tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80278445718398852502024-03-14T00:07:05.315-04:00Matters of SubstanceA Group Blog Devoted to MetaphysicsGabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-5656749475849607282021-02-12T13:15:00.003-05:002021-02-12T13:29:53.540-05:00Against Extended SimplesHere is a little argument against the possibility of extended simples:<div><br /></div><div>1. Suppose there can be an extended simple.</div><div>2. Then there can be an extended simple of any shape and size, including an extended simple S that looks just like a teeter totter.</div><div>3. It is possible to put enough weigh on a side of S to cause S to tip.</div><div>4. If S has no proper parts, then it is not possible put enough weigh on a side of S to cause S to tip (as S would have no sides).</div><div>5. Therefore, S has proper parts, which contradicts the stipulation that S is an extended simple.</div><div><br /></div><div>The weakest link seems to me to be (4). However, it is difficult to see how S could be caused to tip one way rather than another unless the cause acts on *part* of S, rather than on S as a whole.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thoughts?</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-40884491273967851742015-01-05T22:09:00.001-05:002015-01-05T22:09:11.464-05:00Prize: Marc Sanders Prize in Metaphysics<br />
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<u><strong>The Marc Sanders Prize in Metaphysics</strong></u></div>
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In keeping with its mission of encouraging and recognizing excellence in philosophy, The Marc Sanders Foundation seeks to highlight the importance of ongoing support for the work of younger scholars. As part of this commitment, the Foundation has dedicated resources to an ongoing essay competition, designed to promote excellent research and writing in metaphysics on the part of younger scholars.</div>
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Sponsored by The Marc Sanders Foundation and administered by the editorial board of <em>Oxford Studies in Metaphysics</em><em>,</em> this essay competition is open to scholars who are within fifteen (15) years of receiving a Ph.D. and to students who are currently enrolled in a graduate program. The annual prize amount is $8,000. Winning essays will appear in <em>Oxford Studies in Metaphysics</em>.</div>
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<u><strong>Current Competition Details</strong></u></div>
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The Marc Sanders<em> </em><em>Prize in Metaphysics </em>is an annual essay competition open to scholars who are within fifteen (15) years of receiving a Ph.D. or students who are currently enrolled in a graduate program. Independent scholars may also be eligible, and should contact Dean Zimmerman at dwzimmer@rci.rutgers.edu. The award for the prize winning essay is $8,000, and winning essays will be published in <em>Oxford Studies in Metaphysics</em>.</div>
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Submitted essays must present original research in Metaphysics. Essays should be between 7,500 and 15,000 words. Since winning essays will appear in <em>Oxford Studies in Metaphysics </em>submissions must not be under review elsewhere. To be eligible for this year’s prize, submissions must be received, electronically, by <strong>January 31st 2015</strong>. Refereeing will be blind; authors should omit remarks and references that might disclose their identities. Receipt of submissions will be acknowledged by e-mail. The winner will be determined by a committee of members of the Editorial Board of <em>Oxford Studies in Metaphysics </em>and will be announced by late-March. <strong></strong></div>
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Inquiries should be directed to Dean Zimmerman, co-editor with Karen Bennett of <em>Oxford Studies in Metaphysics</em><em>,</em> at dwzimmer@rci.rutgers.edu<br /> </div>
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Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-1847292033649064902014-10-19T17:41:00.000-04:002014-10-19T17:41:15.360-04:00CFP: Society for the Metaphysics of Science (1st Annual Conference)<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">The Society for the Metaphysics of Science will be holding its first annual conference on September 17-18, 2015 at Rutgers University – Newark. As well as various presentations, the conference will also feature the first organizational meeting of the Society which will elect officers, begin to make various policies, plan future conferences, etc. Both those interested in presenting papers and/or participating in the Society are invited to the conference. (For more information on the society, see</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/socmetsci/" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">the Society for the Metaphysics of Science web page.</a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">At the conference, presentations will be 40 minutes. Submissions should be on a topic in the metaphysics of science broadly construed, of no more than 6,000 words and should include an abstract of ~150 words and a word count. All papers must employ gender-neutral language and be prepared for blind review. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Submissions must be made using the Easychair online submission system at: <a href="https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=sms2015" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://easychair.org/<wbr></wbr>conferences/?conf=sms2015</a>. The submission deadline is March 1, 2015. Notifications of acceptance will be delivered by May 15, 2015. The conference will have a $50 registration fee. (The fee will be waived for graduate students.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Our keynote speaker will be Barry Loewer, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and all other sessions will comprise submitted papers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Questions may be gmailed to ken.aizawa.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Program Committee:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ken Aizawa, Rutgers University, Newark, Chair</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Carl Gillett, Northern Illinois University</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Alyssa Ney, Rochester University</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Thomas Polger, University of Cincinnati</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jessica Wilson, University of Toronto</span></span></div>
Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-36766629499387733472014-09-15T13:57:00.001-04:002014-09-15T14:04:35.226-04:00'Only Powers Can Confer Dispositions'I'm delighted to announce that my paper '<a href="http://philpapers.org/rec/CONOPC" target="_blank">Only Powers Can Confer Dispositions</a>' is now forthcoming in The Philosophical Quarterly!Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-16378896599352794722014-05-27T15:00:00.000-04:002014-05-27T15:00:00.197-04:00New Journal: Ergo<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">First issue: </span><a href="http://www.ergophiljournal.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">http://www.ergophiljournal.<u></u>org<wbr></wbr>/</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Julia Jorati (OSU) on a paper in early modern by Paul Lodge (Oxford):</span><br />
<a href="http://philosophymodsquad.wordpress.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">http://philosophymodsquad.<u></u>word<wbr></wbr>press.com/</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Anna Mahtani (LSE) on a paper by Michael Caie (Pittsburgh):</span><br />
<a href="http://choiceandinference.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">http://choiceandinference.com/</a><u style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></u><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, </span><a href="http://m-phi.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">http://m-phi.blogspot.ca/</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Ellen Clark (Oxford) on a paper in philosophy of biology by</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Christopher Hitchcock (Caltech) and Joel Velasco (Texas Tech):</span><br />
<a href="http://philosomama.blogspot.co.uk/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">http://philosomama.blogspot.<u></u>co<wbr></wbr>.uk/</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Thomas Nadelhoffer (Charleston) on a paper in experimental philosophy</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">by John Turri (Waterloo):</span><br />
