Epistemology

The Doomsday Argument, Self-Sampling Assumption, and Self-Indication Assumption are wrong, but induction is alive and well.

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I have just completed a revised and expanded version (80 pages, double-spaced) of my paper, “Past Longevity as Evidence for the Future”; it is available online here. (Update, 7/31/2011: This work is now available as an eBook; see here. Update, 5/8/2016: This expanded work is now available as a paperback book on Amazon. See here.) […]

Epistemology

Apollo 11

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Today, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of man’s landing on the Moon, I read Ayn Rand on “Apollo 11” (The Objectivist, September 1969). Here are some excerpts: The meaning of the sight [the launch] lay in the fact that when those dark-red wings of fire flared open, one knew that one was not looking at […]

Epistemology

My Refutation of the Doomsday Argument

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It has been more than a month since my paper, “Past Longevity as Evidence for the Future,” appeared in Philosophy of Science. (Update, 6/29/2011: Read about my revised and expanded paper, now available online.) The most important parts of the paper present my own positive ideas on an objective means for using knowledge of the […]

Epistemology

Obama Nominates Supreme Court Empathizer

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The Epistemology Behind this Quintessential Travesty of Justice Yesterday President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. That Obama would nominate such an individual could be inferred from this passage from Obama’s remarks on Justice Souter on May 1st: Now, the process of selecting someone to replace Justice Souter is among my most serious […]

Epistemology

My Paper Published in Philosophy of Science

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My paper, “Past Longevity as Evidence for the Future,” appears in the new issue (Vol. 76, No. 1) of Philosophy of Science, a leading mainstream academic journal of philosophy. The abstract and acknowledgment—including my acknowledgment of the epistemology of Ayn Rand—are here, on the Web site of the University of Chicago Press. (Update, 6/29/2011: Read […]

Epistemology

Similarity and Difference

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Much has been written, in the past few weeks, on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s report entitled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” Some bloggers, including me, held off on writing about this news immediately because the report is so irrational that it seemed like a spoof […]