Cartesian Skepticism

The latest issue of Analysis contains Jessica Wilson's "The Regress Argument against Cartesian Skepticism," Analysis 72 (2012): 668-673. It can be found here.

SSS 2012 APA Meeting

Here's the program for the session of the Society for Skeptical Studies at the APA meeting in Atlanta:

Friday evening (Dec. 28th), 5:15-7:15 p.m.

Chair: Peter Fosl (Transylvania University)

Speaker: Otávio Bueno (University of Miami): "Skepticism, Naturalism, and Second Philosophy."

Pyrrhonism and Eudaimonia

It probably went unnoticed that Richard Bett recently published "Can an Ancient Greek Sceptic Be Eudaimôn (or Happy)? And What Difference Does the Answer Make to Us?" in the online Brazilian journal Journal of Ancient Philosophy. The paper can be accessed for free here.

Critical Notice of Volume on Pyrrhonism

Those who can read Dutch might be interested to know that Jan Willem Wieland recently wrote a critical notice of the volume Pyrrhonism in Ancient, Modern, and Contemporary Philosophy (Springer, 2011) for Tijdschrift voor Filosofie 74 (2012).

Camus and Skepticism

A couple of days ago, I read this very nice paper by Carlos Lévy: "Albert Camus entre scepticisme et humanisme", Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé 2002: 352-362. Lévy compares the outlooks of Camus and Pyrrho. His interpretation of the latter's philosophy is heavily influenced by the interpretation defended by Marcel Conche in Pyrrhon et l'apparence (PUF, 2nd ed. 1994). What I like the most in this paper is the analysis of how the main characters of L'étranger, La peste, La Chute, and Caligula deal with the recognition of the absurdity of life.

Skepticism and Disagreement

I'm pleased to announce the publication of the volume Disagreement and Skepticism (Routledge).  Here's the blurb:

Disagreement is a pervasive feature of human life whose skeptical implications have been emphasized particularly by the ancient Pyrrhonists and by contemporary moral skeptics. Although the connection between disagreement and skepticism is also a focus of analysis in the emerging and burgeoning area of epistemology concerned with the significance of controversy, it has arguably not received the full attention it deserves. The present volume explores for the first time the possible skeptical consequences of disagreement in different areas and from different perspectives, with an emphasis in the current debate over the epistemic impact of disagreement. The thirteen new essays collected here examine the Pyrrhonian approach to disagreement and its relevance to the present epistemological discussions of the topic; the relationship between disagreement and moral realism and antirealism; disagreement-based skeptical arguments in contemporary epistemology; and disagreement and the possibility of philosophical knowledge and justified belief. Given the ever-growing interest in both the significance of disagreement and the challenge of skepticism, this volume makes a new contribution by conjugating two important trends in current philosophical research.

Skepticism about Reason

In his recent book, In Praise of Reason (MIT Press, 2012), Michael Lynch defends the practical value of reason against skepticism. From what I've been able to see thus far, the book is highly recommended. More information can be found here.

Skepticism and Epistemic Closure

The latest issue of Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (85/3, 2012) contains Sven Rosenkranz's "Radical Skepticism and Epistemic Closure," which can be found here.

Issue 2/2 of IJSS

Issue 2/2 of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism is now available online here.

I take this opportunity to remind you that, as of next year, each volume will consist of four issues instead of two, which will allow us to deal with our backlog of accepted papers. And with the new volume, we will also  start publishing special issues; some of these will be devoted to ethical skepticism; hinge epistemology; Thompson Clarke; and Pyrrhonism, voluntarism & science.