<a href="http://philosophycommons.typepad.com/xphi/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">http://philosophycommons.<u></u>typep<wbr></wbr>ad.com/xphi/</a>Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-6439147757992989442014-01-07T11:50:00.003-05:002014-01-11T10:39:03.607-05:00RIP E. J. (Jonathan) Lowe (1950–2014)I have just heard the terrible news that Jonathan Lowe passed away on January. This is an enormous loss for philosophy in general and for metaphysics in particular, as well as, of course, for all those who knew him. Below is the memorial notice by his Durham colleagues Robin Hendry and Matthew Ratcliffe.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Professor E. J. (Jonathan) Lowe. Jonathan was born in Dover, England, on 24<sup>th</sup> March 1950. He went to Cambridge to read Natural Sciences in 1968, but changed to History after one year and was awarded a BA (first class) in 1971. After that, he switched to Philosophy and moved to Oxford, where he was awarded his BPhil and DPhil degrees in 1974 and 1975 (supervised by Rom Harré and Simon Blackburn respectively). After a brief period teaching at Reading, Jonathan joined the Department of Philosophy at Durham in 1980, where he stayed for the rest of his career. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer (1990), Reader (1992) and then Professor (1995). During his time at Durham, Jonathan established himself as one of the world’s leading philosophers, publishing twelve single-authored books, four co-edited collections and well over 200 articles in journals and edited volumes. His scholarship was strikingly broad, ranging from early modern philosophy through to the interpretation of quantum mechanics. His most important and sustained contributions were to philosophy of mind, philosophical logic and especially metaphysics.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonathan adopted a realist conception of metaphysics as an autonomous discipline concerned with the fundamental structure of reality, as exemplified by his important book <i>The Possibility of Metaphysics</i> (OUP, 1998). Metaphysics, he maintained, should take common sense as its starting point, while at the same time acknowledging that aspects of common sense will need to be revised or abandoned. It should also retain a healthy respect for science but resist scientism, as the role of metaphysics is to illuminate features of reality that empirical scientific enquiry inevitably presupposes. It is therefore the most fundamental form of enquiry and - as Jonathan also emphasised – something that is extremely difficult to do. But, he insisted, there are no cheap short-cuts, and no piecemeal solutions to metaphysical problems. Metaphysics is to be done systematically and patiently. Jonathan’s approach drew inspiration from Aristotle and Locke, amongst others, both of whom retained a foothold in common sense. His metaphysical writings addressed a range of themes, including volition, personhood, agency, mental causation, identity, truth, essentialism and ontological categories. In recent years, one of his many notable achievements was the formulation of a new ‘four-category ontology’, which he proposed as a metaphysical foundation for all empirical scientific thought. The most detailed account of this appears in his book <i>The Four-Category Ontology</i> (OUP, 2006).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Throughout his life, Jonathan was guided by a kind of faith in our ability to discover the fundamental structure of reality through metaphysical thought. He was spurred on by a constant sense of puzzlement, fascination and bewilderment at the existence and nature of reality, and would not let extraneous considerations distract him from a resolute search for truth. Those of us who knew him will remember him not just as a gifted and committed philosopher but also as an exceptionally kind, caring and generous person. He was an accomplished teacher, who did everything he possibly could to support, encourage, nurture and inspire his students, many of whom have gone on to have successful academic careers. He was similarly supportive of his colleagues at Durham and of the wider philosophical community. Philosophers from all over the world came to depend on him as a mentor and referee, and he would spend many hours most weeks writing carefully crafted letters of support. It was a privilege to work with Jonathan. He was always a keen participant in research events, at Durham and elsewhere, where he exercised his astonishingly refined critical skills and offered numerous insightful comments, without ever being dismissive. Even with his eminence in the profession and the many associated demands on his time, he insisted on doing his fair share (and usually more than his fair share) of administrative and teaching work. He was a reassuring presence in the department, who was always on hand to offer support, advice and consolation to colleagues. We are diminished by the loss of an outstanding philosopher and a great friend.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonathan died on 5<sup>th</sup> January 2014, after several months of illness. He leaves his wife, Susan, and their two adult children, Rebecca and Tim.</span></blockquote>
UPDATE 1 [Jan 10, 2014]: A funeral service for Jonathan Lowe will be held at Durham Cathedral Monday 20th January at 1.30pm. All are welcome.<br />
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UPDATE 2 [Jan 11, 2014]: Another remembrance notice (by his former student Tuomas Tahko) can be found <a href="http://www.ttahko.net/2014/e-j-lowe-1950-2014/">here</a>.Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-20159223564303427842013-12-02T15:24:00.000-05:002013-12-02T15:24:17.961-05:00CfA: Metaphysical Mayhem 2014!<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Metaphysical Mayhem continues!</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.jonathanschaffer.org/mayhem.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.jonathanschaffer.<wbr></wbr>org/mayhem.html</a></div>
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Rutgers University will be hosting a five day metaphysics summer school for graduate students, running <u><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1601151931" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">May 19th-23rd, 2014</span></span></u>, and featuring Karen Bennett, Shamik Dasgupta, Laurie Paul, Jonathan Schaffer, and Ted Sider.<br /><br />All local (NY/NJ area) graduate students are invited to attend.<br />Non-local graduate students must apply to attend, by sending the following to <a href="mailto:jonathan.schaffer@rutgers.edu" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">jonathan.schaffer@rutgers.<wbr></wbr>edu</a> by <u><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1601151932" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">January 10, 2014</span></span></u>:<div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>• A curriculum vitae</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>• A writing sample on any topic in metaphysics</div>
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Applicants will be notified by <u><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1601151933" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">February 1, 2014</span></span></u>. Housing and possibly some limited financial support will be available for non-local graduate students. </div>
