Tag: Notices

Lying Fallow

So, it’s been a wee bit quiet here at ‘All Embracing.’ I’ve been making new and exciting revisions to the Kaikoura piece and it has, frankly, taken up most of my time. When I’m not rewriting myself out of corners I’ve been reading a whole lot of current Epistemology primers and I’m not so sure that my readership is interested in the different approaches to ‘Forcing.’

Still, things change. On Wednesday of next week (or this week if you are reading this tomorrow) I am giving a new, much improved, version of the Kaikoura Paper to the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland. You are, my readers, welcome to attend. Details follow:

Conspiracies then, now and tomorrow: How do past instances affect the likelihood of similar events now?
21 March 2007, 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Venue: Room 202, Fisher Building, 18 Waterloo Quadrant

It is an historical fact that conspiracies have occurred but does this tell us anything about whether there are any conspiracies going on here and now? In this presentation I seek to explain how past instances of historical conspiracies may not be a reliable indicator of the likelihood of conspiracies here and now. I will look at the works of such philosophers as Charles Pigden, who has argued that the past instances of conspiracies does give us positive warrant about the existence of conspiracies today and Lee Basham, who has argued that the increasing openness of modern Western society counsels us against believing that conspiracies are as common as once they were. In sorting this issue out it will be important to draw a careful distinction between actual conspiracies and the theories about whether such conspiracies are occurring, to whit conspiracy theories.

03/17/2007

Kaikoura: The Dolphin Conspiracy #1

Over the weekend of the 9th of February I will be attending a conference in Kaikoura. It is a Postgraduate Philosophy Conference and apparently we will get chance to see some dolphins if we so desire. I know an awful lot about human-dolphin mating habits so am quite tempted to see one of these beasties up close just so I can contemplate, visually, just what some naughty divers have been doing in them there waters.

But enough smut. The major reason why I am going to the conference is that I am giving a paper there. I haven’t written a single word of it yet, but I do have an abstract that should prove useful in a week when I start panicking. It goes something like this:

Conspiracies Then, Now and Tomorrow: How Do Past Instances Affect the Likelihood of Similar Events Now?

It is an historical fact that Conspiracies have occurred but does this tell us anything about whether there are any Conspiracies going on here and now? In this presentation I seek to explain how past instances of historical conspiracies may not be a reliable indicator of the likelihood of conspiracies here and now. I will look at the works of such philosophers as Charles Pigden, who has argued that the past instances of Conspiracies does give us positive warrant about the existence of Conspiracies today and Lee Basham, who has argued that the increasing openness of modern Western society counsels us against believing that Conspiracies are as common as once they were. In sorting this issue out it will be important to draw a careful distinction between actual Conspiracies and the theories about whether such Conspiracies are occurring, to whit Conspiracy Theories. 

I’ve been to conferences before and I’ve given papers galore. Still, this should give me ample material for the next few weeks of blog posts. At the moment I am doing a lot of thesis-related reading but it’s not exactly conversation-stimulating. Expect a few angst posts as this blog heads towards the emo-norm.

01/15/2007

So he geeks out

I have suspected for quite some time now that, in the last year, I had read all there was in the Philosophical community on the subject of Conspiracy Theories. I was glad to be partially vindicated and surprised today upon reading the contents page of David Coady’s ‘Conspiracy Theories: The Philosophical Debate.’

Vindicated because all the articles in there I had read; surprised because a) I had never heard of Coady and b) because the book contains not only the articles I had read but a few follow-ups, never before published, by those various authors explaining their views here and now.

Hooray (thought I), new material.

For the last few months my reading has mostly been journalist’s reports and conspiracy theorist diatribes. It isn’t as fun as it sounds; as a sceptic I end up looking for where I think the account fails to be strongly suggestive of a conspiracy and sometimes the authors make it all too easy to find error. The few cases (historical) where conspiracy is evident don’t quite have the panache of a global malevolent conspiracy. The death of Caesar is interesting and important, but it pales in comparison to claims about the Bilderberg Group seeking to destroy Western Civilisation through some kind of radical secular democracy. And let’s not forget the reptiles.

So, when I find new Philosophy that excites me in a way that shows that, yes, I am destined for the tweed suit and an awkward laugh in social situations. More importantly, it’s the kind of stuff that Departmental Head’s like to see; peer reviewed material is much more exciting to the tenured lecturers and colleagues than a journalist with intuition and the ability to make connections where, let’s face it, they sometimes don’t plausibly fit.

Expect a little more philosophising in the next few weeks as I digest this material and work out ways to rephrase it as my own work. Because that’s what academics do. Even the good ones.

08/25/2006

A Little Administration

Morning all.Just a few words to tell you that if you look on the sidebar of the blog you will now find a category called ‘Pages’ under which you can find my rather pointless ‘About’ page and, mcuh more importantly, my notes. Basically I’m going to bung up on to ‘All Embracing But Underwhelming’ my research notes as I get time. In part because you might find them interesting (although some of them will be arcane) but mostly so that I can have easy access to my notes whilst I am away from home.Well, I would stay and chat but I have abduction to potentially explain to the students of Waikato.

06/21/2006