Ancient Skepticism - Philosophy Compass

I don't usually post information about my publications, but in this case I'll make an exception: a series of three articles on ancient skepticism which I wrote a while ago has just come out in Philosophy Compass. I'm not completely satisfied with the final result: it's difficult to write a survey article which must be accessible to non-specialists but which at the same cannot be elementary. In any case, these three pieces give at least a good overview of the scholarly literature, not only in English, but also in French, Italian, and (to a much lesser extent) German and Spanish. In addition, some parts of the section on Sextus Empiricus in the third article – in particular, the discussion of the nature and purpose of the Pyrrhonist's investigation – contain a couple of (what I think are) original thoughts/interpretations.

Skepticism & Evil

The latest issue of the Australasian Journal of Philosophy features Jim Stone's "CORNEA, Scepticism and Evil". To access the paper, click here.

Philosophical Perspectives

The latest issue of Philosophical Perspectives features articles on epistemology by an impressive lineup of specialists. Click here to access the issue.

One-Day Conference on Skepticism

Next Friday 25, there will be a journée d'étude on skepticism ("Polémiques autour du scepticisme") at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (Site Descartes, Salle F 101). Here's the program:

9h30-10h15: Stéphane Marchand, "Doute et scepticisme dans la tradition pyrrhonienne".

10h15-11h: Emmanuel Naya, "Réception et distorsions du scepticisme à la Renaissance".

11h15-12h: Gianni Paganini, "Entre l'épochè et le doute. Petite histoire de l'impossibilité de vivre le scepticisme".

12h-12h45: Delphine Kolesnik-Antoine, "Peut-on penser un 'cartesianisme sceptique'? Philosophie première et philosophie naturelle chez Regius".

14h-14h45: Sylvia Giocanti, "La détermination cartésienne à se débarrasser du scepticisme".

14h45-15h30: Nawalle El Yadari, "Pascal et le retournement de la déraison sceptique".

16h-16h45: Elodie Argaud, "Un gauchissement contre un autre? Scepticisme et épicurisme autour de l'argument du consentement universel dans la Continuation des Pensées diverses".

16h45-17h30: Jean-Pierre Grima, "Le scepticisme des Lumières".

Moral Error Theory

Those working on contemporary ethical skepticism will be interested to know about two relatively recent papers on the moral error theory by Hallvard Lillehammer (Univ. of Cambridge):

- "Debunking Morality: Evolutionary Naturalism and Moral Error Theory," Biology and Philosophy 18 (2003). Downloadable here.

- "Moral Error Theory," Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 104 (2004). Downloadable here. 

Critical Notice of "Kant and Skepticism"

The latest issue of Philosophical Books features a critical notice of Michael Forster's Kant and Skepticism by Andrew Chignell and Colin McLear. It can be found here.

Neuroscience and Morality

Those working on ethical skepticism will be interested to know that, next April, Princeton University Press is going to publish Patricia Churchland's Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality. For information about the book, go here. On YouTube there's a video in which Churchland briefly expounds the views discussed in her book.

There has recently been much discussion of what evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and experimental psychology can tell us about the origin and epistemic credentials of our moral beliefs. The first books that come to mind right now are Richard Joyce's The Evolution of Morality (MIT Press, 2006) and the three-volume Moral Psychology (MIT Press, 2008) edited by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong.

Philosophical Therapy

The latest issue of Metaphilosophy features Eugen Fischer's "How to Practise Philosophy as Therapy: Philosophical Therary and Therapeutic Philosophy". The paper discusses Sextus Empiricus and Wittgenstein. To access it, go here.

Oakeshott's Skepticism

Aryeh Botwinick (Temple University) has recently published Michael Oakeshott's Skepticism (Princeton University Press, 2010). For more information, go here.

Faculty Moves

Here are some recent faculty moves involving scholars working on skepticism:

Lorenzo Corti (ancient skepticism), who was a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge for a couple of years, is now at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris with a Marie Curie fellowship.

Richard Joyce (ethical skepticism) has moved from the University of Sydney, where he held a research fellowship, to the Victoria University of Wellington, where he has taken a professorship.

Stéphane Marchand (ancient skepticism), who used to work at the Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, is now at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon.

Casey Perin (ancient skepticism) has moved from the University of Massachussetts at Amherst to the University of California at Irvine, where he is an associate professor.

Robert Polito (ancient skepticism) has moved from Cambridge, where he was a postdoctoral fellow, to the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, where he is a research associate.