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Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-69485683147117549762013-11-18T01:14:00.000-05:002013-11-18T01:14:32.147-05:00New Paper: "One's a Crowd: Mereological Nihilism without Ordinary-Object Eliminativism"<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Have you always wanted to be a mereological nihilist but were too afraid to try? Do you like your cats, apples, and tables too much to be an eliminativist about ordinary objects? Then non-eliminative nihilism might be the right philosophical position for you!!! </span><i class="_4-k1 img sp_314kar sx_a40a08" style="background-color: white; background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yI/r/akMH6WWgy9q.png); background-position: -102px -868px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: auto; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; height: 16px; line-height: 17px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"></i><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Now forthcoming in <i>Analytic Philosophy</i> "<a href="http://philpapers.org/rec/CONOAC">One's a Crowd: Mereological Nihilism without Ordinary-Object Eliminativism</a>"!!!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">It used to be a small paper (and some of the ideas in it were discussed in an old post on this blog); it grew into a 12,000-word monster but I'm very happy with it. </span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><br /><br />Abstract: Mereological nihilism is the thesis that there are no composite objects—i.e. objects with proper material parts. One of the main advantages of mereological nihilism is that it allows its supporters to avoid a number of notorious philosophical puzzles. However, it seems to offer this advantage only at the expense of certain widespread and deeply entrenched beliefs. In particular, it is usually assumed that mereological nihilism entails eliminativism about ordinary objects—i.e. the counterintuitive thesis that there are no such things as tables, apples, cats, and the like. In this paper, I argue that this assumption is false—mereological nihilists do not need to be eliminativists about tables, apples, or cats. Non-eliminativist nihilists claim that all it takes for there to be a cat is that there are simples arranged cat-wise. More specifically, non-eliminative nihilists argue that expressions such as ‘the cat’ in sentences such as ‘The cat is on the mat’ do not refer to composite objects but only to simples arranged cat-wise and compare this metaphysical discovery to the scientific discovery that ‘water’ refers to dihydrogen oxide. Non-eliminative nihilism, I argue, is not only a coherent position, but it is preferable to its more popular, eliminativist counterpart, as it enjoys the key benefits of nihilism without incurring the prohibitive costs of eliminativism. Moreover, unlike conciliatory strategies adopted by eliminative nihilists, non-eliminative nihilism allow its supporters to account not only for how we can assert something true by saying ‘The cat is on the mat’ but also for how we can believe something true by believing that the cat is on the mat.<br /><br />Favourite sentence in the paper: "So, unless one takes metaphysics to be merely the shadow of grammar, one should not take the fact that certain constructions are grammatical while others are not to be evidence for or against a certain metaphysical view."<br /><br />A special thank-you to Dan Korman and Trenton Merricks, who gave me precious feedback on a very early draft.</span>Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-5066039120915652972013-09-09T02:58:00.000-04:002013-09-09T02:58:51.762-04:00Hyperintensional Metaphysics (Again)As a followup, of sorts, to my <a href="http://substantialmatters.blogspot.com.au/2009/03/age-of-hyperintensionality.html">last post about hyperintensionality</a>, I’d like to announce that I have a draft paper available extolling the virtues of using hyperintensional resources in metaphysics. It’s short, but tries to make the case that hyperintensional metaphysics is the way of the future! And not merely for the metaphysics of representation, but for the metaphysics of the non-representational world as well.<br><br>
The paper: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/professordanielnolan/downloadable-papers/NolanHyperMeta.pdf">Hyperintensional Metaphysics</a>
Daniel Nolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07331991688472802901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-9818310651463065972013-07-10T00:34:00.000-04:002013-07-10T00:34:28.833-04:00New Open-Access Journal!<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><a href="http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ergo" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/<u></u>er<wbr></wbr>go</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Ergo is a general, open access philosophy journal accepting submissions on</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">all philosophical topics and from all philosophical traditions. 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We also hope that you will consider submitting your</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">work to Ergo.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Please share this call for papers with your colleagues!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Managing Editors</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Franz Huber (University of Toronto)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Jonathan Weisberg (University of Toronto)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><a href="mailto:ergo.editors@gmail.com" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">ergo.editors@gmail.com</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; 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color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Imogen Dickie (University of Toronto)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Catarina Dutilh-Novaes (University of Groningen)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Kenny Easwaran (University of Southern California)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Matt Evans (University of Michigan)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Laura Franklin-Hall (New York University)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Ole Hjortland (LMU Munich)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Michelle Kosch (Cornell University)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Antonia LoLordo (University of Virginia)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Christy Mag Uidhir (University of Houston)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Julia Markovits (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Lionel McPherson (Tufts University)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Jennifer Nagel (University of Toronto)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Jill North (Cornell University)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Brian O'Connor (University College Dublin)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Laurie A. Paul (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Richard Pettigrew (Bristol University)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Martin Pickavé (University of Toronto)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Adam Sennet (University of California at Davis)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Nishi Shah (Amherst College)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Quayshawn Spencer (University of San Francisco)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Ásta Sveinsdóttir (San Francisco State University)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Robbie Williams (University of Leeds)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Wayne Wu (Carnegie Mellon University)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Jiji Zhang (Lingnan University)</span>Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-18980677289612400962013-07-04T13:09:00.000-04:002013-07-04T13:09:26.735-04:00CFP: The Nature of Propositions and Their Grasp or Understanding (CJP)This might be of interest to some readers:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The <</span><a href="http://www.canadianjournalofphilosophy.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>canadianjournalofphilosophy.<wbr></wbr>com/</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">> Canadian Journal of Philosophy<</span><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcjp20#.UbHrmitxu8E" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>tandfonline.com/loi/rcjp20#.<wbr></wbr>UbHrmitxu8E</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">> announces a second call for papers for a Special Issue co-edited by Gurpreet Rattan and David Hunter.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Propositions are of significant interest for the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and philosophical logic. Propositions are thought to play various roles, including that of the meanings of sentences, the referents of 'that'-clauses, the primary bearers of truth, the objects of mental attitudes, and the objects of modal evaluation. The proposed volume focuses on two questions about propositions. One concerns their nature or metaphysics and the other their epistemology. More elaborately, the volume considers questions like:</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Do propositions represent the world? If so, how does that constrain their nature? If not, how do propositions play the roles that they do? Are propositions objects? Or are they entities of a different sort? Do propositions have truth conditions? If so, are a proposition’s truth conditions essential to it? What determines a proposition's truth conditions? Are propositions simply to be identified with truth conditions? What does that mean? How should we think of propositions if truth is relative in some way? Are propositions contingent objects, or do they all exist in all possible worlds?