Profile

Career

Research

Overview

Research interests

My research is focused on the relationship between historical and contemporary developments in the empirical sciences, including physics and the behavioural and life sciences, and some traditional problems of philosophy. Forthcoming are a study of Newtonian matter theory in the 18th century, several papers on anthropology and moral philosophy in the Enlightenment, a paper on fiction-induced emotions, "Grief and the Poet," and an essay on Ernst Mach, Robert Musil, and literary modernism. I am also interested in metaethics from a naturalistic perspective.

Grants

• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada 2004-7. (Epicureanism in 17th Century Philosophy)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada 2001-4. (Prospects for Noncognitivism)

Supervision

Publications

Selected publications

Recent/forthcoming publications:

1. "Moral Truth: Observational or Theoretical?" (Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 111 (2011) 97-111.
2. "Wissen" (1450 - 1850) Enzyklopaedie der Neuzeit, 16 vols, Stuttgart, Metzler, 2012, Vol. 15
3. Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity, Oxford, Clarendon, 2008/2011.

Full publications list

Early Modern Philosophy/ History and Philosophy of Science: books authored:

1. Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity. Oxford, Clarendon, 2008 ; paperback 2010..
2. Descartes's Meditations: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
3. The Invisible World: Early Modern Philosophy and the Invention of the Microscope.  Princeton University Press, 1995, 2^nd ed. paperback, 1997; reprinted 2009.
4.  Leibniz's Metaphysics: A Historical and Comparative Study. Princeton University Press/Manchester University Press, 1989.

Edited: 

1. Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Philosophy.  with Desmond Clarke. (Oxford, 2011)

2.  Leibniz. Ashgate, Aldershot, Dartmouth, 2001 (International Library of Critical Essays in the History of Philosophy).

Moral Philosophy: books authored

1. Moral Animals: Ideals and Constraints in Moral Theory. Oxford, Clarendon, 2004, 2^nd ed. paperback, 2007.

Edited:

1. Responsibility. Buffalo, NY, 2003 (Monist 86:2).
2. Civilization and Oppression. Calgary, 1999 (Canadian Journal of Philosophy Supplementary Volume 25).

Moral and Social Philosophy/ History of Moral and Social Philosophy

1. “Moral Truth—Observational or Theoretical?” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 111 (2011) pp. 95-112.
2. “Realism and Relativism in Ethics.” In The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Philosophy, ed. C Wilson and D.
Clarke, Oxford, OUP 2011, pp. 403-423
3. “Moral Progress without Moral Realism,” Philosophical Papers 39 (2010) 97-116.
4. “Darwinian Morality,” in Evolution: Education and Outreach, 2 (2009) 579-595.
5. “Evolutionary Ethics” In Handbook of the Philosophy of Biology, ed. M. Matthen and C. Stephens, Amsterdam,
Elsevier. 2007, pp. 219-248.
6. “Locke’s Moral Epistemology." In The Cambridge Companion to Locke’s Essay, ed. L. Newman, Cambridge
University Press, 2007, pp. 381-405.
7. "A Humean Argument for Benevolence to Strangers." Monist 86 (2004), pp. 454-468.
8. "The Role of a Merit Principle in Distributive Justice." Journal of Ethics 7 (2003), pp. 1-38.
9. "Prospects for Noncognitivism." Inquiry 44 (2001), pp. 291-314.
10. "The Biological Basis and Ideational Superstructure of Morality." In Naturalized Moral Epistemology, ed.
Richmond Campbell and Bruce Hunter, Canadian Journal of Philosophy Supplementary Volume 2000, pp.
211-144.
11. "Natural Dominance: A Reply to Michael Levin." Philosophy 73 (1998), pp. 572-592.
12. "On Some Alleged Limitations to Moral Endeavor." Journal of Philosophy 90 (1993), pp. 275-289. Reprinted

