International Journal of Philosophy

Disputatio

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The lecture starts by considering analytic philosophy as a tradition, and its global spread over recent years, of which <italic>Disputatio</italic>’s success is itself evidence. The costs and benefits of the role of English as the international language of analytic philosophy are briefly assessed. The spread of analytic philosophy is welcomed as the best hope for <italic>scientific</italic> philosophy, in a sense of ‘science’ on which mathematics, history, and philosophy can all count as sciences, though not as natural sciences. Arguably, experimental philosophy provides no plausible alternative methodology for philosophy, only a way of psychologizing it. However, it serves a useful purpose by highlighting the inadequacy of current methods for detecting errors in judgments on possible cases, which may result from reliance on possibly universal but imperfectly reliable cognitive heuristics. The problem is exacerbated by analytic philosophers’ tendency to regard increased flexibility in a theoretical framework as progress, where natural scientists would treat it as methodologically vicious profligacy with degrees of freedom. The result is a familiar type of bad science, <italic>overfitting</italic> theory to uncritically accepted data. The recent ‘hyperintensional revolution’ may be an example of such overfitting, it is suggested. The lecture ends with a call for a more miserly attitude to degrees of freedom.
</abstract>

Abstract

Keywords

<article-title>Degrees of Freedom: Is Good Philosophy Bad Science?</article-title>

Degrees of Freedom: Is Good Philosophy Bad Science?

{"article-title":"Degrees of Freedom: Is Good Philosophy Bad Science?"}

Disputatio is covered by the following services: <UL> <LI>Baidu Scholar </LI> <LI>CNKI Scholar (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) </LI> <LI>CNPIEC - cnpLINKer </LI> <LI>Dialnet </LI> <LI>Dimensions </LI> <LI>EBSCO </LI> <LI>ERIH PLUS (European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences) </LI> <LI>ExLibris </LI> <LI>Google Scholar </LI> <LI>J-Gate </LI> <LI>JournalTOCs </LI> <LI>KESLI-NDSL (Korean National Discovery for Science Leaders) </LI> <LI>Latindex </LI> <LI>MyScienceWork </LI> <LI>Naver Academic </LI> <LI>Naviga (Softweco) </LI> <LI>Philosopher's Index </LI> <LI>PhilPapers </LI> <LI>QOAM (Quality Open Access Market) </LI> <LI>Qualis </LI> <LI>RCAAP </LI> <LI>ReadCube </LI> <LI>SCILIT </LI> <LI>SCImago (SJR) </LI> <LI>SCOPUS </LI> <LI>Semantic Scholar </LI> <LI>Sherpa/RoMEO </LI> <LI>TDNet </LI> <LI>Ulrich's Periodicals Directory/ulrichsweb </LI> <LI>WanFang Data </LI> <LI>Web of Science - Emerging Sources Citation Index </LI> <LI>WorldCat (OCLC) </LI> <LI>X-MOL </LI></UL>

Disputatio ist in den folgenden Services indiziert: <UL> <LI>Baidu Scholar </LI> <LI>CNKI Scholar (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) </LI> <LI>CNPIEC - cnpLINKer </LI> <LI>Dialnet </LI> <LI>Dimensions </LI> <LI>EBSCO </LI> <LI>ERIH PLUS (European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences) </LI> <LI>ExLibris </LI> <LI>Google Scholar </LI> <LI>J-Gate </LI> <LI>JournalTOCs </LI> <LI>KESLI-NDSL (Korean National Discovery for Science Leaders) </LI> <LI>Latindex </LI> <LI>MyScienceWork </LI> <LI>Naver Academic </LI> <LI>Naviga (Softweco) </LI> <LI>Philosopher's Index </LI> <LI>PhilPapers </LI> <LI>QOAM (Quality Open Access Market) </LI> <LI>Qualis </LI> <LI>RCAAP </LI> <LI>ReadCube </LI> <LI>SCILIT </LI> <LI>SCImago (SJR) </LI> <LI>SCOPUS </LI> <LI>Semantic Scholar </LI> <LI>Sherpa/RoMEO </LI> <LI>TDNet </LI> <LI>Ulrich's Periodicals Directory/ulrichsweb </LI> <LI>WanFang Data </LI> <LI>Web of Science - Emerging Sources Citation Index </LI> <LI>WorldCat (OCLC) </LI> <LI>X-MOL </LI></UL>

