The Epistemology of Colour Vision. This project will advance knowledge on the important traditional philosophical topic of colour and colour perception by drawing both on philosophical and scientific sources. The problem of colour is one to which Australian philosophy has made seminal contribution. For this reason, this project will continue to develop an Australian expertise in the area and help to make Australia a world centre of research in the area.
A Philosophical Investigation into Conditions of Conceptual Creativity. Australia as a young and striving society depends heavily on innovation and the integration of creative forces. Yet creativity can only be understood through a close analysis of its conditions. This philosophical project can contribute directly by investigating paradigm cases of successful groupings of individuals around specific clusters of related problems. It aims at exploring the nature of such structures and conditions ....A Philosophical Investigation into Conditions of Conceptual Creativity. Australia as a young and striving society depends heavily on innovation and the integration of creative forces. Yet creativity can only be understood through a close analysis of its conditions. This philosophical project can contribute directly by investigating paradigm cases of successful groupings of individuals around specific clusters of related problems. It aims at exploring the nature of such structures and conditions that determine the emergence and flourishing of conceptual creativity. Understanding the nexus between creativity, innovation and these groupings is of central importance to the promotion and maintenance of modern societies. It is central to the dynamics of societal processes and enhances creative responses in the realm of e. g. conflict solving.Read moreRead less
Ethos and Topos: A Philosophical Investigation of the Ethics and Politics of Place. This project will contribute to the public and academic understanding of the way our sense of place relates to our sense of who we are, and the ethical implications of that relation. The outcomes of the project will have an application to a wide range of applied and policy areas in which questions of identity and belonging are at issue. It will connect directly with ongoing public discussion about a number of cr ....Ethos and Topos: A Philosophical Investigation of the Ethics and Politics of Place. This project will contribute to the public and academic understanding of the way our sense of place relates to our sense of who we are, and the ethical implications of that relation. The outcomes of the project will have an application to a wide range of applied and policy areas in which questions of identity and belonging are at issue. It will connect directly with ongoing public discussion about a number of critical contemporary issues relating to ideas of nationhood and community, our connection to land and environment, and our sense of identity and belonging.Read moreRead less
Constructivism and Conceptual Mobility in Political Philosophy. This analysis of the theory of political concepts is important in contemporary Australian debates over the meaning of justice, democracy and sovereignty. This project will enhance the increasing self-awareness and theoretical sophistication of Australian public culture. Case studies of justice, democracy and sovereignty will directly engage with issues at the forefront of international debates in political philosophy. They will cont ....Constructivism and Conceptual Mobility in Political Philosophy. This analysis of the theory of political concepts is important in contemporary Australian debates over the meaning of justice, democracy and sovereignty. This project will enhance the increasing self-awareness and theoretical sophistication of Australian public culture. Case studies of justice, democracy and sovereignty will directly engage with issues at the forefront of international debates in political philosophy. They will contribute to the international renown of Australian philosophical research and improve the quality of the local research environment for graduate students in philosophy and political theory.Read moreRead less
Spinoza, Kant and Deleuze on freedom and ethical difference: an immanent approach. Transcendent moral philosophies, such as those in the Kantian tradition, have significant disadvantages when it comes to developing ethical and political tools for multicultural communities such as Australia, as they lack the flexibility to negotiate between moral and religious groupings adhering to competing moral absolutes. In using Deleuze's thought to develop a non-transcendent or immanent approach to ethics, ....Spinoza, Kant and Deleuze on freedom and ethical difference: an immanent approach. Transcendent moral philosophies, such as those in the Kantian tradition, have significant disadvantages when it comes to developing ethical and political tools for multicultural communities such as Australia, as they lack the flexibility to negotiate between moral and religious groupings adhering to competing moral absolutes. In using Deleuze's thought to develop a non-transcendent or immanent approach to ethics, the project seeks to address this problem. It will provide a means of negotiating this plurality of beliefs without recourse to transcendent or universal values, or to any one dominant moral code. This approach aims to have a marked impact on national debate over the philosophical and practical possibilities of such an ethics.Read moreRead less
The Structure of Spacetime. This project, is part of a career long program of Critical Scientific Realism, which asserts that the sciences are a valuable guide to the truth, but rejects a ?fundamentalist? attitude towards them as if they were self-interpreting.