History of Philosophy/History of Science

1. ‘Hobbes’s Leviathan for The Oxford Handbook of British Philosophy, ed Peter Anstey, in press.
2. “Nature, War, and History: Some Remarks on Leibniz’s Theodicy from an Eighteenth Century Perspective.” In
Lectures et Interpretations des Essais de theodicée de G.W. Leibniz, ed. Paul Rateau, Stuttgart, Franz Steiner,
2011, pp. 307-316.
3. “Leibniz’s Reputation in the Eighteenth Century: Kant and Herder.” In The New Historiography of Early Modern
Philosophy: Reputations of Seventeenth-Century Philosophers, ed. Jill Kraye, John Rogers, Tom Sorrell, 2009 npp.
294-308.
4. “Organic Mechanism and the Soul of Science,” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 26 (2009) pp. (special issue
on the work of Donald Bates)
5. ”Materie, Sterblichkeit und der Wandel des Wissenschaftsideals.” In C. Spoerhase, D. Werle u. M. Wild (Hrsg.):
Unsicheres Wissen. Skeptizismus und Wahrscheinlichkeit in der Interpretation von Zeichen und Zeugnissen
(1550-1850 ) (Series: Historia Hermeneutica), Berlin: De Gruyter, 2009.
6. “Motivations et incitations à l’étude de la philosophie naturelle.” In La philosophie naturelle de Robert Boyle, ed.
Myriam Dennehy and Charles Ramond, Paris: Vrin, 2009, pp. 1-21. Also in English in Science as Cultural Practice
Volume I: Cultures and Politics of Research from the Early Modern Period to the Age of Extremes ed. Moritz Epple
and Claus Zittel, Berlin, Akademie Verlag, 2010, pp.13-30. (= Chapter 9 of Epicureanism at the Origins of
Modernity).
7. “Monadology 80: Monads, Forces, Causes.” In Monadologie, (Klassiker Auslagen), ed. Hubertus Busche, Berlin,
Akademie Verlag, 2009, pp. 211-222.
8. “Epicurus in the Early Modern Period.” In The Cambridge Companion to Epicurus, ed. James Warren, Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press, 2009.
9. "From Limits to Laws: Origins of the 17th Century Conception of Nature as Legalite" In Natural Law and Laws of
Nature in Early Modern Europe: Jurisprudence, Theology, Moral And Natural Philosophy, ed. Lorraine Daston
and Michael Stolleis, Ashgate 2008, pp. 13-26.
10. “Possibility, Plenitude and the Optimal World: Rescher on Leibniz’s Cosmology.” In Reading Rescher, ed. Robert
Almeder, Frankfurt and Paris, Ontos (2008) pp.475-92.
11. “The Enlightenment Philosopher as Social Critic,” Intellectual History Review 18 (2008), 413 – 425.
12. ‘Some Philosophical Criticisms of Early Microscopy.” In Evidentia. Reichweiten visueller Wahrnehmung in der
fruehen Neuzeit, ed. F. Buettner, M. Friedrich, K. Leonhard, G.Wimboeck, Muenster /London/New York 2007.
13. "Lucretius and the History of Science." (with Monte Ransome Johnson) In The Cambridge Companion to
Lucretius, ed. Philip Hardie and Stuart Gillespie, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 131-148.
14. “Body, Soul and World: Plato’s Timaeus and Early Modern Philosophy.” In Platonism at the Origins of Modernity,
ed. Sarah Hutton and Douglas Hedley, Dordrecht, Springer, 2007, pp. 177-191.