Sextus and Aristotle

The latest issue of the French journal Philosophie antique (12, 2012) contains Emidio Spinelli's "Sextus Empiricus et l'ombre longue d'Aristote". Here's the abstract in French:

"Cet article s’intéresse en premier lieu à quelques passages des Esquisses pyrrhoniennes de Sextus (I 1-3 ; 8-10 ; III 119-122). Ces « études de cas » permettent d’examiner la relation dialectique entre Sextus et Aristote. Le Stagirite y est représenté à la fois comme une sorte de primus inter dogmaticos pares, et par conséquent comme une cible privilégiée des attaques pyrrhoniennes contre les dogmatismes, et, de façon indirecte, comme une sorte d’« ombre » se profilant derrière l’attitude critique de Sextus. Parallèlement, la stratégie de Sextus consiste à utiliser le matériel aristotélicien à l’appui soit de l’attitude propre à l’agoge sceptique, soit de la construction d’une diaphonia spécifique. En second lieu, la section finale de l’article examine en outre un passage difficile du Contre les moralistes (XI 77-78), proposant une correction qui permettrait, en éliminant le nom d’Aristote, d’y voir une citation d’Ariston."

Conference at the ENS de Lyon

Yesterday I arrived in Lyon where I'll stay until Thursday. Tomorrow begins the conference on Skepticism and Epicureanism organized at the ENS by Stéphane Marchand and Pierre-Marie Morel. I'm glad I could see again people with whom I'm in frequent contact but only via email.

Skepticism and Reliabilism

A couple of months ago, the following book came out:

José Zalabardo, Scepticism and Reliable  Belief (OUP, 2012).

Complete information can be found here.

Special Issue of Synthese

The November issue of Synthese is devoted to skepticism and justification. The issue can be accessed for free here.

Disjunctivism

Those working particularly on external world skepticism will be interested in these two very recent books:

D. Pritchard, Epistemological Disjunctivism (OUP, 2012). More information can be found here.

M. Willaschek (ed.), Disjunctivism: Disjunctive Accounts in Epistemology and in the Philosophy of Perception (Routledge, 2012). More information can be found here.

Conference on Skepticism and Epicureanism

On November 13-14, the ENS of Lyon will hold the conference "Épicurisme et Scepticisme", organized by Stéphane Marchand and Pierre-Marie Morel. For complete information, you can either click on the image below or go here.

New Translation of Sextus's Against the Physicists

Last month, CUP published Richard Bett's translation of Sextus Empiricus's Against the Physicists. More information can be found here. I haven't taken a look at the translation yet, but I'll try to get a copy soon. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first English translation of the two books of Against the Physicists since Bury's (1936).

Conference on Skepticism and Politics

On October 16-17, the Université Pierre-Mendès-France will hold the conference "Scepticismes en politique". Click on the images below for complete information.

Plato and Irrationality

Yesterday I came back from Colombia, where I gave two talks on ancient skepticism. There I met the members of the research group Peiras, some of whom are now working in this area. I also got a copy of  this interesting new book: Platón y la irracionalidad, edited by Andrea Lozano. More information can be found here.

New Paper on Disagreement

The latest issue of Philosophy and Phenomenological Research contains Nathan King's "Disagreement: What's the Problem? or A Good Peer is Hard to Find." It can be found here. I read this paper a while ago and I highly recommend it.

New Reviews

Two new reviews of books dealing with ancient Pyrrhonism are available online:

L. Castagnoli, Ancient Self-Refutation (CUP, 2010), reviewed by Stéphane Marchand in Aitia 2 (2012).

D. Machuca (ed.), New Essays on Ancient Pyrrhonism (Brill, 2011), reviewed by Clifford Roberts in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2012.09.36.

Job Market

For the past year, I’ve been thinking more seriously about the possibility of moving to the US (or perhaps Europe), even though I have tenure here. Some friends and colleagues have confirmed something I’d already heard about: the job market in the US has been terrible for the past couple of years. If anyone has any insights about this topic, feel free to post a comment or (better) send me an email.

(Thanks to everyone for the emails.)

Victorinus' and Augustin's Interpretations of Skepticism

A recent issue of Les Études Philosophiques (101/2, 2012) features the article "Deux interprétations du scepticisme: Marius Victorinus et Augustine" by Anne-Isabelle Bouton-Touboulic. More info can be found here.

Five Years

On August 24th, Aporia turned five years old. It's been a long road and we'll see if we're still around five years from now.

Review of Scepticisme et Langage

Richard Bett's review of Lorenzo Corti's Scepticisme et langage (Vrin, 2009) has just been published in Ancient Philosophy 32 (2012): 217-23. This journal can be accessed through Philosophy Documentation Center.