Editors-in-Chief Ricardo Santos (University of Lisbon, Portugal) Elia Zardini (Universidad Complutense Madrid, Spain) Managing Editor Diogo Santos (University of Lisbon, Portugal) Advisory Board Daniel Dennett (Tufts University, USA) Michael Devitt (City University of New York, USA) Kit Fine (New York University, USA) Manuel García-Carpintero (University of Barcelona, Spain) Paul Horwich (New York University, USA) Christopher Peacocke (University of Columbia, USA) Pieter Seuren (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Netherlands) Charles Travis (King’s College London, UK) Timothy Williamson (University of Oxford, UK)  Editorial Board Helen Beebee (University of Manchester, UK) João Branquinho (University of Lisbon, Portugal) Pablo Cobreros (University of Navarra, Spain) Annalisa Coliva (University of Irvine, USA) Josep Corbí (University of Valencia, Spain) Esa Díaz-León (University of Barcelona, Spain) Paul Égré (Institut Jean Nicod, France) Fernando Ferreira (University of Lisbon, Portugal) Roman Frigg (London School of Economics, UK) Pedro Galvão (University of Lisbon, Portugal) Manuel García-Carpintero (University of Barcelona, Spain) Kathrin Glüer-Pagin (University of Stockholm, Sweden) Adriana Silva Graça (University of Lisbon, Portugal) Sally Haslanger (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, USA) Guido Imaguire (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) António Lopes (University of Lisbon, Portugal) Ofra Magidor (University of Oxford, UK) Teresa Marques (University of Barcelona, Spain) José Martínez (University of Barcelona, Spain) Manuel Pérez-Otero (University of Barcelona, Spain) Josep Prades (University of Girona, Spain) Duncan Pritchard (University of Irvine, USA) Wlodek Rabinowicz (University of Lund, Sweden) Sònia Roca (University of Stirling, UK) Sven Rosenkranz (University of Barcelona, Spain) Marco Ruffino (University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Brazil) Pablo Rychter (University of Valencia, Spain) Pedro Santos (University of Algarve, Portugal) Jennifer Saul (University of Sheffield, UK) Célia Teixeira (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) David Yates (University of Lisbon, Portugal) We wish to thank the reviewers who have collaborated with Disputatio over the years. Disputatio’s Reviewers 2007-2017 Adam Carter Adrian Briciu Adriana Silva Graça Agustín Vicente Aidan McGlynn Alan P. Thomas Alastair Wilson Alberto Voltolini Alisa Mandrigin Amy Kind Anand Vaidya Anders Schoubye André Abath Andrea Iacona Andreas Bartels Andreas Elpidorou Andreas Stokke Andrew Graham Andrew Reisner Andrew Williams Angela Grünberg Annalisa Coliva Anna-Sara Malmgren Anthony Gillies António Lopes Antony Booth Åsa Wikforss Bartłomiej Czajka Ben Colburn Benjamin Mitchell-Yellen Bianca Ceppolaro, Bill Seager Bjørn Jesperssen Brendan Balcerak Jackson Brian Leahy Bruno Jacinto Bryan Pickel Caj Strandberg Carl Hoefer Carla Bagnoli Carlos Moya Carolina Sartorio Carolyn Price Claudio Calosi Claudio Mazzola Clayton Littlejohn Constantine Sandis Corine Besson Cory Wright Craig Callender Cristina Corredor Charles Girard Chase Wrenn Chris Pincock Christopher Bartel Dan Ryder Dan Zeman Dana Kay Nelkin Daniel Cohnitz Daniel Giberman Daniel Peterson Daniele Sgaravatti Darren Bradley David Chalmers David Liebesman David Liggins David Pineda David Ripley David Yates Davide Rizza Declan Smythies Delia Belieri Derek Ball Diana Perez Diego Marconi Diego Tajer Douglas Edwards Duncan Pritchard Eduardo Barrio E. J. Lowe Elia Zardini Elizabeth Tropman Emily Thomas Emma Bullock Erasmus Mayr Eric Marcus Esa Díaz-Leon Eva Picardi Evans Simons Fabrice Correia Fernando Ferreira Fiora Salis Folke Tersman Francesco Berto François Schroeter Fred Kroon Frederico Marques Gabriel Uzquiano Geoffrey Ferrari Gianfranco Soldati Giuliano Torrengo Gunnar Björnsson Harmen Ghijsen Hedda Hassel Mørch Helen Beebee Isidora Stojanovic István Albert Aranyosi J. E. Wolff Javier Vilanova Jennifer Saul Jesús Navarro Jesús Vega Joan Pagès John Broome John Brunero Jonas Åkerman　 José Diez José Leitão José Martínez Josefa Toribio Josep Corbí Josep Lluís Martí Josep Lluís Prades Josep Maciá Jules Holroyd Jussi Jaukioja Justine Kingsbury Karol Polcyn Katalin Balog Katalin Farkas Kathrin Glüer-Pagin Lee Whittington Liam Shields Luca Gasparri Luís Duarte d’Almeida Luís Robledo Manolo Martínez Manuel García-Carpintero Manuel Pérez Otero Marc Artiga Mari Mikkola Maria Alvarez María Cerezo María José Alcaraz María Ponte Marie Guillot Mark Devenney Mark Schroeder Marta Campdelacreu Marta Jorba Mauricio Suárez Mauro Dorato Meghan Sullivan Michael Titelbaum Michele Palmira Miguel Amen Miguel Ángel Sebastián Moritz Schulz Nat Hansen Nicholas K. Jones Nikk Effingham Noa Latham Ofra Magidor Ole Hjortland Olivier Massin Øystein Linnebo Pablo Cobreros Pablo Rychter Patrick Todd Paul Bou-Habib Paul Egré Paula Casal Paula Droege Pedro Santos Peter Pagin Peter Schulte Peter Sullivan Philip Goff Ray Buchanan Rebecca Mason Ricardo Santos Richard Woodward Helen Yetter-Chappell Iñigo Gonzalez Robert Cowan Robert Kirk　 Roberta Locatelli Roberto Loss Robyn Repko Waller Roman Frigg Ross Cameron Roy Cook Ruth Boeker Sally Haslanger Sandy Goldberg Sara Worley Sebastian Lutz Serena Olsaretti Sofia Jeppsson Sonia Roca Royes Sören Äggqvist Stacie Friend Stefano Predelli Stephan Lauenberger Stephan Torre Stephen McLeod Stephen Mumford Stephen Yablo Steven Methven Susanna Siegel Susanne Bobzien Sven Rosenkranz Tess Dewhurst Thomas Kroedel Thomas Raleigh Tim Sundell Toni Ronnøw-Rasmussen Torfinn Huvenes Tuomas Tahko Uri Leibowitz Vera Tripodi William Shaw Wlodek Rabinowitz Yujin Nagasawa Yuri Balashov Publisher De Gruyter Poland Bogumiła Zuga 32A Str. 01-811 Warsaw, Poland T: +48 22 701 50 15