15. “Two Opponents of Epicurean Atomism: Leibniz and Cavendish.” In Leibniz and the English- Speaking World ,
ed. Stuart Brown and Pauline Phemister, Ashgate, 2007, pp. 35-50.
16. “ Descartes and Augustine.” In The Blackwell Companion to Descartes , ed. Janet Broughton and John Carriero,
Oxford, Blackwell, 2007, pp. 33-51.
17. “What is the Importance of Descartes’s Sixth Meditation?” Philosophica 74 (2006), pp. 67-90.
18. “Ideas and Animals: The Hard Problem in Leibniz’s Metaphysics.” (with Glenn Hartz), Studia Leibnitiana 37
(2006), pp. 1-23.
19. “The Problem of Materialism in the New Essays.” In Leibniz selon les Nouveaux Essais sur l’entendement
humain, ed. F. Duchesneau and S. Auroux, Vrin/Bellarmin-Fides, 2006, pp. 249-264.
20. "Kant and the Speculative Sciences of Origins.” In The Problem of Animal Generation in the 17th and 18th
Centuries , ed. Justin E.H. Smith, Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 375-401.
21. “The Strange Hybridity of Spinoza's Ethics.” In Early Modern Philosophy: Mind, Matter and Metaphysics, ed. C.
Mercer and E. O'Neill, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005.
22. “The Theory and Regulation of Love in 17th Century Philosophy.” In The Concept of Love in Modern Philosophy:
Descartes to Kant, ed. G. Boros, M. Moors, and H. De Dijn, Brussels, Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van Belgie,
2005, pp. 63-79
23. “Some Responses to Lucretian Mortalism.” In Der Einfluss des Hellenismus auf der Philosophie der fruehen
Neuzeit, ed. Gabor Boros, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 2005, pp. 137-159.
24. “Is the History of Philosophy Good for Philosophy?” In Analytic Philosophy and the History of Philosophy , ed.
Tom Sorell and G.A.J. Rogers, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005.
25. "The Paradoxes of Expression and Accommodation in Leibniz." In Leibniz, Nature and Freedom, ed. Jan Cover
and Donald Rutherford, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005.
26. "Love of God and Love of Creatures: The Astell-Masham Debate." History of Philosophy Quarterly 21 (2004), pp.
281-298.
27. "Postformalist Criticism in the History of Philosophy." In The Philosophy of History: a Re-examination, ed.
William Sweet, Aldershot, Dartmouth, Ashgate, 2004.
28. "Epicureanism in Early Modern Philosophy: Leibniz and his Contemporaries." In Hellenistic and Early Modern
Philosophy , ed. Brad Inwood and Jon Miller, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 90-115.
29. "Corpuscular Effluvia: Between Imagination and Experiment." In Ideals and Cultures of Knowledge in Early
Modern Europe/Wissensideale und Wissenskulturen in der fruehen Neuzeit. Concepts, Methods, Historical
Conditions and Social Impac, ed. Claus Zittel and Wolfgang Detel, 2 vols., Frankfurt, Akademie-Verlag 2002, pp.
161-184.
30. "Response to Ohad Nachtomy's 'Individuals, Worlds, and Relations: A Discussion of Catherine Wilson's “Plenitude
and Compossibility.'" Leibniz Review 11 (2001), pp. 125-9.
31. "Plenitude and Compossibility." Leibniz Review 10 (2000), pp. 1-20.
32. "Descartes and the Corporeal Mind: Some Implications of the Regius Affair." In Descartes's Natural Philosophy,
ed. Stephen Gaukroger and J. Sutton, London, Routledge, 2000, pp. 659-679. (Also in Hungarian version).
33. "The Illusory Nature of Leibniz's System." In New Essays on the Rationalists , ed. Charles S. Huehnemann and
Rocco Gennaro, New York, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 372-388.
34. "Atoms, Minds and Vortices in De Summa Rerum. " In The Young Leibniz, ed. Stuart Brown, Dordrecht, Kluwer,
1999, pp. 223-243.
35. "Savagery and the Supersensible Kant's Moral Universalism in Historical Context." History of European Ideas 24
(1998), pp. 315-30.
36. "The Eye and the Microscope in Early Modern Science." In Bild und Reflexion , ed. T. Borsche, J. Kreuzer, C.
Straub, Munich, Wilhelm Fink, 1998 pp. 13-30.
37. "Savagery and the Supersensible: Kant's Moral Universalism in Historical Context." History of European Ideas 24
(1998), pp. 315-30.
38. "The Future of the History of Philosophy." In The Future of Philosophy, ed. O. Leaman, Routledge, London, 1998,
pp. 25-40.
39. "From Medicina Mentis to Medical Materialism." In Logic and the Workings of the Mind from Ramus to Kant, ed.
Patricia Easton, Atascadero, Ridgeview, 1997, pp. 251-268.
40. "Discourses of Vision in 17th Century Metaphysics." In Sites of Vision: The Discursive Construction of Vision in
the History of Philosophy, D.M. Levin, ed., Cambridge, MA, M.I.T. Press, 1997, pp. 117-138.
41. "Leibniz and the Animalcula." In Studies in Seventeenth-Century European Philosophy , ed. M.A Stewart, Oxford,
Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 153-175.
42. "Particles, Motion and the Infinite: The Lasting Impression of Hobbes on Leibniz." British Journal for the History
of Philosophy, 5 (1997), pp. 339-351.
43. "Later Transmission and Interpretation: Modern Western Philosophy." In The History of Islamic Philosophy, ed
S.H. Nasr and O. Leaman, 2 vols., London, Routledge, 1996, II:1013-1033.
44. "Instruments and Ideologies: The Social Construction of Knowledge and its Critics." American Philosophical
Quarterly 33 (1996), pp.167-182.

