“If we want to make sense of the possibility of successful inductive inference, and if we want to explain the possibility of laws of nature, we will need to appeal to something like natural kinds. This is, to be sure, a metaphysical commitment, but it is a metaphysical commitment that is implicit in science, as I see it.” IfsWantNeedsKindLawNaturalSuccessfulPossibilityCommitmentAppealsMake SenseMetaphysicalLaws Of NatureImplicitInference Author:Hilary Kornblith
“I do think that it is legitimate to talk of goals and functions in nature, and that these things can be made sense of in naturalistic terms. There is nothing at all contrary to naturalism in the idea of goal-directed systems.” ThinkingMadeIdeasGoalTermFunctionContraryNaturalism Author:Hilary Kornblith
“I am certainly open to the idea that this might be used to explain other philosophical categories besides knowledge. I have some real sympathy with the work of those moral realists who have tried to give naturalistic accounts of human flourishing, and who offer accounts of right action in such terms. (I suppose this is more evidence that I really do have deep affinities with Aristotle!)” GivingHumansIdeasRealMightActionUsedTermMoralOffersEvidenceAccountsPhilosophicalCategoriesRealistFlourishingAffinityRight Action Author:Hilary Kornblith
“The kinds of claims I make about knowledge are thus meant to be illustrative of a general argumentative strategy which might well bear fruit in areas of philosophy which I have not thus far explored.” WellsKindPhilosophyMightBearsAreasClaimsStrategyFruitMeant To Be Author:Hilary Kornblith
“There is a worry that many have expressed that, on the naturalistic way of approaching philosophical questions, philosophy will somehow be co-opted by science. I'm not much worried about this.” WayPhilosophyWorryPhilosophicalWorriedPhilosophical Questions Author:Hilary Kornblith
“For one thing, I think that there are questions which philosophers raise which, although science bears on them, are not typically the central focus of those who work in the sciences. At the same time, I don't have a view of philosophy which marks it out as different in kind from scientific work” ThinkingKindDifferentPhilosophyViewsFocusOne ThingBearsMarkRaisesPhilosopher Author:Hilary Kornblith
“When I think about discussions at the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, a group which includes not only philosophers and psychologists, but also computer scientists and linguists, it is noteworthy that one can't always tell just from the content of particular contributions from the audience, whether a given questioner is a philosopher or an empirical scientist.” ThinkingPhilosophyGivenAudiencePsychologyGroupsParticularComputerScientistPhilosopherDiscussionContributionPsychologistLinguists Author:Hilary Kornblith
“It's not just that there is a cooperative spirit of investigation there, where we all recognise that we are engaged in a common project of inquiry. It's also that the philosophers are well-versed in the relevant empirical data, and the scientists are well-versed in the more abstract issues which are typically the central focus of philosophical work.” WellsSpiritCommonIssuesFocusProjectsScientistPhilosophicalPhilosopherDataEngagedAbstractRelevantInvestigationInquiryRecogniseCooperatives Author:Hilary Kornblith
“No one worries terribly much about who the questions belong to, or whether a given contribution is really philosophy or, instead, properly nothing but science. Perhaps another way to put this is that, although I think that knowledge is a natural kind, I don't think that philosophy is.” ThinkingWayKindPhilosophyGivenNaturalWorryContributionAnother Way Author:Hilary Kornblith
“There has certainly been a great deal of work addressing the relationship between naturalism and the first-person perspective. Quite a number of philosophers have suggested that there are features of the first-person perspective that naturalism just cannot accommodate, whether it be qualitative character, or consciousness, or simply the ability we have to think of ourselves in a distinctively first-person manner.” ThinkingFirstsPersonsCharacterAbilityDealsNumbersConsciousnessPerspectivePhilosopherFeaturesFirst PersonAccommodateNaturalismQualitative Author:Hilary Kornblith
“In my view, philosophers have shown a great deal more respect for the first-person point of view than it deserves. There's a lot of empirical work on the various psychological mechanisms by way of which the first-person point of view is produced, and, when we understand this, I believe, we can stop romanticising and mythologising the first-person perspective.” WayFirstsBelievePersonsI BelieveViewsDealsPerspectiveDeservePhilosopherVariousPoint Of ViewPsychologicalMechanismFirst PersonThis I Believe Author:Hilary Kornblith
“By putting the first-person point of view in a naturalistic perspective, I believe that we may genuinely come to understand it for the first time.” FirstsBelieveMayPersonsI BelieveViewsPerspectiveFirst TimePoint Of ViewFirst Person Author:Hilary Kornblith
