Outputs (60)

Ethnophilosophy as a Global Development Goal (2024)
Journal Article

The ethnophilosophy debate in African philosophy has been primarily concerned with the nature and future direction of African philosophy, but I approach it in search of lessons about philosophy in general. I show how this ongoing debate has been obsc... Read More about Ethnophilosophy as a Global Development Goal.

Free will and believing in determinism [English original] (2023)
Journal Article

Wolna wola a wiara w determinizm [polskie tłumaczenie] (2023)
Journal Article

The article addresses the issue of free will and determinism through a discussion of Newcomb’s paradox, presented as a dialogue between the spirits of Lady Luck and Fate. I argue that commitment to determinism, which is suggested by materialist metap... Read More about Wolna wola a wiara w determinizm [polskie tłumaczenie].

Free will and believing in determinism (2023)
Journal Article

The article addresses the issue of free will and determinism through a discussion of Newcomb’s paradox, presented as a dialogue between the spirits of Lady Luck and Fate. I argue that commitment to determinism, which is suggested by materialist metap... Read More about Free will and believing in determinism.

Philosophy and Jena Romanticism (2023)
Journal Article

Gyekye and Contemporary Idealism (2023)
Book Chapter

I begin with a defence of both Gyekye’s universalist and African metaphilosophies. In light of these metaphilosophies, I discuss the contemporary Western hegemony of materialist philosophy of mind and its origins in Gilbert Ryle’s The Concept of Mind... Read More about Gyekye and Contemporary Idealism.

Technology and Rorty’s Cultural Politics (2023)
Book Chapter

In Sect. 1, I point out the tension in Rorty’s commitment to both pragmatism and materialism. In Sect. 2, I explain how Rorty sought to justify this combination, and argue that his account is not only implausible but incomplete. In Sect. 3, I explain... Read More about Technology and Rorty’s Cultural Politics.

Technology and Rorty's Cultural Politics (2022)
Book Chapter

The Ontology of Freedom (2022)
Journal Article

I begin by clarifying Tallis’s revisionary terminology, showing how he redraws the lines of the traditional debate about free will by classifying himself as a compatibilist, when in standard terms he is an incompatibilist. I then examine what I take... Read More about The Ontology of Freedom.

Introduction a book symposium on Raymond Tallis's Freedom: An impossible reality (2022)
Journal Article

How philosophy is presented: An introduction (2021)
Journal Article

'Editorial Material'

A dialogue on / In performance philosophy (2021)
Journal Article

This dialogue was produced by an email exchange, with each email limited to 200 words. The exchange took place between 21 January and 9 June, 2021. No edits were allowed once ‘send’ had been pressed and there was to be no other correspondence between... Read More about A dialogue on / In performance philosophy.

A Brief History of Nihilism (2020)
Book Chapter

This chapter traces the origins of the term ‘nihilism’ (first used by Götze, and then Obereit) and connects it to the historical threat of atheism in the 18th century and the theme of the meaning of life. It shows how the negative status of nihilism... Read More about A Brief History of Nihilism.

Much Ado about Nothing (2020)
Book Chapter

Popular titles on nihilism in the market today are as bleak as they are catchy. They shock. They scandalise. More importantly, they sell. They appeal to the morbid fascination behind the claims that God is dead, life is meaningless, morality is a sha... Read More about Much Ado about Nothing.

Nihil Sine Deo (2020)
Book Chapter

Charles Taylor, Hubert Dreyfus, and Sean Kelly address residual fears about nihilism. They represent what we call the moderate view – moderate in the sense that for them, human beings can optimistically hope to overcome the supposedly bad effects of... Read More about Nihil Sine Deo.

Nil Desperandum (2020)
Book Chapter

The contemporary extremist views about nihilism, linked to the historical development of pessimism in the works of Leopardi, Schopenhauer, and Hartmann, claim that life is without hope and that the logical end to nihilism is the destruction of humani... Read More about Nil Desperandum.