45. “Through a Looking Glass: The Microscope as Scientific Revolutionary.” Odyssey 1 (1995) pp. 58-64.
46. "On Imlay's Berkeley and Action." In Berkeley's Metaphysics: Structural, Interpretive, and Critical Essays, ed. R.
G. Muehlmann, Penn State University Press, 1995, pp. l83-196.
47. "Leibniz and the Logic of Life." Revue Internationale de Philosophie, 48 (1994), pp.237-253.
48. "The Reception of Leibniz in the Eighteenth Century." In The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz, ed. N. Jolley,
Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp.442-474.
49. "Berkeley and the Microworld." Archiv fuer Geschichte der Philosophie, 76 (1994), pp. 37-64.
50. "Interaction with the Reader in Kant's Transcendental Theory of Method." History of Philosophy Quarterly 10
(1993), pp. 87-100. (Engl. version of “Subjektivitaet und Form” below)
51. "Enthusiasm and its Critics: Historical and Modern Perspectives." History of European Ideas 17 (1993), pp.
461-478.
52. "Constancy, Emergence, and Illusion: Obstacles to a Naturalistic Theory of Vision." In Causation in Early Modern
Philosophy, ed. S. Nadler, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992, pp. 159-178.
53. "Confused Perceptions, Darkened Knowledge: Some Aspects of Kant's Leibniz-reception." In Kant and his
Influence, ed. G.M. Ross and T.McWalter, Bristol, Thoemmes, 1991.
54. "Nostalgia and Counterrevolution: the Case of Cudworth and Leibniz." In Leibniz als Schuler und Kritiker seiner
Vorgaenger und Zeitgenossen: Studia Leibnitiana Supplementa, 26, (l990) pp. 138-146.
55. "Subjektivitaet und Form: zum Problem von Kants Transzendentalen Methodenlehre." In Literarische Formen der
Philosophie, ed. G. Gabriel and C. Schildknecht, eds.Stuttgart, Metzler, l990.
56. "The Combinatorial Universe: Scientific Language and Metaphysics in Leibniz." In Leibnizian Inquiries, ed. N.
Rescher, Lanham, MD, University Press of America, l989, pp. 159-170.
57. "Critical and Constructive Aspects of Leibniz's Metaphysics." In The Leibniz-Renaissance, Florence, Olschki, l989,
pp. 291-303.
58. "Visual Surface and Visual Symbol: The Microscope and the Occult in Early Modern Science." Journal of the
History of Ideas, 49 (1988), pp. 85-108. Repr. in J. Yolton, ed., Philosophy, Religion and Science in the 17th and
18th Centuries , Rochester, University of Rochester, 1990.
59. "The Cogito Meant, `No More Philosophy': Valery's Descartes." (with Christiane Schildknecht), History of
European Ideas 9 (1988), pp.47-62.
60. "Sensible and Intelligible Worlds in Leibniz and Kant." In Metaphysics and Natural Science in the Seventeenth and
Eighteenth Centuries: Essays in Honour of Gerd Buchdahl, ed. R. Woolhouse, Dordrecht, Kluwer, l988, pp.
227-244.
61. "De Ipsa Natura: Leibniz on Substance, Force and Activity." Studia Leibnitiana 19 (1987), pp.148-172. Repr. in V.
Chappell, ed., Essays on Leibniz, Hamden, CT, Garland, 1991.
62. "Leibnizian Optimism." Journal of Philosophy 80 (1983), pp. 765-783. Repr. in Leibniz: Critical Assessments, 4
vols., ed. R. Woolhouse, London, Routledge, 1995, IV: 435-452.
63. "Leibniz and Atomism." Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science 15 (1982), pp. 175-199. Reprinted in
Leibniz: Critical Assessments, 4 vols., ed. Roger Woolhouse, London Routledge,.1995 III: 342-68.
64. "Sensation and Explanation: Descartes on Conscious Awareness." Nature and System, 4 (1982) pp.175-199. Repr.
in Descartes: Critical Assessments, ed. G.D. Moyal , London, Routledge, 1991, Vol.3:260-75.

