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.