politicus

Today, we are striking against censorship. Join the largest online protest in history: tell Congress to stop this bill now! Write Congress Now! Not In The US? Petition The State Department. I am writing to you as a voter in your district. I urge you to oppose the Senate version of S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act. The PROTECT IP Act is

The title essay of Quine's The Ways of Paradox was originally published in the Scientific American 206 (April 1962). Retrodigitized back issues of the Scientific American are now available (for free, it seems) on the website of Nature.  You can now read Quine's classic essay in its full original glory, complete with neat illustrations such as this one of the Barber Paradox:

Also cool: vintage ads for nerdy things like scientific instruments, computers, and jobs at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from the 1960's.

Plenty more where that came from, e.g., Tarski's article "Truth and Proof", Nagel and Newman on "Gödel's Proof", Davis and Hersh on "Hilbert's 10th Problem", Paul Cohen and Hersh on "Non-Cantorian Set Theory", and John Hopcroft on "Turing Machines".

The title essay of Quine's The Ways of Paradox was originally published in the Scientific American 206 (April 1962). Retrodigitized back issues of the Scientific American are now available (for free, it seems) on the website of Nature.  You can now read Quine's classic essay in its full original glory, complete with neat illustrations such as this one of the Barber Paradox:

Also cool: vintage ads for nerdy things like scientific instruments, computers, and jobs at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from the 1960's.

Plenty more where that came from, e.g., Tarski's article "Truth and Proof", Nagel and Newman on "Gödel's Proof", Davis and Hersh on "Hilbert's 10th Problem", Paul Cohen and Hersh on "Non-Cantorian Set Theory", and John Hopcroft on "Turing Machines".

The Nation | Nathan Schneider | December 19, 2011 The anarchists’ way of operating was changing our very idea of what politics could be in the first place. This was exhilarating. Some occupiers told me they wanted to take it home with them, to organize assemblies in their own communities. It’s no accident, therefore, that when occupations spread around the country, the horizontal assemblies

Thanks to Daniel Weller

Thanks to Daniel Weller

http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=853671Cut and paste this code, and spread it far and wide as you can.http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=853671

Ernst Specker died on December 10, in Zurich.  He is most well-known for his work on Quine's New Foundations and the Kochen-Specker Theorem in quantum mechanics. He made significant contributions to many other areas of logic, as well as algebra, topology, and combinatorics.

Specker's MacTutor biography.

Ernst Specker died on December 10, in Zurich.  He is most well-known for his work on Quine's New Foundations and the Kochen-Specker Theorem in quantum mechanics. He made significant contributions to many other areas of logic, as well as algebra, topology, and combinatorics.

Specker's MacTutor biography.

Follow link for the mouseover text!

Follow link for the mouseover text!

Two interesting new entries in the Stanford Encyclopedia:

• Philosophy of Linguistics, by Barbara C. Scholz, Francis Jeffry Pelletier, and Geoffrey K. Pullum
• Montague Semantics, by Theo M. V. Janssen

Two interesting new entries in the Stanford Encyclopedia:

• Philosophy of Linguistics, by Barbara C. Scholz, Francis Jeffry Pelletier, and Geoffrey K. Pullum
• Montague Semantics, by Theo M. V. Janssen

The first annual conference of the Society for the Study of the History of Analytical Philosophy will be held at McMaster University, Hamilton (Canada) 24-26 May 2012.

Invited Speakers

Michael Friedman (Stanford University) Paolo Mancosu (University of California, Berkeley) Thomas Uebel (University of Manchester)

Canadian Student Presenters Travel Bursaries

SSHAP will be offering up to 10 travel bursaries to Canadian student presenters. The bursaries will cover transportation to as well as accommodation and subsistence in Hamilton. Bursaries will be awarded on the basis of need and scientific merit.

Call for Papers

SSHAP invites submissions for its 2012 annual conference. Paper submissions in all areas of the history of analytic philosophy are welcome. A selection of papers from the conference will be published in a special volume of the Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: November 30th, 2011.

Submission Instructions

Authors are requested to submit their papers electronically according to the following guidelines:

1) Papers should be prepared for blind refereeing, 2) put into PDF file format, and 3) sent as an email attachment to the address given below -- where 4) the subject line of the submission email should include the key-phrase "SSHAP submission", and 5) the body text of the email message should constitute a cover page for the submission by including i) return email address, ii) author's name, iii) affiliation, iv) paper title, and v) short abstract.

Time allowed for presentation is 60 minutes (including discussion). We recommend that paper be no longer than 4000 words.

