Browsing Philosophy by Title
Now showing items 63-82 of 134
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Igniting the Deontic Consequence Relation: Dilemmas, Trumping, and the Naturalistic Fallacy
(University of Waterloo, 2007-09-27)In this work, Kurt Holukoff examines three formal approaches to representing valid inferences in reasoning regarding obligation and its cognates: deontic logic. He argues that an appropriate formalization of deontic logic ... -
In Defense of Moral Responsibility Skepticism
(University of Waterloo, 2015-10-02)Moral responsibility skeptics have often focused on problems involving determinism in order to defend their position. I argue that this defense of moral responsibility skepticism is misplaced given that what really matters ... -
In Defense of the Systems Reply
(University of Waterloo, 2010-09-29)In John Searle’s Minds, Brains, and Programs, he argues against the possibility of a digital computer capable of understanding. In particular, Searle puts forward the Chinese room thought experiment, which appears to ... -
Individual Human Rights: Reconciling Rights with Value Pluralism
(University of Waterloo, 2007-10-01)Abstract: This thesis examines the foundations of individual human rights. The general thought that informs the discussion is that rights and values are two different kinds of moral discourse. Hence, any attempt to simply ... -
Inferential Role Semantics for Natural Language
(University of Waterloo, 2017-08-22)The most general goal of semantic theory is to explain facts about language use. In keeping with this goal, I introduce a framework for thinking about linguistic expressions in terms of (a) the inferences they license, (b) ... -
An Inquiry into Mental Variation
(University of Waterloo, 1995)Although there are both common and specialised senses of the term variation, (the OED lists dozens) there seems to be no well defined use of this term in philosophy. The main task of my thesis is to demonstrate that ... -
Intentionality as Methodology
(University of Waterloo, 2012-01-25)In this dissertation, I examine the role that intentional descriptions play in our scientific study of the mind. Behavioural scientists often use intentional language in their characterization of cognitive systems, making ... -
Knowledge, First Aid and the Moral Requirements of Rescue
(University of Waterloo, 2012-09-27)In cases involving the rescue of people in need of immediate medical care, it is often thought that the responsibility to save the lives of the imperilled falls to advanced professionals, such as paramedics, doctors, nurses, ... -
Knowledge, Justice, and Subjects with Cognitive or Developmental Disability
(University of Waterloo, 2019-09-20)This thesis includes four research papers, each devoted to a topic in philosophy of cognitive disability and its intersection with other areas of philosophy. Three focus on issues of cognitive or developmental disability ... -
Learning More and Knowing Less: Big Data, Spurious Correlations, and the Problem of Ignorance
(University of Waterloo, 2022-09-28)There are few things we can name that surpass big data’s boon for our empirical endeavours. Big data promises an ever-growing source of data that could be readily accessed by researchers in virtually any field of study. ... -
Logic In Context: An essay on the contextual foundations of logical pluralism
(University of Waterloo, 2013-10-02)The core pluralist thesis about logic, broadly construed, is the claim that two or more logics are correct. In this thesis I discuss a uniquely interesting variant of logical pluralism that I call logical contextualism. ... -
Logic in Pictures: An Examination of Diagrammatic Representations, Graph Theory and Logic
(University of Waterloo, 1994)This thesis explores the various forms of reasoning that are associated with diagrams. It does this by a logical analysis of diagrammatic symbols. The thesis is divided into three sections dealing with different aspects ... -
Mathematical Actualism: An Alternative Realist Philosophy of Mathematics
(University of Waterloo, 2022-09-23)The present thesis argues for a philosophy of mathematics, herein dubbed Actualism, which is contrasted with several existing views on the philosophy of mathematics. It begins with a brief introduction to the classical ... -
Mature Minor Eligibility for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): An Ethical Analysis
(University of Waterloo, 2021-08-24)Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) was legalized in Canada on June 17, 2016, following a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision, Carter v. Canada (2015). Currently, the law controversially denies three groups access to ... -
The Measure Of Meaning
(University of Waterloo, 2007-09-27)There exists a broad inclination among those who theorize about mental representation to assume that the meanings of linguistic units, like words, are going to be identical to, and work exactly like, mental representations, ... -
Merleau-Ponty and the Preconceptions of Objective Thinking
(University of Waterloo, 2007-01-18)Maurice Merleau-Ponty thinks that many classical theories of perception, especially reductionism, are influenced by the objective and the scientific form of thinking. Such influence is expressed in two preconceptions. The ... -
Miracle Reports, Moral Philosophy, and Contemporary Science
(University of Waterloo, 2008-10-22)In the case of miracle reports, David Hume famously argued that there is something about "the very nature of the fact" to which the testimony testifies which contains the seeds of the testimony's destruction as credible ... -
A Misleading Tendency
(University of Waterloo, 2023-08-28)Communication is a powerful tool. We use it to share information, express how we feel, coordinate in cooperative endeavors, and so much more. However, we regularly use standard communicative devices like speech and gesture ... -
Moral Encroachment
(University of Waterloo, 2011-10-28)Can practical factors influence a subject's position to know? Traditionally this question has been answered in the negative. A subject's position to know proposition p is not thought to improve merely because the subject ... -
Moral Fictionalism and Moral Reasons
(University of Waterloo, 2008-08-28)One major problem with moral discourse is that we tend treat moral utterances as if they represent propositions. But complex metaphysical problems arise when we try to describe the nature of the moral facts that correspond ...