Electric Agora (archive)

Tag: J.L. Austin

  • Wittgenstein and Woke Philosophy

    by Bharath Vallabha ___ Since I was a philosophy undergrad 25 years ago, I wanted academic philosophy to be more diverse. Back then, at least in the departments I was in, most philosophy professors and students were white males, and the curriculum was almost entirely European. What most bugged me was this was so taken […]

  • Perception and “illusion” with Dr. Louise Moody

    by Daniel A. Kaufman I talk with Dr. Louise Moody about perception, “illusion style” arguments, and J.L. Austin. Louise has a PhD in philosophy and is an independent philosopher and feminist campaigner. [Note: There are points at which Louise’s mic cuts out for a second, but it does not substantially interfere with watching the discussion.] […]

  • Prolegomena for a Pluralist Metaphysics: Ontological Commitment

    by Daniel A. Kaufman ___ My working idea in these prolegomena is that (a) philosophers feel forced to embrace various “desperate” positions (Panpsychism, Dualism, Illusionism, etc.), because of a number of (often venerated) assumptions that they’ve taken on board, all of which happen to be wrong, and (b) the re-examination of those assumptions, within the […]

  • Wittgenstein, Russell, and Lawrence

    by Mark English I recently wrote a piece in which I looked at the views of some 20th-century thinkers on language, metaphysics, science and philosophy. My main focus was on the logical empiricists and Ludwig Wittgenstein. In his youth, Wittgenstein worked with Bertrand Russell and then subsequently with the Vienna Circle before taking a rather […]

  • Bits and Pieces – ‘Physical’; ‘Material’; ‘Exists’; ‘Real’

    by Daniel A. Kaufman ___ Lately, I’ve been doing some work on Physicalism and social reality (1), suggesting that taking the latter seriously means that the former has to be false, and it seems to me that much of the reluctance people have expressed – and which pushes so many philosophers to insist on Physicalism […]