Free Will Skepticism

The latest issue of The Philosophical Quarterly contains Benjamin Vilhauer's "Taking Free Will Skepticism Seriously". The paper can be accessed here.

Hegel and Pyrrhonian Skepticism

A book on Hegel and Pyrrhonism I heard about some time ago has just come out:

Ioannis Trisokkas, Pyrrhonian Scepticism and Hegel’s Theory of Judgement (Brill, 2012).

Complete information can be found here.

Meeting on Disagreement

International Summer School 2012: "Disagreement". August 19-25, 2012, Casa Santo Stefano, Miglieglia (TI), Switzerland.

The aim of the summer school is to explore the nature and significance of disagreement. Invited speakers, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students will present recent work on different aspects of disagreement. Attendance of the summer school is free. Accommodation and meals from Sunday evening to Saturday morning will amount to about 750 Swiss Francs (790 US Dollars/625 Euros/500 British Pounds).

The complete program can be found here.

New Research Center

Eidyn: The Edinburgh Centre for Epistemology, Mind and Normativity (www.eidyn.org), School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh.

This new philosophical research centre draws on past success in Edinburgh in the fields of epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of mind and cognitive science. The centre will be home to a number of funded and pilot research projects within these fields, such as the recently awarded major AHRC project on "Extended Knowledge". The goal of the centre is to make a profound and long-lasting contribution to philosophical scholarship, and in the process to provide a dedicated training environment for postgraduate students and early career academics.

Inquiries about Eidyn should be directed to the Centre Director, Prof. Duncan Pritchard (duncan.pritchard@ed.ac.uk).

Review of Truth and Skepticism

A review of Robert Almeder's Truth and Skepticism (Rowman and Littlefield, 2010) by John Capps was recently published in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.

Workshop in Salvador da Bahia

On August 8-10, the Universidade Federal da Bahia will hold the workshop "Compromissos ontológicos," with the participation of Agustín Rayo, Eduardo Barrio, and Marco Ruffino. For more information, go here.

Conference on the Epistemology of Moral and Religious Belief

On September 6-8, 2012, Purdue University will host an interdisciplinary conference entitled “Challenges to Religious and Moral Belief: Disagreement and Evolution”. The conference will focus on three main challenges to religious and moral beliefs:

1. Widespread interpersonal disagreement among intellectual peers on religious and on moral topics provides reason to doubt these beliefs;

2. Belief-source disagreement on moral issues between commonsense moral intuitions and religious belief sources raises doubts about both methods of belief formation;

3. Evolutionary accounts of the origins of our religious and moral beliefs create doubts about these beliefs by undermining our confidence in the reliability of their sources.

For more information, go here.

New Spanish Translation of Sextus

The Spanish press Gredos has just published Juan Francisco Martos Montiel's translation of Sextus's Against the Dogmatists (to be precise, the five remaining books of this work). Information about the book can be found here. This is great news for those interested in Sextus (as a source for Pyrrhonism or for other ancient philosophies) in Spanish-speaking countries, since as far as I know this is the first Spanish translation of Against the Dogmatists.

Sképsis: New Issue

A new issue of the Brazilian journal Sképsis is now out. You can read the papers for free here.

Virtue Epistemology & Moral Fictionalism

The latest issue of Philosophy and Phenomenological Research contains an article and a review essay that deal directly or indirectly with skepticism:

John Greco, "A (Different) Virtue Epistemology."

Richard Joyce, Review Essay of M.E. Kalderon's Moral Fictionalism.

The papers can be accessed here.

New Paper on Pyrrho

The latest issue of the Italian ancient philosophy journal Elenchos (nº 32, 2011) features Christopher Beckwith's "Pyrrho's Logic: A Re-examination of Aristocles' Record of Timons' Account."

Conference on Academic Skepticism

Here's the program for the conference on Academic skepticism that will take place in Cyprus next week (thanks to Stéphane Marchand for sending me the information):

“Academic Skepticism: Philosophical Reflections on Knowledge and Rhetoric”

University of Nicosia

July 3rd, 14:00-17:00 – Room A009

(Chair: Sébastien Charles)

14:00: Opening of the Conference.