Aesthetics/Philosophy of Mind/Epistemology

1. “The Explanation of Consciousness and the Interpretation of Philosophical Texts” In Interpretation, ed. Peter
Machamer and Gereon Wolters, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh University Press. 2010, pp. 100-111.
2. “What Do Simple Folk Know?” (Commentary) Philosophical Topics (2008) 363-72.
3. ”Bernard Williams.” In Twelve Analytic Philosophers, ed. C. Belshaw and G. Kemp, Oxford, Blackwell, 2009
4. ”Disgrace: Bernard Williams and J.M. Coetzee.” In Art and Ethical Criticism, G. Hagberg, ed. Blackwell, 2008,
pp. 144-162.
5. “Galen Strawson on Consciousness.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 13 (2006)177-183, repr. in Consciousness
and its Place in Nature , ed. Anthony Freeman, Charlottesville, VA, Imprint Academic, 2006, pp. 177-183.
6. "Capability and Language in the Novels of Tarjei Vesaas." Philosophy and Literature 27 (2003), pp. 21-39.
7. "Vicariousness and Authenticity." In The Robot in the Garden, ed. K. Goldberg. Cambridge, MA, M.I.T., 1999 pp.
64-89.
8. “The Uses of Incompetence: Silence in Literary and Philosophical Texts." In Philosophie und Literatur, ed.
Christiane Schildknecht, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main, 1996.
9. “Literature and Knowledge.” Philosophy 58 1983, pp. 489-96, Repr. in The Philosophy of Literature: Classical
and Contemporary Readings, ed. E. John and D.M. Lopes, Blackwell, 2004.
10. "Illusion and Representation." British Journal of Aesthetics 23 (1982), pp. 211-221.
11. "How Not to Talk." Metaphilosophy 12 (1981), pp. 302-9.
12. "Self-deception and Psychological Realism." Philosophical Investigations 3 (1980), pp. 47-60.
13. “Comment on J. Haugeland, ‘Cognitivism.’" Journal of the Brain and Behavioral Sciences, 1 (1978) p. 253.

Critical Notices

1. Critical Notice of Maria Rosa Antognazza, Leibniz: A Biography, Intellectual History Review, In Press.
2. Critical Notice of Ted Honderich, Philosopher: A Kind of Life, Philosophy, 78, (2003) 541-552.
1. "Margaret Dauler Wilson: A Life in Philosophy." Leibniz Review 9 (1999), pp.1-16.
2. “Seeing Things,” Essay Review of Clara Pinto-Correia, The Ovary of Eve, London Review of Books 20, 21 May
1998.
3. "Critical Notice of Margaret Osler, Divine Will and the Mechanical Philosophy." Dialogue 36 (1997), pp. 597-606.
4. "Critical Notice of R.S. Sleigh, Leibniz and Arnauld." Canadian Journal of Philosophy 23 (1993) pp.661-674.

Encyclopaedia articles:

a. Long
1. “Wissen” Enzyklopaedie der Neuzeit, Stuttgart, Metzler, in Press..
2. "Kant and Leibniz." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2004/rev.2008.
3. “Thomas Nagel” Encyclopaedia of American Philosophers , ed. John R. Shook, Bristol. Thoemmes Continuum,
2005.
4. "Morphogenesis, Organisation, Teleology." Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome, 2003.
5. "Sehen." Pt. I 17th and 18th centuries (with R. Konersmann), Historisches Woerterbuch der Philosophie, Basel,
Schwabe, 1995. Band 9: 149-157.
6. "Epistemology of Fiction." The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, 4 vols., Michael Kelley, ed., New York, Oxford
University Press, 1998, 2: 182-5.