</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Is grasp of or understanding of a proposition an epistemic relation to a proposition? If so, is it a form of acquaintance? If not acquaintance, what kind of epistemic relation is it? And if it is not an epistemic relation, what kind of relation is it? Are there in-principle limits to understanding? Are there propositions that cannot in-principle be grasped or understood? How is thinking about a proposition related to grasping or understanding the proposition? What cognitive capacities are required to think about propositions?</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Answers to these questions are important for understanding philosophical puzzles about representation, understanding, truth, necessity, reference to abstract objects, and the possibility of agreement and disagreement. This volume aims to bring together original papers that discuss these questions.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Submissions should not exceed 10,000 words and should be prepared for blind review. Please include a brief abstract. These should be sent by</span> August 1, 2013 <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">to David Hunter at </span><a href="mailto:david.hunter@ryerson.ca" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;">david.hunter@ryerson.ca</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><</span><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">mailto:</span><a href="mailto:david.hunter@ryerson.ca" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;">david.hunter@ryerson.ca</a><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">></span></span></blockquote>
Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-39651648250087591142013-05-09T13:38:00.002-04:002013-05-10T14:46:18.238-04:00What is location?<p>
I will first argue that location is a multiply-realizable—i.e., functional—determinable. Then I will offer a sketch of what defines it.</p>
<p>
A multiply-realizable determinable is one such that attributions of its determinates are grounded in different ways in different situations. For instance, <em>running a computer program</em> is multiply realizable: that something is running some algorithm <i>A</i> could be at least partly made true by electrical facts about doped silicon, or by mechanical facts about gears, or by electrochemical facts about neurons. Moreover, computer programs can run in worlds with very different laws from ours.</p>
<p>
In particular, a multiply-realizable determinable is not fundamental. But location seems fundamental, so what I am arguing for seems to be a non-starter. Bear with me.</p>
<p>
Consider a quantum system with a single particle <i>z</i>. What does it mean to say that <i>z</i> is located in region <i>A</i> at time <i>t</i>?<a href='http://alexander-pruss-lx.baylor.edu/alex/blog/footnotes/37-25-9-9-4-113-4-128-1-1.html'>[note 1]</a> It seems that the quantum answer is: The wavefunction (in position space) ψ(<i>x</i>,<i>t</i>) is zero for almost all <i>x</i> outside <i>A</i>. And more generally, quantum mechanics gives us a notion of partial location: <i>x</i> is in <i>A</i> to degree <i>p</i> provided that <i>p</i>=∫<sub><i>A</i></sub>|ψ(<i>x</i>,<i>t</i>)|<sup>2</sup><i>d</i><i>x</i>, assuming ψ is normalized. On these answers, being located in <i>A</i> is not fundamental: it is grounded in facts about the wavefunction.</p>
<p>
But it is also plausible that objects that do not have wavefunction can have location. For instance, there may be a world governed by classical Newtonian mechanics, and objects in that world have locations but no wavefunctions. (And even in a world with the same laws as ours, it is possible that some non-quantum entity, like an angel, might have a location, alongside the quantum entities.) Thus, location is multiply-realizable.</p>
<p>
Very well. But what is the functional characterization of location? What makes a determinable be a location determinable? A quantum particle is located in <i>A</i> provided that ψ vanishes outside <i>A</i>. But a quantum particle also has a momentum-space wavefunction, and we do not want to say that it is located in <i>A</i> provided that the momentum-space wavefunction vanishes outside <i>A</i>? Why is the "position-space" wavefunction the right one for defining location? Why in a classical world is it the "position" vector that defines location, rather than, say, the momentum vector or an axis of spin or even the electric charge (a one-dimensional position)? </p>
<p>
I want to suggest a simple answer. Two objects can have very similar electric charges, very similar spins or very similar momenta, and yet hardly be capable of interacting because they are too far apart. In our world, distance affects the ability of objects to interact with one another. Suppose we say that this is the fundamental function of distance. Then we can say that a determinable <i>L</i> is a location-determinable to the extent that <i>L</i> is natural and the capability of objects to interact with one another tends to be correlated with the closeness of values of <i>L</i>. This requires that <i>L</i> have values where one can talk about closeness, e.g., values lying in a metric space. In a quantum world without too much entanglement and with forces like those in our world, the wavefunction story gives such a determinable. In a classical world, the position gives such a determinable.</p>
<p>
(One could also have an obvious relationalist variant, where we try to define the notion of being spatially related instead. The same points should go through.)</p>
<p>
Notice that on this story, it may be vague whether in a world some determinable is location. That seems right.</p>
<p>
I think this story fits well with common-sense thought about distance and location, and helps explain why we maintained these concepts across radical changes in physical theory.</p>Alexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-91779058182262851532013-04-14T17:18:00.000-04:002013-04-14T17:18:12.136-04:00Tübingen Metaphysics Workshop 2013: Existence, Truth and Fundamentality<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="font_8" style="border-width: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">The <span class="italic" style="border-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tübingen Metaphysics Workshop</span> is an annual international event organized and sponsored by the Chair of Theoretical Philosophy at the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a dataquery="#Link1wbk" href="http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/" style="border-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">University of Tübingen</a>.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="font_8" style="border-width: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">The goal of the workshop is to bring together junior and senior scholars working on cutting edge issues in metaphysics and its methodology.</span></span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><span class="font_8" style="border-width: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The focus of the 2013 edition are the notions of existence, truth and fundamentality, as well as their interrelation. </span><span class="CSS1Compat" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="alignJustify" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="font_8" style="border-width: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Each paper will be followed by a response.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="CSS1Compat" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="alignJustify" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="font_8" style="border-width: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">Attendance is free, registration not required.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
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<span class="CSS1Compat" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="alignJustify" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="font_8" style="border-width: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">More details can be found on the website <a href="http://www.tuebingen-metaphysics2013.com/">http://www.tuebingen-metaphysics2013.com</a></span></span></div>