14:15-15:00: Ramón Román-Alcalá (Universidad de Córdoba), “The Demise of Plato’s Academy: Murder or Natural Causes?” 

15:00-15:45: Renata Zieminska (University of Szczecin), “Approval as weak assertion. The fallibilist and non-dialectical interpretation of Carneades’ skepticism.”

15:45-16:15: Coffee break.

July 4th, 9:00-12:30 – Room A009

(Chair: Sébastien Charles)

9:00-9:45 : Stéphane Marchand (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon), "Scepticisme et rhétorique, le cas de la Nouvelle Académie à partir du corpus cicéronien."

9:45-10:30: Marie-Dominique Couzinet (Université de Paris I), "Cicéron academicus dans l’œuvre de Pierre de La Ramée et Omer Talon."

10:30-11:00: Coffee break.

11:00-11:45: Nicolas Correard (Université de Nantes), "Le dialogue “more academicorum” en Espagne au XVIe siècle."

11:45-12:30: Gregor Kroupa (University of Ljublana), "Early Modern Encyclopedia and the Ordering of Knowledge."

July 4th, 14:00-17:30 – Room A009

(Chair: Nicolas Correard)

14:00-14h45: Joël Boudreault (Université de Sherbrooke), "Le passage du doute à la science: les Dissertations de 1693 de Simon Foucher."

14:45-15:30: Sébastien Charles (Université de Sherbrooke), "Les bornes du scepticisme académique: la question morale dans l’œuvre de Simon Foucher."

15:30-16:00: Coffee break.

16:00-16:45: Anton Matytsin (University of Pennsylvania), “Pyrrhonism or Academic Skepticism? Friedrich Wilhelm Bierling’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’ in the Commentatio de Pyrrhonismo Historico (1724).”

16:45-17:15: Round table and end of the Conference.

New Essay on Sextus

The volume Theoria, Praxis and the Contemplative Life after Plato and Aristotle (Brill, 2012), edited by T. Bénatouïl and M. Bonazzi, contains the following paper by Emidio Spinelli: "Beyond the Theoretikos Bios: Philosophy and Praxis in Sextus Empiricus".

Skepticism in Kant, Fichte & Hegel

I just found information about this new book:

Elena Ficara (ed.), Skeptizismus und Philosophie: Kant, Fichte, Hegel (Fichte-Studien 39). Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi, 2012.

For more info go here.

Appeal to Disagreement in Modern Philosophy

I have a request for readers of the blog: I'm looking for passages in modern authors which put forth disagreement-based skeptical arguments. I've found passages in Montaigne (of course), Descartes, and Hume. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Closure and Skepticism

The latest issue of Philosophers' Imprint features a paper dealing with skepticism and closure: Yuval Avnur's "Closure Reconsidered." It can be found here.

Two Reviews

Brigitte Pérez-Jean recently reviewed Casey Perin's The Demands of Reason (OUP, 2010) and Lorenzo Corti's Scepticisme et langage (Vrin, 2009) for the Revue Philosophique de Louvain. The reviews can be found here.

Sextus and Aristotle

On Saturday 2, the Université Paris-Sorbonne (1 rue Victor Cousin, Salle D. 690) will hold the conference "Permanence et mutations de l'aristotélisme dans les philosophies hellénistiques". At 14h30-15h30, Emidio Spinelli (Roma) will give the talk "Sextus Empiricus et l'ombre longue d'Aristote".

New Paper on Ancient Pyrrhonism

Angela Longo and Davide Del Forno recently edited Argument from Hypothesis in Ancient Philosophy, Elenchos 59 (Napoli: Bibliopolis, 2011). The volume contains Lorenzo Corti's "Scepticism and Hypothetical Method."

Norris on Skepticism

The latest issue of The Philosophical Forum features Christopher Norris' "How Not to Defeat Skepticism: Why Antirealism Won't Do the Trick". The paper can be found here.

New Issue of IJSS

A new issue of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism is now available online. You can check it out here.

Beginning next year, the number of issues per volume will increase from two to four.

