Thursday Seminar Today

[Nuhu Osman Attah]

Hello Everyone, 

Later today at 3:30pm, Josh Pearson will give a talk in the RSSS Auditorium (room 1.28). Title and abstract are below.

Other events in the day include: 

- A grads-only pre-talk session with the speaker in room 6.68 at 2:00pm;

- Afternoon tea in the School of Philosophy tearoom at 3:00pm;

- Drinks at Badger & Co at 5:00pm;

- Dinner at Bistro Nguyen's at 6:30pm, half-subsidized for grad students (put your name down here if you would like to join).

Title: Counterfactual Skepticism Reloaded (and Refuted?)

Abstract: According to Counterfactual Skepticism, we know next to none of the counterfactuals we assert in ordinary life. The most influential argument for this conclusion rests on premises that are now widely disputed. Here, I’ll outline a new argument for Counterfactual Skepticism that does not depend on these controversial premises. However, (unlike some…) I’m not a skeptic! So, I want to know how best to resist it. A central fault line in the literature on counterfactuals concerns the status of the controversial principle ‘Conditional Excluded Middle' (CEM). I’ll sketch two novel responses to my new argument for skepticism, tailored to each side of this divide. The first–friendly to those who reject CEM–offers a sparse metaphysics at the cost of a revisionary logic for counterfactuals. The second–friendly to those who accept CEM–preserves a conservative logic at the cost of a bloated metaphysics. While I lean towards the latter view, I'm not fully decided on which is best. (Perhaps you can help!)

[Note: All visitors (faculty, graduate students, undergraduates) are welcome to join for dinner. Faculty dine at a rate of ~$30.00 AUD, and graduate students and undergraduates at a rate of roughly $15.00 AUD.]

Best,

Osman