natural Language Communication, by R. Hausser. In: Natural Language Engineering 15(3): 455-457 (2009).

Surprising user-friendliness

Here I ask whether the fact of mathematical usefulness in physical sciences is a surprising phenomenon. In: Logique et Analyse 45(179-180): 283-297 (2002).

Carnap and Frege on ontology

A draft of the talk I gave in Berlin in 2006. I discuss the links between the context principle and the theory of linguistic frameworks. Very heavily work-in-progress.

Ignorance and imagination

Here I examine the quandaries of imagining our own ignorance.

Chance in history

I examine three different proposals for characterising chancy events in history. The best such proposal, I argue, treats those events as instances of surprising collision of causal chains.

Morality and apriority

Here I examine Stephen Schiffer's critique of moral realism. I endorse a revised version of his argument. I also discuss a way the virtue-based approach may be utilised by moral realists.

Metaphysical necessity

Here I unfold the deductive structure of Kripke's arguments for the necessity of substance and the necessity of origin. I argue, contra Kripke, that the source of metaphysical necessity lies in our conception of the physical world, and that metaphysical necessity is on a par with physical necessity.

The reason of actuality

Here I argue that the concept of the best possible world as conceived by Leibniz is incoherent. [Integrated into the DPhil thesis.]

Two notions of context

Here I compare Kaplan's and Stalnaker's notions of context.

Figuralism

Here I examine Stephen Yablo's version of fictionalism. I also discuss in depth Josef Stern's attempt to assimilate metaphors to demonstratives.

DPhil Thesis

I offer a critical discussion of different theories of possible worlds. I defend my own neo-logicist approach.