Electronic submissions should be sent to: sshap@mcmaster.ca

For more information, please visit our website

The first annual conference of the Society for the Study of the History of Analytical Philosophy will be held at McMaster University, Hamilton (Canada) 24-26 May 2012.

Invited Speakers

Michael Friedman (Stanford University) Paolo Mancosu (University of California, Berkeley) Thomas Uebel (University of Manchester)

Canadian Student Presenters Travel Bursaries

SSHAP will be offering up to 10 travel bursaries to Canadian student presenters. The bursaries will cover transportation to as well as accommodation and subsistence in Hamilton. Bursaries will be awarded on the basis of need and scientific merit.

Call for Papers

SSHAP invites submissions for its 2012 annual conference. Paper submissions in all areas of the history of analytic philosophy are welcome. A selection of papers from the conference will be published in a special volume of the Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: November 30th, 2011.

Submission Instructions

Authors are requested to submit their papers electronically according to the following guidelines:

1) Papers should be prepared for blind refereeing, 2) put into PDF file format, and 3) sent as an email attachment to the address given below -- where 4) the subject line of the submission email should include the key-phrase "SSHAP submission", and 5) the body text of the email message should constitute a cover page for the submission by including i) return email address, ii) author's name, iii) affiliation, iv) paper title, and v) short abstract.

Time allowed for presentation is 60 minutes (including discussion). We recommend that paper be no longer than 4000 words.

Electronic submissions should be sent to: sshap@mcmaster.ca

For more information, please visit our website

From Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal:

From Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal:

The Vienna University of Technology is looking to recruit one Postdoctoral Research Assistant to work on the FWF-funded project "Nonclassical Proofs: theory, applications and tools", under the direction of Agata Ciabattoni.

The work will take place within the Institute of Computer Languages (Theory and Logic group) of the Vienna University of Technology. The post is for an appointment of up to 24 months and is available from January 2012.

Applicants should have (or shortly expect to receive) a PhD in Mathematics, Computer Science or a closely related field, a strong background in structural proof theory, nonclassical logics, and, preferably, knowledge of universal algebra or complexity theory. Ability to work independently but also with academic colleagues and PhD students, flexibility and teamwork, are all important qualifications for this position.

Further particulars, including details of how to apply, are available from: http://www.logic.at/staff/agata/positions.html. Potential applicants are also welcome to send informal inquiries to Agata Ciabattoni (agata@logic.at). The closing date for applications is Thursday, December 1st 2011.

The Vienna University of Technology is looking to recruit one Postdoctoral Research Assistant to work on the FWF-funded project "Nonclassical Proofs: theory, applications and tools", under the direction of Agata Ciabattoni.

The work will take place within the Institute of Computer Languages (Theory and Logic group) of the Vienna University of Technology. The post is for an appointment of up to 24 months and is available from January 2012.

Applicants should have (or shortly expect to receive) a PhD in Mathematics, Computer Science or a closely related field, a strong background in structural proof theory, nonclassical logics, and, preferably, knowledge of universal algebra or complexity theory. Ability to work independently but also with academic colleagues and PhD students, flexibility and teamwork, are all important qualifications for this position.

Further particulars, including details of how to apply, are available from: http://www.logic.at/staff/agata/positions.html. Potential applicants are also welcome to send informal inquiries to Agata Ciabattoni (agata@logic.at). The closing date for applications is Thursday, December 1st 2011.

Phil Serchuk's paper (with Ian Hargreaves and me) describing some experimental philosophy of logic he did when he was writing his undergrad thesis with me back in '05 is now out in Mind and Language.  It's a response to a 1999 paper by Tim Williamson together with psychologists Bonini, Osherson, and Viale, and we also have something to say about Brian Weatherson's "True, Truer, Truest" paper.

Although arguments for and against competing theories of vagueness often appeal to claims about the use of vague predicates by ordinary speakers, such claims are rarely tested. An exception is Bonini et al. (1999), who report empirical results on the use of vague predicates by Italian speakers, and take the results to count in favor of epistemicism. Yet several methodological difficulties mar their experiments; we outline these problems and devise revised experiments that do not show the same results. We then describe three additional empirical studies that investigate further claims in the literature on vagueness: the hypothesis that speakers confuse ‘P’ with ‘definitely P’, the relative persuasiveness of different formulations of the inductive premise of the Sorites, and the interaction of vague predicates with three different forms of negation.

If you don't have access, I will gladly send you an electronic offprint -- just email me.