Alessandro Torzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03514709098066710391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-62474572682196619762013-03-30T12:17:00.001-04:002013-03-30T12:17:31.042-04:00MAWM 2013<br />
<div class="p1">
On September 14-15, 2013 the University of Notre Dame will host the second Midwest Annual Workshop in Metaphysics (MAWM). We invite and encourage all interested parties to attend! </div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Speakers will be Ben Caplan, Matti Eklund, Daniel Korman, Jennifer McKitrick, Gillian Russell, and Jessica Wilson.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
MAWMs are targeted workshops for Midwestern faculty and graduate students working in metaphysics. Each MAWM features 5-7 invited speakers, the majority of whom come from Midwestern institutions. They provide a venue for sharing new research and building community among metaphysicians in the region. </div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
For more information and to register for the workshop, visit the website:</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s2"><a href="http://mawms.org/Workshops/2013/">http://mawms.org/Workshops/2013/</a></span></span></div>
Jonathan D. Jacobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913077212736834794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-9066398087098716562013-03-20T15:04:00.001-04:002013-03-20T15:04:21.795-04:00Fundamentality and ungroundedness<p>I haven't been following the grounding literature, so this may be old hat, in which case I will be grateful for references.</p><p>The following seems pretty plausible:<ol><li value='1'>p is fundamental if and only if p is ungrounded.</li></ol>But I think (1) may be false. I will put the argument in tensed fashion, but it could also be done a bit more awkwardly in a four-dimensional setting.</p><p>Let's suppose that <I ought to respect other persons> is a fundamental moral truth. Call this truth R. But now I validly promise to respect other persons. Then R comes to be grounded in <I ought to keep my promises and I promised to respect other persons>. If (1) is true, then R continues to be true but ceases to be fundamental. That doesn't sound right. It seems to me that if R is ever a fundamental moral truth, then it is always a fundamental moral truth. After I have promised to respect other persons, R gained a ground but lost nothing of its fundamentality.</p><p>Maybe I can motivate my intuition a little more. It seems that R has a relevantly different status from the status had by S, the proposition <I ought to come to your house for dinner every night>, after I promise you to come to your house for dinner every night. Each of R and S is grounded by a proposition about promises, but intuitively the fundamentality-and-grounding statuses of R and S are different. A sign (but only a sign--we want to avoid the conditional fallacy) of the difference is that R would still be true were the proposition about promises false. Another sign of the difference is that <I ought to respect you> is overdeterminingly grounded in <I ought to respect all persons> and <I promised to respect all persons and I ought to keep my promises>, while it is false that <I ought to come for dinner tomorrow night> is <em>overdeterminingly</em> grounded in <I ought to come for dinner every night> and <I promised to come for dinner every night and I ought to keep my promises>. The latter is not a case of overdetermination.</p><p>The above example is controversial, and I can't think of any noncontroversial ones. But it seems plausible that we should be open to phenomena like the above. Such <em>prima facie</em> possibilities suggest to me that ungroundedness is a negative property, while fundamentality is something positive. Normally, fundamental truths are also ungrounded. But they don't lose their fundamentality if in some world they happen to be grounded as well.</p><p>A somewhat tempting way to keep the above intuition while maintaining the idea that fundamentality is to drop the irreflexivity of grounding and say that:<ol><li value='2'>p is fundamental if and only if p grounds p.</li></ol> Then we could say that R is overdeterminingly grounded by a proposition about promises as well as by R itself, while S is only grounded by a proposition about promises and not by S. And in ordinary language we do sometimes use expressions like "p because p" to express some kind of fundamentality of p. I am not that happy with this solution, but can't think of another one that keeps the idea that fundamentality is defined in terms of grounding. Of course, one could take fundamentality to be fundamental.</p>Alexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-66077204731410264952013-03-18T04:36:00.003-04:002013-03-18T04:36:37.007-04:00 Thought Special Issue: Time and Modality<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">
<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%292161-2234">Thought</a> is having a special issue on the metaphysics of time and modality. Deadline is the end of May. Call for papers follows:</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.7em;">
Metaphysicians of modality argue over whether ontology extends beyond the actual just as metaphysicians of time argue over whether ontology extends beyond the present; and we might also ask whether it is a stable position to hold that reality includes the non-present but not the non-actual. There are modal analogues of McTaggart's infamous argument for the unreality of time, and we can ask whether the modal and temporal arguments stand or fall together. We might wonder whether trans-world identity should be treated differently from identity across time, and whether if existence is contingent it must also be temporary, etc.<br id=".reactRoot[20].[1][2][1]{comment10151606320475676_28633264}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0.[3].0.[1]" /><br id=".reactRoot[20].[1][2][1]{comment10151606320475676_28633264}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0.[3].0.[2]" />For this special issue of Thought we invite papers that make a contribution to either the metaphysics of time or of modality, or that illuminate the connections between them. Papers should correspond to the standard Thought guidelines and be no longer than 4500 words, including footnotes. Papers are to be submitted before 31st May 2013. When submitting please ensure you select article type as “The Metaphysics of Time and Modality Special Issue” to ensure your paper is reviewed via the special issue route.</div>
Ross Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01900752201200020829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-70704287239517614742013-01-08T19:53:00.000-05:002013-01-08T19:53:11.944-05:00Metaphysical Virtues<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hi Folks, </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thanks for the kind invite to join up. I thought I'd extend an invitation for any interested parties to attend Metaphysical Virtues, a conference being held this March 15th-17th at Western Michigan University. For those interested, more information can be found here: <a href="http://homepages.wmich.edu/~szb1813/mv.html">Metaphysical Virtues.</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj050gynFnBrbF93q8vkFlgAKGQhRa_f68d7mwwkjIx5VvdLl3T2jNUopKVIA3sGemAxNm69h433XpOKUam_os_4pqtIsvGqIl48R7oBimBWkkwRupzzgVRVpU50b3G5ndXVdwMehF4-Y0/s1600/screen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj050gynFnBrbF93q8vkFlgAKGQhRa_f68d7mwwkjIx5VvdLl3T2jNUopKVIA3sGemAxNm69h433XpOKUam_os_4pqtIsvGqIl48R7oBimBWkkwRupzzgVRVpU50b3G5ndXVdwMehF4-Y0/s400/screen.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Cheers,</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sam</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-40591809310116042082012-12-03T23:51:00.000-05:002012-12-03T23:51:28.206-05:00Seminar: Metaphysics and Mind (Washington University in St Louis, June-July 2013)METAPHYSICS AND MIND<br />
<br />
NEH Summer Seminar<br />
10 June-12 July 2013<br />
Washington University in St Louis<br />
<br />
A five-week National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar on
metaphysical issues in the philosophy of mind led by John Heil, 10 June -
12 July 2013. Visiting faculty will include E. J. Lowe, Graham Oddie,
and Alyssa Ney.<br />
<br />
Sixteen participants will be chosen from among eligible applicants
interested in metaphysical issues that arise in the philosophy of mind.