Skepticism and Politics

A couple of days ago, I received information about the upcoming conference "Skepticism and Politics in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries," which will take place at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library in LA, on May 11-12. The conference is organized by Gianni Paganini (University of Piedmont) and John Christian Laursen, (University of California, Riverside).

This conference starts from the point that much of our thinking in both philosophy and politics today is an inheritance from the encounters by major philosophers such as Hobbes, Descartes, Hume, Smith, and Kant with the skeptical traditions. Their work, in turn, influenced a host of minor figures such as the libertines of the seventeenth century and the political activists of the time of the French Revolution. The skeptical foundations of Hobbesian political philosophy, Cartesianism, and the clandestine writers of the seventeenth century fed into the Humean empiricism, Smithian cosmopolitanism, and Kantian political idealism of the Enlightenment. Along the way, literature and historical writing tried to make sense of the implications of skepticism for political life. All put together, we will try to bring out the political implications of philosophical skepticism in the early modern period as the foundation for understanding its continuing political implications today. 

Registration Deadline: May 8, 2012. Registration Fees: $20 per person; UC faculty & staff, students with ID: no charge.

All students, UC faculty and staff may register via e-mail by sending their name, affiliation and phone number to c1718cs@humnet.ucla.

The registration form as well as the program can be found here.

Pyrrhonism and Inquiry

I'd like to let you know about the latest paper on Sextan Pyrrhonism by Filip Grgić (Zagreb): "Investigative and Suspensive Scepticism," European Journal of Philosophy. The article hasn't appeared in print yet, but it has already been published online here. If you're interested in Pyrrhonism, you should definitely read it.

Skepticism and Disagreement

This morning I arrived in Miami. On Tuesday, I'm giving a talk at UM in which I argue that radical skepticism is illegitimately dismissed out of hand in the current epistemological discussions of peer disagreement.

Sextus, Montaigne, and Hume

A couple of days ago, I received information about a new paper by Brian Ribeiro: "Sextus, Montaigne, Hume: Exercises in Skeptical Cartography," The Modern Schoolman 87 (2009): 7-34. The paper can be found here. If you don't have institutional access, you can contact the author for a copy.

Space in Hellenistic Philosophy

On April 12-14, the Universitá degli Studi di Napoli Federico II will hold the workshop "Space in Hellenistic Philosophy" (some papers will deal with modern philosophy, though). Richard Bett and Emidio Spinelli will talk about Pyrrhonian skepticism. For complete information, click on the image below.

Ancient Skepticism, Voluntarism, and Science

As I said back in January, on May 11th the University of Notre Dame will hold the workshop "Ancient Skepticism, Voluntarism, and Science". Speakers include Richard Bett, Otávio Bueno, Anjan Chakravartty, Casey Perin, and Michael Williams. If you are in the area, you should definitely attend. Complete information can be found by clicking on the image below (it will be better if you open it in a new window). Alternatively, send me an email and I'll send you the PDF file.

Dream Skepticism

Kristoffer Ahlstrom (Copenhagen) recently published "Dream Skepticism and the Conditionality Problem," Erkenntnis 75 (2011): 45-60. The paper, which critically discusses Sosa's arguments against dream skepticism, can be found here.

Talk on Sextan Pyrrhonism

The next meeting of the Northern Association for Ancient Philosophy will take place on 31st March-1st April 2012 at the University of Glasgow (Bridie Library, Glasgow University Union, 32 University Avenue). On Sunday, at 3.30-4.30, Mark Wildish (Durham) will present his “Sextus on Nature, Second Nature, and Subsistent Nature.” Here's the abstract:

The primary objection to the phenomenological reading of Sextan Pyrrhonism is that it appears to forgo any claim to a condition of rational constraint on experience imposed by a natural order independent of that experience. Conversely, if nature is to exercise a rational constraint on experience, then nature must be already rationally accessible to experience through impressions with intelligible content and therefore itself subject to a condition of rational constraint connatural to experience. From a Pyrrhonian perspective, then, the first question is whether anything at all can be made intelligible by phenomenal impressions on the one hand or subsistent nature on the other independent of the manner of their apprehension through everyday observance and common concepts. The answers to both questions, I suggest, are that both phenomenal experience and subsistent nature are subject to rational constraint through learned habitual competences which constitute acquired second nature, which qua nature is not itself subject to a further condition of independent justification.