b. Short
7. “Moral Psychology,” Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy , ed. A.C. Grayling, A. Pyle, and N. Goulder,
Bristol, Thoemmes Continuum, 2006.
8. “Bachelard;" "Appearance and Reality;" "Descriptive Metaphysics;" "Revisionary Metaphysics;" "Idols;" "Double
Truth;" "Enthusiasm;" “Sociobiology;” “Morality, Demandingness of;” “Morality in Political Philosophy;” “Moral
Knowledge.” In The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, ed. T. Honderich, London, Oxford University Press,
9. 1997.
10. "Generation;" "Preformation;" "Microscope." Encyclopaedia of the Scientific Revolution, ed W. Appelbaum,
Hampden CT, Garland, 2000.

Translations:

1. Martin Seel, “In Defense of Aesthetic Progress.” Praxis, 6 (l987), pp. 416-425. (German)
2. Robert Musil, “The Blackbird.” PN Review, 15 (1989), pp. 21-6. (German)

Short book reviews:

1. David Cunning, Rhetoric and Persuasion in Descartes’s Meditations, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 10.25
(2010) .
2. Matthew Jones, The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution, British Journal for the History of Philosophy 16 (2008)
658-661.
3. Alan Thomas, ed., Bernard Williams, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, May 26 2008.
4. Martha Nussbaum, The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence and India’s Future, Pacific Affairs, In Press.
5. Deborah Brown, Descartes and the Passionate Mind, TLS (2007) (5425), p.
6. Michael Cooper and Michael Hunter: Robert Hooke: Tercentennial Studies, Isis, 98 (2007) pp. 626-7
7. Garrett Cullity, The Moral Demands of Affluence, Mind 115 (2006), pp. 1122-24.
8. Thomas Holden, The Architecture of Matter, British Journal for the History of Philosophy (2005).
9. Claudia Card, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Simone de Beauvoir, Ethics (2004).
10.Mark Goldie, ed., John Locke: Selected Correspondence, Philosophy in Review, 24 (2004) pp. 425-428.
11. Eileen O’Neill, ed., Margaret Cavendish, Observations upon Experimental Philosophy, Philosophy in Review,
(2003).
12. Steven Fuller, Thomas Kuhn: A Philosophical History for Our Times, Isis 92 (2001).
13. Peter C. Meyers, Our Only Star and Compass, Enlightenment and Dissent, No 20, (2001), pp. 181-184.
14. Ezio Vailati, Leibniz and Clarke: A Study of Their Correspondence, Isis, 91 (2000) pp. 155-156.
15. John Sutton, Philosophy and Memory Traces, Metascience, 9 (2000) pp. 203-208.
16. Carol Rovane, The Bounds of Agency, Journal of Philosophy, 97 (2000)
17. Cottingham, John, ed., Reason Will and Sensation: Essays on Descartes's Metaphysics, British Journal for the History of Philosophy
18. Philip Beely, Kontinuitaet und Mechanismus, Leibniz Society Review, 1997.
19. Edward Ruestow, The Microscope in the Dutch Republic , and Fournier, Marian, The Fabric of Life , American
Historical Review , 1998 pp. 875-7.
20. Brian Baigrie, Picturing Knowledge, Historical and Philosophical Problems Concerning the Use of Art in Science,
Dialogue, 38 (1999) pp. 664-6.
21.Naomi Zack, Bachelors of Science, Canadian Philosophical Reviews , 17 (1997) pp. 303-5.
22.Donald Rutherford, Leibniz and the Rational Order of Nature, Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 16 (1996) pp.
287-9.
23. Elizabeth Wolgast, Ethics of an Artificial Person, Radical Philosophy , 1994.
24.G.H.R. Parkinson, Leibniz: De Summa Rerum, Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 13 (1993), 40-42.
25.Margaret Atherton, Berkeley's Revolution in Vision, Archiv fuer Geschichte der Philosophie, 1994.
26.Michele Le Doeuff, Hipparchia's Choice, Radical Philosophy, No. 62, 1992.
27.Giles Deleuze, The Fold: Leibniz and the Baroque, Leibniz Newsletter, 1993.
28.Hide Ishiguro, Leibniz's Theories of Logic and Language , 2nd. ed., International Studies in Philosophy.
29. C. Brown, Leibniz and Strawson, International Studies in Philosophy.
30. J.C.F. Williams, What is Identity? Review of Metaphysics, 1991.
31.M. Matthews, ed., The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy, Canadian Philosophical Reviews.
32.Mark Glouberman, Descartes: The Probable and the Certain, History of European Ideas, l989.
33.Dalia Judovitz, Subjectivity and Representation in Descartes, History of European Ideas, l989.
34. Peter J. Markie, Descartes's Gambit, History of European Ideas, l988-89.
35.Kathleen Okruhlik and James Brown, eds., The Natural Philosophy of Leibniz, Canadian Philosophica l Reviews,
1988-9.
36. Edward Craig, The Mind of God and the Works of Man, Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 7 (l988), pp. ll-13.
37.G.W. Leibniz: Saemtliche Schriften und Briefe, VI/3, Journal of Philosophy, 85 (l986), pp. 395-398.
38. John Yolton, Perceptual Acquaintance from Descartes to Reid, Philosophical Review, 95 (1986), pp. 105-111.
39. Peter Loptson, trans. and ed., Anne Conway: Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy, Canadian
Philosophical Reviews, 2 (1983) pp. 292-6.
40.Nicholas Wolterstorrf, Works and Worlds of Art, Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1 (l982) pp. 39-43.