Early sessions of the seminar will be devoted to discussion of
fundamental metaphysical themes including the nature of properties,
causality, laws of nature, powers, and qualities. Later sessions will be
devoted to discussion of metaphysical themes of special interest to
participants.<br />
<br />
Seminar stipend: $3,900.<br />
<br />
For more information, please visit the seminar website:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://artsci.wustl.edu/%7Eneh13/" target="_blank">http://artsci.wustl.edu/~<wbr></wbr>neh13/</a>Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-61057787173447449102012-11-26T09:26:00.002-05:002012-11-26T09:26:52.641-05:00Job: Associate or Full Professor AOS: Metaphysics (St. Louis)Saint <span class="il">Louis</span> University, a Catholic Jesuit
institution,
dedicated to student learning, research, health care, and service,
is seeking
applicants for a senior appointment in Philosophy at the level of
full or
associate professor. The position begins fall semester 2012.<span> </span>Ph.D. required.<span> </span>Teaching: two courses per
semester,
undergraduate and graduate; significant record of research and
publication
required. Committee work; thesis and dissertation direction
expected.<span> </span>AOS:
metaphysics. AOC:
open.<span> </span>Qualified candidates
must have
knowledge of and be willing to contribute to Jesuit ideals and
goals of
education. Salary dependent upon qualification and experience. A
complete dossier will contain a CV, letters of reference, and
samples of
publication. Interested candidates must apply online at
<a href="http://jobs.slu.edu/" target="_blank">http://jobs.slu.edu</a>. Please direct all inquiries to: Theodore R.
Vitali,
C.P., Chair, Department of Philosophy, Saint <span class="il">Louis</span> University,
3800 Lindell
Boulevard, Suite 130, St. <span class="il">Louis</span>, MO 63108. Deadline: applications
that are
complete by Dec. 15, 2012 will be assured of the most careful
consideration. Saint <span class="il">Louis</span> University is an affirmative action,
equal
opportunity employer, and encourages nominations of and
applications from women
and minorities. Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-47371126255429564152012-11-26T09:22:00.001-05:002012-11-26T09:23:39.335-05:00Job: Postdoc AOS: Metaphysics of Science (IHPST, Paris)A postdoctoral position will be available at IHPST (Institut d'Histoire
et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, Paris) within the
French ANR funded project “Metaphysics of Science”, for one year
(September/October 2013 - August/September 2014), renewable for a second
year (September/October 2014 - August/September 2015).<br />
The successful candidate must pursue research, and already have some
expertise, in at least one of the three domains in the focus of the
project: 1) Levels of reality, 2) Individual objects in physics and
biology, and 3) Dispositions in psychology and physics.<br />
<br />
The post-doc will be expected to present his/her research at conferences
and seminars, and to publish in peer-reviewed journals.<br />
<br />
He or she will work at IHPST in Paris and will provide organizational
support for the activities of the teams. Residence in Paris is strictly
mandatory.<br />
<br />
Major tasks will be to:<br />
1) run the Metaphysics of Science seminar on a regular basis,<br />
2) help organize the workshops of the research project,<br />
3) create and maintain a website on the metaphysics of experimental
sciences, which will provide tools of cooperation within the team and
help disseminate the results of our research,<br />
4) constitute a database on metaphysics of science.<br />
<br />
Applicants must have a doctorate in philosophy. Knowledge of French is not required, but fluency in English is.<br />
<br />
Salary will be approximately 2000 € net (2500 € gross) per month.<br />
<br />
Application material:<br />
-A cover letter addressed to Max Kistler, Metascience coordinator<br />
-A CV with a list of publications<br />
-A writing sample (e.g., a publication or a dissertation chapter)<br />
-Three letters of recommendation<br />
-A statement of research agenda that fits into one of the areas of the project (2-3 pages)<br />
<br />
Applications should be submitted electronically, in a single PDF file, to:<br />
Max Kistler: <a href="mailto:mkistler@univ-paris1.fr">mkistler@univ-paris1.<wbr></wbr>fr</a><br />
<br />
Deadline for submission of application: 15 February 2013.<br />
Candidates will be informed of the decision by 31 March 2013.<br />
<br />
For further information, please contact Max Kistler.Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-77074354301013247402012-08-23T23:44:00.001-04:002012-08-23T23:44:04.285-04:00Mereology MapRecently, my colleague David Faraci posted a "flowchart" for metaethics
on PeaSoup, and he impressed on me how much useful feedback he received. Not long ago, I composed something analogous for mereology, and was hoping to get feedback as well. (I realize my "road map" is incomplete, e.g., it does not address growing block theories, though I am hoping to revise it in the near future.)<br />
<br />
The document is at: <a href="http://www.unc.edu/%7Etparent/Identitymap.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.unc.edu/~tparent/Identitymap.pdf</a>T. Parenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03826687064995292240noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-56991984928359892902012-08-11T12:56:00.002-04:002012-08-11T12:56:13.844-04:00Grounding graphs<p>This may all be old-hat: I haven't been following the grounding literature.</p>
<p>
Consider three propositions: <ol>
<li value='1'> (2) or (3) is true. </li>
<li value='2'> (1) or (3) is true. </li>
<li value='3'> The sky is blue. </li>
</ol>
Then, clearly, (3) grounds (1) and (2). But there is also another path to grounding (1). We could say that (3) grounds (2), and then (2) grounds (1). But if (2) grounds (1), then by an exact parallel (1) grounds (2). And that violates the noncircularity of grounding. This kind of thing is a standard worry.</p>
<p>
What should we say about (1)-(3)? It was plausible to say that (3) grounds (1) and (2). But the line of thought that (3) grounds (2) and (2) grounds (1) was also plausible. We might say that there are three pathways to grounding among (1)-(3): <ul>