Please submit your article via <A href="https://www.editorialmanager.com/Disputatio/default.aspx">Editorial Manager</A>. Disputatio aims at publishing high-quality articles on any aspects of analytic philosophy (broadly construed), written in either English or Portuguese. A submission accepted for publication in Disputatio should make at least one original (possibly negative) point with sufficient plausibility and rigour. Open Access Statement The journal is an Open Access journal that allows a free unlimited access to all its contents without any restrictions upon publication to all users. <A href="https://sciendo-parsed-data-feed.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/DISP/Open_Access_License.pdf">Open Access License</A> This journal provides immediate open access to its content under the <A href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons BY NC ND 3.0 license</A>. Authors who publish with this journal retain all copyrights and agree to the terms of the above-mentioned CC BY NC ND 3.0 license.

Disputatio is an international journal of philosophy in the analytic tradition. It is owned by the Centre of Philosophy of the University of Lisbon and managed by the LanCog research group. The journal is a non-profit publishing venture. It is currently published by De Gruyter/Sciendo, exclusively online, as a fully open-access journal. Disputatio aims at publishing high-quality articles in any area of analytic philosophy (broadly construed), written in either English or Portuguese. Disputatio was founded in 1996 by João Branquinho, Fernando Ferreira, M.S. Lourenço and João Sàágua. It was published by the Portuguese Philosophical Society until 2004. Former editors include M.S. Lourenço, João Branquinho, Teresa Marques and Célia Teixeira. Since 2017, the journal has been jointly edited by Ricardo Santos and Elia Zardini. Rejection Rate: <UL> <LI>80% </LI></UL> Why subscribe and read Disputatio aims at publishing high-quality articles on any aspects of analytic philosophy (broadly construed), written in either English or Portuguese. Why submit A submission accepted for publication in Disputatio should make at least one original (possibly negative) point with sufficient plausbility and rigour. Disputatio is one of the leading philosophy journals in the Romance-speaking world. It has been classified in category Q2 of the SCImago Journal Rank in 2021 and Q1 in 2020. All unsolicited submissions to Disputatio are triple-blind refereed: the identity of the authors is not revealed to the referees, the identity of the referees is not revealed to the authors and the identity of the authors is not revealed to the editors. The evaluation process has up to four stages, as follows: <OL> <LI>Preliminary vetting by the editors. </LI> <LI>Refereeing. </LI> <LI>Scrutiny of submission and referees’ reports by the editors. </LI> <LI>Decision by the editors. </LI></OL> The editors’ decision classifies the submission into one of the four categories: accepted, conditionally accepted, invited for resubmission after major revisions and rejected. Positive referees’ reports are not a sufficient condition for acceptance and each decision is the editors’ sole responsibility. On average, each evaluation process as detailed above takes around four months. Disputatio Fees and Charges Authors who choose to submit and publish with Disputatio are not required to pay any submission or publication fees or charges Archiving Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in <A href="https://www.portico.org/">Portico</A> - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections. Plagiarism Policy The editorial board is participating in a growing community of <A href="https://www.crossref.org/services/similarity-check/">Similarity Check System's</A> users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. Sponsors Disputatio is currently sponsored by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (UIDP/00310/2020.<IMG alt="FCT logo" src="https://sciendo-parsed-data-feed.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/DISP/FCT_logo.jpg"></A>

Disputatio

Degrees of Freedom: Is Good Philosophy Bad Science?

Timothy Williamson
Timothy Williamson

Published Online: 23 Nov 2021

Volume & Issue: Volume 13 (2021) - Issue 61 (November 2021)

Page range: 73 - 94

Journal & Issue Details

Disputatio

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References

Recent Articles

Disputatio

Degrees of Freedom: Is Good Philosophy Bad Science?

Timothy WilliamsonTimothy Williamson

Published Online: 23 Nov 2021

Volume & Issue: Volume 13 (2021) - Issue 61 (November 2021)

Page range: 73 - 94

Journal & Issue Details

Disputatio

PDF Preview

References

Recent Articles

Timothy Williamson
Timothy Williamson