Revaluating Nihilism (2020)
Book Chapter

The conclusion summarises the implications of the book. Nihilism has been misunderstood. When understood as the view that there is no meaning of life, it is a view that needs to be reclaimed, because the idea of the meaning of life is not helpful wit... Read More about Revaluating Nihilism.

A Defence of Nihilism (2020)
Book

This book offers a philosophical defence of nihilism. The authors argue that the concept of nihilism has been employed pejoratively by almost all philosophers and religious leaders to indicate a widespread cultural crisis of truth, meaning, or morals... Read More about A Defence of Nihilism.

Introduction: Philosophical reflection and technological change (2020)
Journal Article

Philosophy in a Technological World Gods and Titans (2020)
Book

How should philosophy respond to this? James Tartaglia examines the place of philosophy in a world where our rapidly expanding technological powers make philosophical reflection more important than ever. Philosophy has come to seem like a specialist... Read More about Philosophy in a Technological World Gods and Titans.

Rorty's Philosophy of Consciousness (2020)
Book Chapter

This chapter begins by asking why Rorty would endorse a physicalist agenda which, on the face of it, ran counter to his aims in philosophy; and concludes both that his motivation was confused, and that he failed to detach physicalism from metaphysics... Read More about Rorty's Philosophy of Consciousness.

Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (2020)
Book Chapter

This essay comprises an overview of the plot to Rorty's Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, followed by a more detailed examination of the three parts of the book. It begins by showing the importance of metaphilosophy to Rorty's project, while expla... Read More about Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature.

Introduction: Life’s meaning (2019)
Journal Article

We have chosen the subtitle of this introduction with some care—as a term to cover both meaning in life and the meaning of life. For some of the essays in this issue focus primarily on meaning in life—that is to say, they are focussed upon the que... Read More about Introduction: Life’s meaning.

Better Git It In Your Soul [translated into Polish as 'Lepiej poczuj to w swej duszy'] (2018)
Journal Article

The Original Meaning of Life (2018)
Journal Article

The Meaning of Life and the Great Philosophers (2018)
Book

Postscript (2018)
Book Chapter

Postscript: The Blue Flower (2018)
Book Chapter

Ayer and the Meaning of Life (2018)
Book Chapter

This article considers Ayer’s two main statements on the meaning of life; the first written in the prime of life, and the second at the end of life. The first, which is the focal point of this article, is heavily influenced by scienticism, and attemp... Read More about Ayer and the Meaning of Life.

Nihilism and the Meaning of Life: A Philosophical Dialogue with James Tartaglia (2017)
Book

Compendium of articles first published in Journal of Philosophy of Life 7 (1), July 2017. (Open Access publication).

Reply to Tracy Llanera (2017)
Journal Article

No abstract

Reply to Sho Yamaguchi (2017)
Journal Article

No abstract

Reply to Ronald A. Kuipers (2017)
Journal Article

No abstract

Reply to J.J. Valberg (2017)
Journal Article

No abstract

Reply to Damian Veal (2017)
Journal Article

No abstract

Reply to Alan Malachowski (2017)
Journal Article

No abstract

Reply to Adam Balmer (2017)
Journal Article

No abstract

Reply to Philip Goff (2017)
Journal Article

No abstract

Reply to Brooke Alan Trisel (2017)
Journal Article

No abstract

Nihilism and the Meaning of Life (2017)
Journal Article

Reply to BJØRN RAMBERG (2017)
Journal Article

No abstract

The Sound of Philosophy (2017)
Journal Article

This article explores our natural reservations about the prospect of somebody singing, rather than speaking or writing about, philosophy. It argues that these reservations have less substance than might be thought, and goes on to explain some of the... Read More about The Sound of Philosophy.

Why save the world? (2016)
Digital Artefact

What is at Stake in Illusionism? (2016)
Journal Article

I endorse the central message of Keith Frankish’s ‘Illusionism as a Theory of Consciousness’: if physicalism is true, phenomenal consciousness must be an illusion. Attempts to find an intermediate position between physicalist illusionism and the reje... Read More about What is at Stake in Illusionism?.