<li> (3) to both (1) and (2)</li>
<li> (3) to (2) to (1)</li>
<li> (3) to (1) to (2)</li>
</ul>
All pathways seem acceptable. But we had better not confuse the pathways, since if we mix up grounding claims that belong to the last two pathways, we get (2) grounding (1) and (1) grounding (2).</p>
<p>
There are multiple grounding pathways. Here is one way to formalize this. Take as the primitive notion that of a <em>grounding graph</em>. A grounding graph encodes a particular mutually compatible grounding pathway. Each grounding graph is a directed graph whose vertices are propositions. It will often be a contingent matter whether a given graph is or is not a grounding graph: the same graph can be a grounding graph in one world but not in another. The notion is not a formal one. Moreover, grounding graphs will be backwards-complete: they will go as far back as possible. But their futures may be incomplete.</p>
<p>
Say that a <em>parent</em> of a vertex <i>b</i> in a directed graph <i>G</i> is any vertex <i>a</i> such that <i>a</i>→<i>b</i> is an arrow of <i>G</i>, and then <i>b</i> is called a child of <i>a</i>. An <em>ancestor</em> is then a parent, or a parent of a parent, or .... An <em>initial</em> vertex is one that has no vertices.</p>
<p>
We can say that <i>a</i> <em>partly grounds</em> <i>b</i> in <i>G</i> if and only if <i>a</i> is an ancestor of <i>b</i> in <i>G</i> and that <i>a</i> is <em>fundamental</em> in <i>G</i> if and only if <i>a</i> is initial in <i>G</i>. We say that a proposition <i>a</i> partly grounds <i>b</i> provided that there is a grounding graph <i>G</i> such that <i>a</i> partly grounds <i>b</i> in <i>G</i>, and that a proposition <i>p</i> is fundamental if and only if there is a grounding graph <i>G</i> such that <i>p</i> is fundamental in <i>G</i>. We say that the <i>a</i> partly grounds <i>b</i> <em>compatibly</em> with <i>c</i> partly grounding <i>a</i> provided that there is a single grounding graph in which both partial grounding relations hold.</p>
<p>
We say that a finite or infinite sequence of vertices is a <em>chain</em> in <i>G</i> provided that there is an arrow from each element of the sequence to the next. We say that <i>b</i> is the <em>terminus</em> of a chain <i>C</i> provided that <i>b</i> is the last element of <i>C</i>.</p>
<p>
We stipulate that a set <i>S</i> of vertices <em>grounds</em> <i>b</i> in <i>G</i> provided that (a) every vertex in <i>S</i> is an ancestor of <i>b</i> and (b) every chain whose terminus is <i>b</i> can be extended to a chain still with terminus <i>b</i> and that contains at least one member of <i>S</i>. In particular, the set of all the parents of <i>b</i> grounds <i>b</i> if it is non-empty.<p>
<p>
We now have some <em>bridge axioms</em> that interface between the notion of a grounding graph and other notions: <ul>
<li> Truth: Every vertex of a grounding graph <i>G</i> is <em>true</em>.</li>
<li> Explanation: Every non-initial vertex is <em>explained by</em> its parents.</li>
<li> Partial Explanation: Every parent <em>partly explains</em> each of its children.</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>
We add this very metaphysical axiom, which is a kind of Principle of Sufficient Reason: <ul>
<li> Universality: Every true proposition is a vertex of some grounding graph.</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>
Now we add some structural axioms: <ul>
<li> Noncircularity: There is no grounding graph <i>G</i> in which <i>a</i> is a parent of <i>b</i> and <i>b</i> is a parent of <i>a</i>.</li>
<li> Lower Bound: If <i>C</i> is a chain in a grounding graph <i>G</i>, then there is a vertex <i>p</i> of <i>G</i> which is the ancestor of all the vertices in <i>C</i>, other than <i>p</i> itself if <i>p</i> is in <i>C</i>.</li>
<li> Wellfoundedness: No vertex of a grounding graph is the terminus of an infinite chain.</li>
<li> Absoluteness of Fundamentality: No vertex is initial in one grounding graph and non-initial in another.</li>
<li> Truncation: If <i>G</i><sub>1</sub> is a grounding graph and <i>G</i><sub>2</sub> is a subgraph of <i>G</i><sub>1</sub> relatively closed under the parent relation (if <i>b</i> is in <i>G</i><sub>2</sub> and <i>a</i> is a parent of <i>b</i> in <i>G</i><sub>1</sub> then <i>a</i> is in <i>G</i><sub>2</sub> and <i>a</i> is a parent of <i>b</i> in <i>G</i><sub>2</sub>), then <i>G</i><sub>2</sub> is a grounding graph.</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>
Absoluteness of Fundamentality says that if a proposition is fundamental, it is fundamental in every grounding graph where it is found. Of course Wellfoundedness entails Noncircularity and Lower Bound. And Noncircularity plus Absoluteness of Fundamentality entails that if <i>a</i> partly grounds <i>b</i> and <i>b</i> partly grounds <i>a</i>, then (a) these two grounding relations do not hold in the same grounding graph and (b) in every grounding graph where one of these relations holds, at least one of <i>a</i> and <i>b</i> is grounded in something other than <i>a</i> and <i>b</i>, so that there are no fundamental circles.</p>
<p>
We can now add some "logical axioms". These are just a sampling. <ul>
<li> Disjunction Introduction: If a grounding graph <i>G</i> contains a vertex <<i>p</i>> but not the vertex <<i>p</i> or <i>q</i>>, then the graph formed by appending <<i>p</i> or <i>q</i>> to <i>G</i> together with an arrow from <<i>p</i>> to it is also a grounding graph.</li>
<li> Conjunction Introduction: If a grounding graph <i>G</i> contains vertices <<i>p</i>> and <<i>q</i>> but not the vertex <<i>p</i>&<i>q</i>>, then the graph formed by appending <<i>p</i>&<i>q</i>> to <i>G</i> toegther with arrows from <<i>p</i>> and <<i>q</i>> to it is also a grounding graph.</li>
<li> Existential Introduction: If a grounding graph <i>G</i> contains a vertex <<i>F</i><i>a</i>> but no vertex <(∃<i>x</i>)<i>F</i><i>x</i>>, then the graph formed by appending <(∃<i>x</i>)<i>F</i><i>x</i>> together with an arrow from <<i>F</i><i>a</i>> to <(∃<i>x</i>)<i>F</i><i>x</i>> is a grounding graph.</li>