External activities

Memberships

• Governing Board Member, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 2001-2005

Editorial duties

Editing

• Editor, History of Philosophy Quarterly, 1998-2003.
• Executive Editor, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 1993-1998.
• Editorial Board, Intellectual History Review, 2005-

Invited talks and conferences

Recent conference and colloquium papers (Since 2006)

1. June 2012, Merton College, Oxford, Political Philosophy Lucretius and Modernity Conference
2. May 2012, Cambridge University, History and Philosophy of Science Seminar, ‘Lucretian Pessimism: What was Kant’s Critical Philosophy Critical of?’
3. April 2012, Cambridge, ‘Moral Sensibility in Darwin’s Notebooks’ Darwin and Human Nature Conference.
4. March 2012, Durham University, Philosophy Colloquium,‘The Puzzle of External Reasons’
5. March 2012, University of East Anglia, Philosophy Colloquium,‘The Puzzle of External Reasons’
6. March 2012, University of Dundee, Philosophy Colloquium,’ The Puzzle of External Reasons’
7. February 2012, Tilburg University, Netherlands, The Puzzle of External Reasons”
8. January 2012, University College, Dublin, Philosophy Colloquium,‘The Puzzle of External Reasons’
9. October, 2011, New York City, NYU, Colloquium on Lucretius and Modernity, keynote lecture. “Lucretius and the Speculative Sciences of Origins.”
10. September 2011 Edinburgh, British Society for Aesthetics, keynote lecture, “Grief and the Poet.”
11. July 2011, Edinburgh, International Hume Society 300th Anniversary Conference, plenary lecture,“Is Moral Naturalism Bad for People?”
12. June 2011 Oslo, Conference on Naturalized Moral Epistemology, “Three Forms of Moral Naturalism”
13. February 2011 Utrecht, Zeno Lecture ”What was the Critical Philosophy Critical Of?”
14. December 2010-Aristotelian Society, London, “Perception, Evolution and the Moral Properties Debate”
15. December 2010-Univ. of Southampton “Perception, Evolution and the Moral Properties Debate”
16. December 2010, Max-Planck Institut, Berlin, Conference on Ideology and Epistemology, “What was Kant’s Critical Philosophy Critical Of?”
17. November 2010-“Submission to Fate in Descartes’s Metaphysics” –Sorbonne, Univ. of Paris I.
18. November 2010-University of Glasgow, “Perception, Evolution and the Moral Properties Debate”
19. November 2010-EMPHASIS seminar, London, “”Vana Philosophia”
20. August 2010 “Are Moral Properties Response-Dependent?”—Conference on Response Dependent Properties, Center for the Study of Mind in Nature, Oslo.
21. August 2010 “War, History and Theodicy,” Conference on Sociability in Early Modern Philosophy, Helsinki
22. June 2010, “War, History and Theodicy,” Colloque Theodicée Sorbonne, Univ of Paris I.
23. June 2010, “Another Look at Occult Qualities,” Symposium, Nijmegen University.
24. April 2010, “The State of Nature in Ancient and Modern Philosophy” Colloquium, Johns Hopkins University
25. April 2010 “The State of Nature in Ancient and Modern Philosophy” FEW lecture, University of Pennsylvania April 2010
26. “The Paradoxes of Visual Representation,” Center for History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh
27. April 2010, “The Concept of ‘The Organism” in Philosophy of Biology,” Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania
28. February, 2010 “The Paradoxes of Visual Representation,” Colloquium, St. Andrews
