Category: Epistemology

On Authorial Intent

Post author By jon
Post date May 14, 2018

This was originally written a comment on an episode of the wonderful Partially Examined Life (“A podcast by those who were once considering doing philosophy for a living, and then thought better of it”) – specifically Ep. 189 on Authorial Intent (Barthes, Foucault, Beardsley, et al).

Thanks guys for the great conversation: you do your usual wonderful job of presenting compelling readings for positions I am not particularly sympathetic to. In the same way as Robert Williams’ comment on part one – and as alluded to by Wes during towards the end – my general impulse is to bemoan the baleful influence some of these have had on the practice of criticism. I think you made good points on the potential breadth of “intention” and how it could be broader than the conscious. What I found curious though is that the survey (while seeming to be sufficiently broad to take in all of “art”) seems to leave out some very specifically intentional works.

This particularly chimed with me as I read Brian Boyd’s wonderful criticism on Nabokov’s “Pale Fire” (a previous Phi Fic read!) – “The Magic of Artistic Discovery”. Now Wes and Mark described several scenarios where the artist either (i) deliberately uncouples intention from the creative process, (ii) uses free association as a source of raw material which they actively shape into the product or (iii) act as readers of their own work, and create meaning therein. I don’t doubt that this is a major origin in many types of works. But I would argue that in writing prose and poetry, it is not a necessary component.

Epistemology Philosophy Philosophy of Science

Materialist science?

Post author By jon
Post date March 2, 2017

This is a reply I wrote in 2017 as part of an interesting discussion with a colleague concerning whether idealism, or anti-materialism, had any place in a naturalistic philosophy of science.

Even without going as far as scepticism surrounding causation or induction, there are plenty of problems if we consider the body of science to merely be a vast collection of perceptions. My main point of interest here – and one which I think has real relevance to data science – is the different between “knowledge” and “understanding”.

But I wouldn’t be too quick to write off Berkeley’s idealism (or anti-materialism, if you will).

Backgammon Epistemology Philosophy Philosophy of Science

The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete

Post author By jon
Post date April 10, 2015

Do qualitative and quantitative changes in our capacity to gather and process (big) scientific data change the way we do science? Might they actually usurp the scientific method itself? In fact, is there anything more to the scientific method than just analysing data?

This is a discussion of an article that appeared in wired The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete.

To me the article seems to be a little speculative – and gives a sense of philosophical deja vu.

Books Epistemology Ethics/Metaethics Philosophy Rand

Being “reasonable”: what’s worth salvaging from Rand’s epistemology?

Post author By jon
Post date July 22, 2014

Given the critical tone of my last posts, the main motive for my overview of the Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology would seem to be scorn. On the negative side, as well as a the expected deep inconsistencies I was genuinely surprised to find how many straight-up contradictions I found when I started to tabulate Rand’s claims against other types of philosophical system: a particularly perplexing one is her attitude to measurement, which she simultaneously suggests is unnecessary and the only way essential characteristics can be compared.

But I maintain that we need to give credit when it’s due, and try to find the sensible equivalents of Rand’s positions – she is after all mimicking the greats.

Epistemology Ethics/Metaethics Philosophy Rand

Amateur philosophical background: the “epistemology”

Post author By jon
Post date July 22, 2014

“Mathematics is the science of measurement” – Ayn Rand, An Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology

Before I jump (or sink) into The Fountainhead, I thought I’d put together an (amateurish) primer on Ayn Rand’s philosophy in two parts. The first will deal with what she calls her “epistemology” – something that is usually understood as a means of knowing. The second will deal with the ethics. In each case, I’ve taken most of Rand’s material from her own words – if you want to follow along here, this is all taken from her book, An Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. I’m also indebted to the wonderful Partially Examined Life podcast’s episode on Rand – I’d highly recommend this for a professional touch – and the rest of their episodes too, for that matter.

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