<li>Conjunctive Concentration: If a grounding graph <i>G</i> contains a vertex <i>b</i> with distinct parents <<i>p</i>> and <<i>q</i>> but no vertex <<i>p</i>&<i>q</i>>, then the graph formed by removing the arrows from <<i>p</i>> and <<i>q</i>> to <i>b</i>, adding the vertex <<i>p</i>&<i>q</i>> and inserting arrows from <<i>p</i>> and <<i>q</i>> to <<i>p</i>&<i>q</i>>, and from <<i>p</i>&<i>q</i>> to <i>b</i> is a grounding graph.</li>
<li>No Disjunctive Overdetermination: If a grounding graph contains <<i>p</i> or <i>q</i>>, then it contains at most one of the arrows <<i>p</i>>→<<i>p</i> or <i>q</i>> and <<i>q</i>>→<<i>p</i> or <i>q</i>>.</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>
Go back to our original example. There will be at least three distinct grounding graphs corresponding to the different grounding pathways. There will be a grounding graph where we have (3)→(2)→(1), and another where we have (2)→(3)→(1), and a third which contains (3)→(1) and (2)→(1). But there won't be a graph that contains both (2)→(1) and (1)→(2).</p>
<p>
I don't really insist on this list of axioms. Probably the "logical axioms" are incomplete. Nor am I completely sure of all the axioms. But the point here is to indicate a way to structure further discussion.</p>Alexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-69889296963286702712012-08-06T13:15:00.000-04:002012-08-06T14:05:39.776-04:00Necessity and ConcretenessSpeaking of 'necessity', here is an <a href="http://www.necessarybeing.net/">interactive survey</a> to see if you
have some beliefs or intuitions that bear on the question of necessary
concreta: www.necessarybeing.net. The survey showcases arguments
relevant to the question, some of which are relatively unknown--and so
may be of special interest to metaphysicians who care about this
question. Your answers will be recorded for further analysis. Comments and criticisms are welcome. <br />
<br />
The topic bears on this question: are <i>necessary existence</i> and <i>concreteness</i> compatible? If we say "no", then we can give the following simple criterion for being concrete: 'x is concrete iff x is not necessary' (unless non-necessary abstracta exist). On the other hand, if concreteness is compatible with necessary existence, then the possibility is open for us to give an ultimate explanation of the existence of non-necessary things in terms of the contingent activities of more basic, necessary things (be they fundamental particles or something else). So, answers to the question seem to have deep implications for fundamental ontology and cosmology.<br />
<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-85492373873027159572012-06-28T16:52:00.001-04:002012-06-28T16:52:06.365-04:00Necessity Conferencehttp://www.unl.edu/philosophy/necessity-conferenceJennifer McKitrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01825652450956714208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027844571839885250.post-10362542330257087592012-06-12T21:22:00.002-04:002012-06-12T21:26:40.484-04:00Postdocs: Philosophy of Cosmology (Rutgers)<style>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The School of Arts and Sciences
at Rutgers University is pleased to announce the availability pending funding
(to be determined soon) of three postdoctoral fellowships in philosophy of
cosmology. Fellows will be appointed in the Department of Philosophy in
association with the multi-university Project
in Philosophy of Cosmology. We hope to
appoint one fellow in each of the following areas of concentration: 1)
philosophy of physics, 2) cosmology, 3) philosophy of religion, metaphysics or
philosophical theology. For more
information about the kinds of research that could be supported under these
fellowships, please see the summaries of current project members’ research
interests and aims here: </span><a href="http://philocosmology.rutgers.edu/who-we-are"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">http://philocosmology.rutgers.edu/who-we-are</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. </span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Requirements for the fellowship
include i) PhD in the last 5 years in a relevant area, ii) acquaintance with
recent developments in cosmology and issues in philosophy of cosmology, iii) a
research project related to the research of the Philosophy of Cosmology Project,
iv) strong background in one of the three fields mentioned above.</span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The primary responsibility of a
Fellow will be to conduct research on his/her project. Fellows will also be responsible for teaching
one course per year in their area of expertise. Fellows will be expected to
participate in all of our conferences, seminars, and a summer school in the
summer of 2013; they will work with faculty mentors in the organization, planning,
editing and the other aspects of our project. </span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Fellows will be appointed for one
year with the possibility of renewal for a second year. Appointments will be
effective September 1, 2012 or January 1, 2013. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Fellows will
receive a stipend of $50,000 annually as well as an annual research allocation
of $2,000; they will also receive Rutgers University health benefits. </span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Requests for more informantion or applications, consisting of a
CV, a research </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">proposal</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">a writing sample, </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">and the names of 3 references should
be sent by email to Professor Barry Loewer at </span><a href="mailto:loewer@rci.rutgers.edu"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">loewer@rci.rutgers.edu</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. Review of applications will commence on July
8 and continue until the positions are filled. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rutgers University is an equal
opportunity/affirmative action employer. The institution values diversity in
its faculty, staff, and students and especially encourages applications from
women and underrepresented minorities.</i><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span>Gabriele Contessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13607158011908969169noreply@blogger.com