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This chapter argues that if intended coreference involves picking out the same referent, the same extension in the world of discourse, then it does not describe the class of coconstruals that...

This chapter argues that discussing abilities, and indeed dispositions and attributes of all kinds, the philosopher must be constantly on his guard against the temptation to hypostatize them, that is...

Innate and cultural programming act to a large degree by creating predispositions, rather than fixed outcomes. Predispositions vary in different domains of life. There are both innate and cultural...

It is desirable to expel absences from the ontology. Phil Dowe's account of preventions and omissions (which involve absences) indicates that they supervene on actual causal states of affairs....

Accidie, depression, and dejection seem to be psychological phenomena that are best characterized as cases in which an agent has no motivation to pursue what he or she judges to be good or valuable....

This chapter sketches a theoretical and empirical framework that sheds light on how the occurrence of core weak-willed actions may be accounted for, if they occur. On the theoretical side, the...

This chapter develops and further criticizes the foundationalist conception of intentionality. The focus is on a cluster of theses defended by David Lewis concerning singular or de re thought, the...

The problem of the explanatory gap is introduced. First, a survey of various theories of scientific explanation reveals that deductive inference plays a crucial role in explanation. Then it is argued...

Actions causally determined by psychological forces can be free actions, if they are appearances (as “phenomena”) in the sensible world of what we (as “noumena”) do freely in the intelligible world....

Maxims are traditionally understood as major premises of the practical syllogism, or of practical reasoning. In maxims, objects to be brought about by action are represented as “good”. As rationalist...