Logos & Episteme

Two recent issues of Logos & Episteme feature papers on skepticism:

Vol. 2, Issue 2: Vincent Hendricks and John Symons, "Limiting Skepticism."

Vol. 2, Issue 3: Hamid Vahid, "Skepticism and Varieties of Transcendental Argument." In this issue, there is also a review of Scott Aikin's Epistemology and the Regress Problem.

These papers can be accessed for free here.

Closure on Skepticism

Sherrilyn Roush (Berkeley) recently published "Closure on Skepticism," The Journal of Philosophy 107 (2010): 243-56. The paper can be found here or on the Philosophy Documentation Center's website.

US in April

At the end of April, I'll spend ten days in Miami and DC. So if anyone would like to meet to discuss their current research on any topic related to skepticism, just drop me a line.

Philosophical Issues

The latest issue of Philosophical Issues (2011) contains two papers dealing with skepticism:

Rogers Albritton, "On a Form of Skeptical Argument from Possibility."

Heather Logue, "The Skeptic and the Naïve Realist."

Talk on Sextus

Tomorrow at 6 pm, Emidio Spinelli (Roma) will give a talk on Sextus at the Université d'Aix-Marseille: "Rhétorique et langage: l'usage commun de la vie chez Sextus Empiricus."

The venue is: Salle des professeurs (deuxième étage), Université d'Aix-Marseille, Centre des Lettres et Sciences humaines, 29 avenue Robert-Schuman, 13621 Aix-en-Provence cedex 1.

The Man Born Blind

Some of you might be interested in this recent book by Kate Tunstall (Oxford):

Blindness and Enlightenment: An Essay. With a new translation of Diderot's Letter on the Blind and La Mothe Le Vayer's Of a Man Born Blind (Continuum, 2011).

For more information, go here.



Dictionnaire des Philosophes Antiques

The two volumes of tome V of the Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques (CNRS Éditions), edited by Richard Goulet, has just come out. The second volume (pp. 1749-71) contains an entry on Pyrrho by Brigitte Pérez-Jean. More information can be found here.

Epistemological Disjunctivism

A couple of days ago, I found out that Duncan Pritchard's book Epistemological Disjunctivism is coming out with OUP next July. Among other things, he offers a response to radical skepticism -- as one should expect, given that disjunctivism is a form of naïve or direct realism. More information can be found here.

Evolutionary Debunking of Morality

Those working on ethical skepticism might be interested in this paper:

Christopher Toner, "Evolution, Naturalism, and the Worthwhile: A Critique of Richard Joyce's Evolutionary Debunking of Morality," Metaphilosophy 42 (2011): 520-46.

The article can be accessed here.

Festschrift for Jonathan Barnes

The volume Episteme, etc.: Essays in Honour of Jonathan Barnes, edited by Ben Morison and Katerina Ierodiakonou (OUP, 2012), contains two papers dealing with ancient skepticism:

Julia Annas, "Ancient Scepticism and Ancient Religion."

Gail Fine, "Concepts and Inquiry: Sextus and the Epicureans."

More information about the book can be found here.

Gorgias in Sextus

A couple of days ago, I discovered this recent article in Italian:

Roberta Ioli, “Gorgia scettico? Una riflessione sulla presenza del sofista nelle opere di Sesto Empirico,” Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 152 (2009): 331-57.

In addition, two years ago she published an edition and translation of Gorgias' On What Is Not:

Gorgia di Leontini, Su ciò che non è, Testo greco, traduzione e commento. Georg Olms, 2010.

She is currenly working on an edition of the fragments and testimonia relating to Gorgias, which will be published by Carocci. Concerning ancient skepticism, she is also the author of these two papers:

- “Sextus Latinus. Sesto Empirico nelle traduzioni latine moderne,” Dianoia 4 (1999): 57-97.

- “Agôgê and Related Concepts in Sextus Empiricus,” Siculorum Gymnasium 56 (2003): 401-28.