29. February 2010, “The Paradoxes of Visual Representation” Keynote address, European Society for Early Modern Philosophy, Berlin
30. February 2010, “The Concept of ‘The Organism” in Philosophy of Biology,” Colloquium, Stanford University
31. December 2009, “Nietzsche and Darwinism”, North American Nietzsche Society, American Philosophical Association Meetings, Eastern Division, New York
32. May 2009, “Darwinian Morality,” Sprague and Taylor Lecture, Brooklyn College.
33. April 2009, “Epicureanism in Early Modern Philosophy,” Harvard University Departmental Workshop
34. April 2009, “Metaphysics and the Sciences of Life,” Philadelphia, Philadelphia Consortium in the History of Philosophy
35. February 2009, “Metaphysics and the Sciences of Life,” Conference on Leibniz and The Sciences, Tenerife, Spain
36. November 2008 “Comment on Gianni Paganini’s ‘Sanchez and Descartes,’” NYU Modern Philosophy Symposium
37. September 2008, “One System or Many: the Problems of Leibniz’s Monadology : Commentary on Pauline Phemister,
38. Leibniz and the Natural World and Glenn Hartz, Leibniz’s Final System” Princeton, Leibniz Society of North America
39. September 2008, “It’s Better than I t Was: The Problem of Belief-Change in Ethics” Madison Meta-Ethics Workshop
40. July 2008 “Comment on the papers of Kusch, Tiles, and Stroud,” Max-Planck Institut, Berlin, Workshop on Historical Epistemology
41. June 2008 “The Poverty and Richness of Kant’s Moral Theory,” University of Aberdeen, Departmental Colloquium
42. May 2008 “Comment on the Papers of Adler, Arikha, Martensen, Orrigi, and Stoler” Italian Academy, Columbia University, Workshop on Common Sense
43. February-March 2008:“Life According to Nature,” University of Edinburgh, Leverhulme Lectures (5)
44. November 2007” Problems and Prospects for Evolutionary Ethics” The New School, Departmental Colloquium
45. November 2007 “Empiricism and Atomism in 17th C. Science” New York Academy of Sciences, Seminar Series
46. October 2007 “Epicureanism in 17th C. Philosophy,” St. Andrews, Workshop on Early Modern Epicureanism
47. June 2007 Discussion of Ch. 2 of The Invisible World Florence, Workshop on Visuality and Instrumentation in the Early Modern Period
48. May 2007 “Classicism and Naturalism in Thomas Hobbes” St. Andrews University, Departmental Colloquium
49. May 2007 “What is the Aim of Moral Inquiry?” University of Glasgow, Departmental Colloquium
50. May 2007, “Prospects and Problems for Evolutionary Ethics” and “What is the Aim of Moral Inquiry?” University of Oslo, Center for the Study of Mind in Nature
51. March 2007 “What is the Aim of Moral Inquiry?” Columbia University, Departmental Colloquium
52. November 2006 “Is Truth the Aim of Moral Inquiry?” Yale University, Departmental Colloquium
53. October, 2006, ”The Philosopher as Social Critic in the 18th Century,” Prato, Italy, Conference on The Persona of the Philosopher
54. September 2006, “Belief in a Just World: A Problem for Moral Philosophy” Tufts University, Departmental Colloquium
55. June 2006 “Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity” (Plenary Address) Paris, History of Philosophy of Science Association
56. May 2006 “Hobbes and the Laws of Nature” New England Colloquium, Harvard University
57. February 2006, “Preference and Belief in Moral Theory” Rutgers University, Departmental Colloquium