Book Reviews and Book Symposia

Books, Schools, and Restaurants

This is a contribution to a symposium on David Liebesman and Ofra Magidor’s book Property Versatility and Copredication. It was originally presented, in compressed version, at the 2026 Eastern APA. I agree with their big picture metaphysical view, but quibble at several points about its application to social metaphysics. The common thread to my quibbles is that they understate the importance of the physical to the metaphysics of the social world.

The Sporting Attitude

Contribution to a symposium on Steffen Borge’s “The Philosophy of Football”.

Brian Weatherson

Review of “What do Philosophers Do”

Review of Penelope Maddy, “What Do Philosophers Do?: Skepticism and the Practice of Philosophy”. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Brian Weatherson

Centrality and Marginalisation

A commentary on Herman Cappelen’s “Philosophy without Intuitions”.

Brian Weatherson

Explanation, Idealisation and the Goldilocks Problem

A contribution to a symposium on Michael Strevens’s book Depth.

Brian Weatherson

Stalnaker on Sleeping Beauty

A contribution to a book symposium on Stalnaker’s Our Knowledge of the Internal World, focussing on the way his framework helps cast new light on the Sleeping Beauty problem.

Brian Weatherson

No Royal Road to Relativism

A reponse to Relativism and Monadic Truth. I argue that while the Cappelen and Hawthorne have good responses to the deductive arguments for relativism, there are various good inductive arguments for relativism that their view can’t adequately respond to.

Brian Weatherson

Review of “David Lewis”

A review of David Lewis by Daniel Nolan.

Brian Weatherson

Doing Philosophy With Words

This paper discusses the coverage of ordinary language philosophy in Scott Soames’ “Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century”. After praising the book’s virtues, I raise three points where I dissent from Soames’ take on the history. First, I suggest that there is more to ordinary language philosophy than the rather implausible version of it that Soames sees to have been destroyed by Grice. Second, I argue that confusions between analyticity, necessity and priority are less important to the ordinary language period than Soames takes them to be. Finally, I claim that Soames’ criticisms of Ryle turn in part on attributing reductionist positions to Ryle that Ryle did not hold.

Brian Weatherson

Review of “Lewisian Themes”

A review of Frank Jackson and Graham Priest (eds), “Lewisian Themes: The Philosophy of David K. Lewis”, Oxford University Press, 2004.

Brian Weatherson

Review of “The Realm of Reason”

Review of Christopher Peacocke, “The Realm of Reason”. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004

Brian Weatherson

Review of “Real Conditionals”

Review of William Lycan, “Real Conditionals”. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001.

Brian Weatherson

Review of “Words Without Meaning”

Review of Christopher Gauker, “Words Without Meaning”. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002.

Brian Weatherson

Review of “Theories of Vagueness”

Review of Rosanna Keefe, “Theories of Vagueness”. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Brian Weatherson

Review of “Vagueness and Contradiction”

Review of Roy Sorensen, “Vagueness and Contradiction”. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Brian Weatherson

Review of “Sameness and Substance Renewed”

Review of David Wiggins, “Sameness and Substance Renewed”. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Brian Weatherson

Review of “Moral Uncertainty and Its Consequences”

Review of Ted Lockhart, “Moral Uncertainty and Its Consequences”. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Brian Weatherson

Review of “Rethinking Intuition”

Review of Michael DePaul and William Ramsey, eds. “Rethinking Intuition: The Psychology of Intuition and Its Role in Philosophical Inquiry.” Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998.

Brian Weatherson