by Massimo Pigliucci In this video Dan and I talk about different types of "skepticism." We start by recapping the history of philosophical skepticism, moving on to the (by now) classical question: how do we know that we don't live in the Matrix? We tackle what we call Descartes' "quaint" rationalism and we talk about a … Continue reading The varieties of skepticism
epistemology
A Bayesian approach to informal argument fallacies
by Scientia Salon This paper, which appeared in the journal Synthese in 2006, touches on a sacred cow of internet discourse, especially within atheist and skeptical communities: the idea of informal logical fallacies. I have a paper on the same topic currently in press, together with my co-authors Maarten Boudry and Fabio Paglieri, so we will return … Continue reading A Bayesian approach to informal argument fallacies
Scientism: ‘Yippee’ or ‘Boo-sucks’? — Part II
[Editor’s Note: This essay is part of Scientia Salon’s special “scientism week” and could profitably be read alongside other entries on the same topic on this site, such as this one by John Shook and this one by yours truly. My take on the issue is very different from that of the authors who contributed to … Continue reading Scientism: ‘Yippee’ or ‘Boo-sucks’? — Part II
Scientism: ‘Yippee’ or ‘Boo-sucks’? — Part I
[Editor’s Note: This essay is part of Scientia Salon’s special “scientism week” and could profitably be read alongside other entries on the same topic on this site, such as this one by John Shook and this one by yours truly. My take on the issue is very different from that of the authors who contributed to … Continue reading Scientism: ‘Yippee’ or ‘Boo-sucks’? — Part I
Are you sure you have hands?
by Massimo Pigliucci Skepticism is a venerable word with a panoply of meanings. When I refer to myself as “a skeptic,” I mean someone inspired by David Hume’s famous dictum: “In our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable degrees of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species of moral evidence. … Continue reading Are you sure you have hands?
My philosophy, so far — part I
by Massimo Pigliucci Over the last decade and a half — ever since I started the Rationally Speaking blog [1] which has now evolved into the webzine that is Scientia Salon — I have written about all sorts of core philosophical issues (e.g., ethics, metaphysics), as well as on much other stuff (e.g., the nature … Continue reading My philosophy, so far — part I
Scientia Salon 
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