American Philosophical Quarterly articles from April 1994

American Philosophical Quarterly archives from April 1994

Emergent properties.
April 1, 1994... In attempting to develop an ontology adequate to account for some of the more puzzling features of the natural world, several philosophers and scientists in the past century have tried to articulate a via media between the extremes of radical...

Forgiveness.
April 1, 1994... MORAL philosophers have largely ignored the concept of forgiveness, certainly in comparison to the attention they give the related concept of punishment(1)--and if a sociology or psychology of philosophy is ever written, this contrast will...

Three kinds of incommensurability thesis.
April 1, 1994... I. INTRODUCTION In recent decades, several philosophers have advanced accounts of theoretical and practical inquiry within which a central role is played by the claim that rival and incommensurable forms of such inquiry exist.(1) The...

The concept of autonomy.
April 1, 1994... I. INTRODUCTION THE concept of "autonomy" has come to assume a place of great importance in recent discussions of practical and applied ethics. Since the writings of Immanuel Kant, autonomy has become nearly synonymous with human...

Does acceptance entail belief?
April 1, 1994... UNTIL recently the answer to our title question would have been taken to be an obvious "Yes," for to disagree would invite the citation of Moore's Paradox. To say "It will rain tomorrow, but I believe that it won't rain" is to say what is...

Innocence.
April 1, 1994... In a criminal trial, the task of the prosecution is to prove that the defendant committed a particular act, and that he did so without any excuse that would render him guiltless. If the prosecution fails in this effort, the jury is supposed...

A moral argument for undertaking theism.
April 1, 1994... I IT is clear, in spite of what Machiavelli is saying here, that we ought to aspire to become as good as we can be. And it is better for us to be the sort of person who consistently performs good deeds joyfully--with a lively, hopeful...

Necessary beings.
April 1, 1994... ARE there necessary beings whose existence is necessitated by their very concept? Opinions differ. Anselm, Descartes and Leibniz answer in the affirmative, while Hume, Kant and Wittgenstein answer in the negative. Yet anyone responding to...