What is at Stake in Illusionism? (2016)
Journal Article

I endorse the central message of Keith Frankish’s ‘Illusionism as a Theory of Consciousness’: if physicalism is true, phenomenal consciousness must be an illusion. Attempts to find an intermediate position between physicalist illusionism and the reje... Read More about What is at Stake in Illusionism?.

Rorty and the Problem of Consciousness (2016)
Book Chapter

Consciousness and the Great Philosophers (2016)
Book

Consciousness and the Great Philosophers addresses the question of how the great philosophers of the past might have reacted to the contemporary problem of consciousness. Each of the thirty-two chapters within this edited collection focuses on a majo... Read More about Consciousness and the Great Philosophers.

Rorty's Ambivalent Relationship with Kant (2016)
Journal Article

I argue that Kant is a key figure in understanding Rorty’s work, by drawing attention to the fact that although he is ostensibly the principal villain of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, at the end of that book Kant provides the basis of Rorty's... Read More about Rorty's Ambivalent Relationship with Kant.

Jazz-Philosophy Fusion (2016)
Journal Article

In this paper I describe and provide a justification for the fusion of jazz music and philosophy which I have developed; the justification is provided from the perspectives of both jazz and philosophy. I discuss two of my compositions, based on philo... Read More about Jazz-Philosophy Fusion.

Transculturalism and the Meaning of Life (2016)
Journal Article

I begin by introducing the standoff between the transculturalist aim of moving beyond cultural inheritances, and the worry that this project is itself a product of cultural inheritances. I argue that this is rooted in concerns about the meaning of li... Read More about Transculturalism and the Meaning of Life.

Response to Darragh Byrne's "Do Phenomenal Concepts Misrepresent?” (2016)
Journal Article

I begin by summarizing my view of the progression that occurred from the 1950s to the 1990s on the topic of physicalism and, in terms of this, present an overview of the reconciliation I was attempting in “Conceptualizing Physical Consciousness.” I t... Read More about Response to Darragh Byrne's "Do Phenomenal Concepts Misrepresent?”.

Is philosophy all about the meaning of life? (2016)
Journal Article

This article defends a conception of philosophy popular outside the discipline but unpopular within it: that philosophy is unified by a concern with the meaning of life. First, it argues against exceptionalist theses according to which philosophy is... Read More about Is philosophy all about the meaning of life?.

Review of Todd May's A Significant Life (2016)
Journal Article

Are we just brains? (2015)
Journal Article

Metz's Quest for the Holy Grail (2015)
Journal Article

This paper is a critique of the new paradigm in analytic philosophy for investigating the meaning of life, focusing on Meaning in Life as the definitive example. Metz relies upon intuition, and reflection upon recent analytic literature, to guide him... Read More about Metz's Quest for the Holy Grail.

O co naprawe chodzi w pytaniu o sens zycia [The Real Question of the Meaning of Life] (2015)
Journal Article

Mind, Language, and Metaphilosophy: Early Philosophical Papers (2014)
Book

Rorty's thesis of the cultural specificity of philosophy (2014)
Journal Article

In his brief consideration of non-Western philosophy between 1989 and 1991, Richard Rorty argued that dialogue between Western philosophy and non-Western traditions is not constructive since it almost inevitably involves fundamental misunderstanding,... Read More about Rorty's thesis of the cultural specificity of philosophy.

Conceptualizing physical consciousness (2013)
Journal Article

Philosophy in a meaningless life: a system of nihilism, consciousness and reality
Book

This book combines an account of the autonomy of philosophy with a new theory of consciousness. The account of philosophy is rooted in the question of the meaning of life. This question, it is argued, is neither obscure nor obsolete, but rather refle... Read More about Philosophy in a meaningless life: a system of nihilism, consciousness and reality.