New Papers on Hume's Skepticism

Issue 52 (2011) of the Spanish journal Δαιμων. Revista Internacional de Filosofía is devoted to Hume. There are at least four papers dealing with his skepticism, among which is Chris Laursen's "David Hume on Custom and Habit and Living with Skepticism." The PDF files of this issue are not yet available on the journal's website, but you can take a look at the table of contents here.

Forthcoming in IJSS

New papers and reviews that will appear in forthcoming issues of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism have now been published online here.

Conference on Religious Diversity

I think that the following information will be of interest to those working on religious disagreement and skepticism:

2012 Conference of the
Australasian Philosophy of Religion Association (APRA)

Conference theme: Religious Diversity and Its Philosophical Significance

Keynote speakers:

Richard Kearney (Boston College)

Marilyn McCord Adams (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Kevin Hart (University of Virginia & Australian Catholic University)

Constant Mews (Monash University)

Dates: Friday June 22 – Sunday June 24, 2012

Venue: Australian Catholic University, Melbourne campus (Victoria Parade, Fitzroy)

Please submit a title, a short abstract (of up to 200 words), and a brief bio to Nick.Trakakis@acu.edu.au. Proposals relating to the above conference theme are particularly welcome, though the organising committee also welcomes papers on any topic in the philosophy of religion or philosophical theology. Abstracts are due 10 February 2012.

McGrath & King on Skepticism about Moral Knowledge

A couple of years ago, Sarah McGrath (Princeton) published "Moral Disagreement and Moral Expertise," Oxford Studies in Metaethics 3 (2008): 87-107 (the paper is available here). A recent issue of the Journal of Philosophical Research contains a debate between her and Nathan King (Whitworth):

King, "McGrath on Moral Knowledge," Journal of Philosophical Research 36 (2011): 219-33.

McGrath, "Reply to King," Journal of Philosophical Research 36 (2011): 235-41.

King, "Rejoinder to McGrath," Journal of Philosophical Research 36 (2011): 243-46.

These three pieces are available on the Philosophy Documentation Center's website.

External World Skepticism

Bredo Johnsen (Houston) recently published "The Argument for Radical Skepticism concerning the External World," Journal of Philosophy 106 (2009): 679-93. The paper can be found here or on the Philosophy Documentation Center's website.

Upcoming Workshop on Ancient Skepticism

On May 11th, the University of Notre Dame will hold a workshop on ancient skepticism, voluntarism, and science. Confirmed speakers include Richard Bett, Otávio Bueno, Anjan Chakravartty, Casey Perin, and Michael Williams. I will post more information as it becomes available.

Northwestern Brown Bag Talk

The following information might be of interest to those in the Chicago area:

On January 11th, at 12:00 pm, David Alexander (Iowa) will give a talk titled “The Problem of Respecting Higher-Order Doubt,” for the Epistemology Brown Bag series at Northwestern University. Here is the abstract:

“This paper argues that higher-order doubts generate epistemic dilemmas. One has a higher-order doubt with regards to P insofar as one justifiably withholds belief as to what attitude towards P is justified. That is, one does not know whether one is justified in believing, disbelieving, or withholding belief in P. Using the resources provided by Richard Feldman’s recent discussion of how to respect one’s evidence, I argue that if one has a higher-order doubt with regards to P, then one is not justified in having any attitude towards P. Otherwise put, no attitude towards the doubted proposition respects one’s higher-order doubt. I consider several responses to this problem, and argue that none succeed. I conclude that we must simply accept this particularly corrosive form of doubt as a part of our cognitive lives.”

Roundtable on Greek Skepticism

The latest issue (2011) of the French journal Philosophie Antique contains four papers presented at a roundtable on two recent books on ancient skepticism that took place at the École Normale Supérieure (Paris) in November 2010. The books in question are Lorenzo Corti's Scepticisme et langage (Vrin, 2009) and Anna Maria Ioppolo's La testimonianza di Sesto Empirico sull'Accademia scettica (Bibliopolis, 2009). Stéphane Marchand and Thomas Benatouïl offer critical discussions of the books, followed by responses by the authors.