This project will make major contributions to our understanding of:
The properties and relations constitutive of Spacetime
Minimal Convexity Theory
Quantum theory and absolute Simultaneity
Stephen Wolfram and Discrete Geomet ....The Structure of Spacetime. This project, is part of a career long program of Critical Scientific Realism, which asserts that the sciences are a valuable guide to the truth, but rejects a ?fundamentalist? attitude towards them as if they were self-interpreting.
This project will make major contributions to our understanding of:
The properties and relations constitutive of Spacetime
Minimal Convexity Theory
Quantum theory and absolute Simultaneity
Stephen Wolfram and Discrete Geometrodynamics
Ways of approximating the discrete by the continuous
The resulting advances in knowledge will be presented in journal articles and a book integrating my work on Space and Time.Read moreRead less
Philosophical Foundations for Probabilistic Inference and Probabilistic Prediction. This exciting and innovative project aims to lay new foundations for contemporary philosophy of science. We shall use basic Minimum Message Length (MML) principles to vastly improve on current philosophical accounts of scientific inference and scientific prediction. We shall also use the theory to develop new and exciting answers to longstanding problems in philosophy of science concerning induction, projectabili ....Philosophical Foundations for Probabilistic Inference and Probabilistic Prediction. This exciting and innovative project aims to lay new foundations for contemporary philosophy of science. We shall use basic Minimum Message Length (MML) principles to vastly improve on current philosophical accounts of scientific inference and scientific prediction. We shall also use the theory to develop new and exciting answers to longstanding problems in philosophy of science concerning induction, projectability, private languages, determinism and intelligence. A theory based on MML principles will demonstrate the clear inadequacies of competing classical approaches, and will completely reshape the way in which philosophers think about Bayesian theories of inference.Read moreRead less
Continental Theory in the Wake of Cognitive Literary Studies. In an era that is plainly 'post-theoretical', the recent pioneering attempts to bridge the gap between literary studies and the cognitive neurosciences have far-reaching consequences for the study of English literature. This project will address those consequences by implementing a comparative critical study of continental theory and cognitive poetics, and through this comparison enlarge and refine urgent debates about the future of t ....Continental Theory in the Wake of Cognitive Literary Studies. In an era that is plainly 'post-theoretical', the recent pioneering attempts to bridge the gap between literary studies and the cognitive neurosciences have far-reaching consequences for the study of English literature. This project will address those consequences by implementing a comparative critical study of continental theory and cognitive poetics, and through this comparison enlarge and refine urgent debates about the future of the humanities and the kinds of teaching practices carried out therein. The project will therefore provide important groundwork for future research carried out at the frontier of literature, critical theory and cognitive science.Read moreRead less
A philosophical examination of how bodies support communal bonds and how these bonds can be disrupted. By explaining how bodies support open senses of belonging with others and to places, this project accounts for a key element of the social fabric that is usually overlooked in cognitive models of social and political interaction. This grounding of community in the corporeal and affective exposes a range of ways that communal bonds can be threatened or weakened which would be otherwise left out ....A philosophical examination of how bodies support communal bonds and how these bonds can be disrupted. By explaining how bodies support open senses of belonging with others and to places, this project accounts for a key element of the social fabric that is usually overlooked in cognitive models of social and political interaction. This grounding of community in the corporeal and affective exposes a range of ways that communal bonds can be threatened or weakened which would be otherwise left out of account. The study thereby points to the political conditions necessary to foster vibrant, healthy, and ethical community.Read moreRead less
Time and Perspective in the Quantum World. The project deals with topics which, since the early days of quantum theory in the 1920s and 1930s, have generated wide interest among general readers. It is investigating questions to which many Australians, as well as a great many more people internationally, would like to know the answers. It brings to Australia two distinguished young international researchers, thus substantially enhancing Australia's skill base and international reputation in these ....Time and Perspective in the Quantum World. The project deals with topics which, since the early days of quantum theory in the 1920s and 1930s, have generated wide interest among general readers. It is investigating questions to which many Australians, as well as a great many more people internationally, would like to know the answers. It brings to Australia two distinguished young international researchers, thus substantially enhancing Australia's skill base and international reputation in these fundamental fields. The project's core research team will also act as a catalyst for further international collaborations.Read moreRead less