Dear all,
At the next meeting of the SMG we will welcome Distinguished Professor Jonathan Schaffer (Rutgers University) who will speak on 'Heavy Ontology, Light Ideology' (abstract below). As usual, it will be on Wednesday (the 17th), from 4.30 to 6.00pm in the Philosophy Faculty Board Room. The talk should last about 45 minutes followed by questions and discussion. All graduate students are welcome. After the meeting we will have dinner at a nearby restaurant. If you wish to join us (at your own expense), please email me ASAP, and definitely before midday Tuesday. A full list of speakers for Michaelmas term is available here: http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/seminars-phil/SMG [1] Abstract: I think that there is a serious ontological question as to whether the world hosts things such as protons, plums, and planets, but that there is no serious ideological question as to whether the world prefers us to talk about such things using '∧' and '¬', or '∨' and '¬', or '↑'. I thus uphold heavy ontology plus light ideology. So I take issue with Hirsch, who argues that heavy ontology falls to quantifier variance, and with Sider, who replies to Hirsch that heavy ontology can be saved but only via heavy ideology (in particular, a worldly preference for a distinguished quantifier). My argument runs (1) quantifier variance is best understood as a thesis about variance in the domain over which the quantifier ranges, (2) heavy ontology can be saved (pace Hirsch) by positing that the world provides a distinguished domain, and (3) saving heavy ontology puts no pressure on ideology (pace Sider) since the domain is not part of the language at all, but rather an object positing by the interpreter in modeling the language. In short: heavy ontology needs a distinguished domain not heavy ideology. I hope to see many of you there! NATHAN HAWKINS PhD student in Philosophy Cambridge University Links: ------ [1] http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/seminars-phil/SMG _____________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the CamPhilEvents mailing list, or change your membership options, please visit the list information page: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEvents List archive: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEventsArchive Please note that CamPhilEvents doesn't accept email attachments. See the list information page for further details and suggested alternatives.
