Suspension, Equipollence, and Inquiry

My paper "Suspension, Equipollence, and Inquiry: A Reply to Wieland" has just been published in Analytic Philosophy. It can be found here. If you want the PDF of the published version, let me know.

Fellowships on Jewish Skepticism

There is a call for applications for Four Junior Fellowships at the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies – Jewish Scepticism, at the University of Hamburg. Two fellowships are for PhD candidates and two for Post-Docs, in each case for a period of six months, either during the fall or spring semester 2015-16. The application deadline for the fall 2015 semester fellowship is June 30, 2015. The application deadline for the spring 2016 semester fellowship is December 31, 2015. For more information, contact Bill Rebiger at bill.rebiger@uni-hamburg.de.

Conference on Wittgenstein and Skepticism

The Universidade Estadual de Campinas-UNICAMP will hold its X Colóquio Nacional/VII Colóquio Internacional Wittgenstein, “Wittgenstein-Knowledge and Scepticism,” on October 14-16, 2015. The organizers accept contributions in Portuguese, English, or French. To submit your paper, send an abstract of 200-500 words to coloquiowittgenstein@gmail.com and fill out the on-line enrollment form here. Make sure to include the following additional information: name of the author(s), title of the paper, institutional affiliation and status (masters or doctoral student, lecturer/researcher). For complete information about the conference, go here.

Workshop on Defeaters

On June 12th, from 9:30 to 17:45, the University of Cologne will host the workshop "Defeaters, Higher-Order Evidence, and the Limits of Defeat." You can find the program here. Participation is free. For registration and further information, contact Thomas Grundmann at grundmann-sekretariat @ uni-koeln.de.

Sextus and the Problem of the Criterion

Issue 214 (January/April 2015) of the Bollettino della Società Filosofica Italiana includes Massimo Catapano's article, "Sesto Empirico, Roderick Chisholm e il problema del criterio."

Infinity and Infinite Regress Arguments

The Department of Classics at Durham University is organizing the workshop "Infinity and Infinite Regress Arguments in Ancient Philosophy," which will take place on July 13th-14th, 2015. The organizers welcome abstracts of up to 500 words for presentations up to 30 minutes on the topics of infinity and infinite regress arguments, primarily, but not exclusively, in ancient philosophy. They are interested in pieces on specific texts, arguments or thinkers, as well as synoptic pieces looking at a range of material. Please send abstracts (prepared for blind review) or questions to: Matthew Ducombe (mbduncombe@gmail.com) by May 22th.

Issue 5.2 of IJSS

Issue 5.2 of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism is now available online. It is a special issue on Ancient Skepticism, Voluntarism, and Science, edited by Anjan Chakravartty. Contributors include Richard Bett, Otávio Bueno, A. Chakravarty, Casey Perin, and Michael Williams. The papers can be found here.

Evolutionary Debunking Arguments

Particularly in the past few years, there has been an intense debate about the evolutionary debunking of moral realism. The latest issue of Analysis includes a new contribution to this debate: Andreas Mogensen's "Evolutionary Debunking Arguments and the Proximate/Ultimate Distinction," which can be found here.

Sextus and Politics

The latest issue of the Italian journal Elenchos (35/2, 2014) contains Stéphane Marchand's "Sextus Empiricus: les effets politiques de la suspension du jugement." It will soon be available on this site; in the meantime here is the abstract: "The aim of this paper is to examine the political implications of Sextus Empiricus’ neo-Pyrrhonism by considering two fundamental texts (PH I 23-24; AM XI 162-165). Both texts are usually interpreted as endorsing political conformism insofar as Sextus allegedly claims that one should follow the laws and customs of one's community. But it seems possible to interpret the reference to laws and customs merely as a description of what humans in fact do. What Sextus would therefore recommend is to abandon any theoretical approach to politics in favor of a pragmatic one."

Sextus and Ataraxia

Those interested in Sextus Empiricus's Pyrrhonism might want to read this new paper by Svavar Svavarsson: "The Skeptic's Luck: On Fortuitous Tranquillity." In E. K. Emilsson, A. Maravela, and M. Skoie (eds.), Paradeigmata: Studies in Honour of Øivind Andersen, 177-186. Athens: Norwegian Institute at Athens, 2014.

IJSS in Philosopher's Index

The International Journal for the Study of Skepticism is now indexed in the Philosopher's Index. It could already be found on PhilPapers and SCOPUS.

Etiology, Debunking, and Religious Epistemology

On March 16-17, the New Insights and Directions for Religious Epistemology project at Oxford University will host the workshop, "Etiology, Debunking, and Religious Epistemology," focusing on the etiology of belief and debunking arguments and their relevance to questions in the philosophy of religion or analytic theology. To register, please send an email to insights@philosophy.ox.ac.uk. Further information can be found here.

Skepticism and Political Thought

I've just come across this book edited by Chris Laursen and Gianni Paganini: Skepticism and Political Thought in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (University of Toronto Press, 2015). Complete information can be found here.

Online-First Articles at IJSS

A bunch of new online-first articles and reviews are available at the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism.