Lecture on Maimon

As part of the Maimonides Lectures on Scepticism, on July 5, 2021, at 18:00 CEST, Jelscha Schmid (Basel) will give the lecture “Beyond Scepticism—Maimon’s Rational Dogmatism and the Method of Fictions.” More information can be found here.

You can join the meeting via Zoom: here. Meeting-ID: 983 8297 8498. Passcode: 33776553.

Skepticism Lecture Series: Session VI

Session VI: Thursday, 24th June 2021, 12:00-13:30 US Central Time (= 17:00-18:30 GMT).

Speaker: Michael Vollmer (Universität Innsbruck).

Title: “From Logical Nihilism to Logical Skepticism.”

Abstract: Logical nihilism is one of the newest installments in the debate about the philosophy of logic. According to this position, there are no laws of logic and the only legitimate consequence relation is an empty one. In my talk, I will argue that the points in favor of logical nihilism should rather be seen as an argument towards logical skepticism in posing a significant challenge to any positive account of logic. Thus, my aim is threefold: First, I am going to show where the justification provided for logical nihilism is lacking. Second, by drawing on Sinnott-Armstrong's ideas on the connection between moral nihilism and moral skepticism, I will provide an analogous line of thought for the case of logic. Last, I will challenge a direct, abductivist response to the possibility of nihilism and draw some general conclusions for the epistemology of theories of logic.

To join the Zoom meeting, go here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81886509602.

Workshop on Disagreement

On June 18-19, there will be an online workshop on “Ethics of Conversation and Disagreement.” Complete information, including the program, can be found here. To register, you need to contact the organizers. But if you don't get a reply soon enough, send me an email and I'll provide you with the info to join the two Zoom meetings.

Issue 11.2 of IJSS

The second issue of volume 11 (2021) of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism has been published and can be found here. It is devoted to a symposium on Genia Schönbaumsfeld’s The Illusion of Doubt (OUP, 2016), with contributions by Danièle Moyal-Sharrock, Chris Ranalli, and Michael Williams.

Buddhism & Pyrrhonism

The past few months have been quite difficult, and so I haven't been able to post much. But I think I'll be able to post more information about events and publications in the upcoming weeks. Right now, I've just found out about the following intriguing talk, by Eli Franco (Senior Research Fellow at the Maimonides Centre For Advanced Studies):

Date: Wednesday, June 9, at 5.15–6.45 pm Central European Summer Time.

Title: “Buddhism and Skepticism.”

Abstract: Buddhist philosophy, and especially Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka, has often been interpreted as professing Skepticism with strong affinities to Pyrrhonism (e.g., by Grenier 1970, McEviley 1982, Matilal 1986, Hayes 1994, Burton 2004, Kuzminski 2007, 2020, Dreyfus 2011, Garfield 2011, Mills 2016, 2018, 2020 and others). I will argue in this lecture that this interpretation is, at least partly, based on a misunderstanding of Nāgārjuna’s dialectic.

The event, hosted by the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies of Universität Hamburg, will take place on Zoom. If you want to attend, you need to register via Eventbrite.