Mastodawn

My M.A. thesis, "Citing Silences: Finding a History 'Outside' the Archive," is available open access on PhilArchive. It argues that silences produced by Euro-Western historiography in the service of white supremacy can be cited in ways that force the archive to acknowledge its own violence — developing the concept of the "hauntological irrealis."
https://philpapers.org/rec/HENCSF
#PhilArchive #PhilPapers #philosophy #philosophyOfHistory #CriticalRaceTheory #Derrida #Trouillot #Hartman #Butler

Deirdre Anne Hendrick, Citing Silences: Finding a History ‘Outside’ the Archive - PhilPapers

This thesis examines how the authorizing norms of Euro-Western historiography—organized by white supremacy—produce and maintain silences, excluding entire communities from historical narrative. Trouillot identifies silences as structural to historical narrative, operating ...

Quentin Ruyant Mar 2

New publication: What's Wrong with the Semantic Conception of Theories? (Erkenntnis) link.springer.com/article/10.1... #philsci #philpapers I argue against the move away from linguistic analysis of theories and models in philosophy of science and outline a pragmatic conception of theories.

What’s Wrong with the Semantic...

What’s Wrong with the Semantic Conception of Scientific Theories: Towards a Pragmatic View - Erkenntnis

In contrast to the syntactic conception of scientific theories, the semantic conception holds that theories are not statements about the world, but families of models. Recent debates have tended to blur the differences between these two views. Practice-oriented philosophers of science have also challenged both views on the ground that models are central to science, but autonomous from theories. However, they have not proposed any alternative. This article is an attempt to sharpen the challenges faced by the semantic view in order to pave the way for a truly pragmatic conception of theories. I examine different ways in which a focus on models could make the semantic view different from the syntactic view. In the end, they share the same resources to individuate theories, they account just as well for different layers of interpretation, and they face the same issues regarding the relation between formal representation and informal experience. I argue that the only relevant contrast lies not between linguistic and non-linguistic representation, but between descriptive and schematic representation, but this ultimately favours a pragmatic view by implying a role for context in theoretical interpretation. I sketch an account of schematic representation that could serve as a basis for a pragmatic conception of theories.

SpringerLink

Philosophics Jan 9

I've been rejected again. Should I get a PhD?

https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/09/rejection-letter/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

People tend to look at peer-reviewed journals as a sign of credibility. I've not written about the nonsense of peer review, but these are unadulterated gatekeeping mechanisms antithetical to knowledge dissemination.

#philosophy #protocol #rejection #notice #credentials #journals #credibility #gatekeeping #peerreview #bollox #zenodo #philpapers #writing #letters #blog

Quentin Ruyant Jan 6

Here's the final (view-only) version of my paper on large language models and representation: rdcu.be/eXF6T #philpapers

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ntwrkxpfrjfk6cxnm74xdr7x/post/3m7wsgcdbls2k

What do large language models ...

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dev.dfaria.eu: This paper of mine is now officially published, a -

This paper of mine is now officially published, a mere four years after it was accepted at Philosphers' Imprint. #philsky #philsci #philpapers journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/articl...

https://bsky.app/profile/dellsen.bsky.social/post/3lwezc7j2hc2q

Finnur Dellsén (@dellsen.bsky.social)

This paper of mine is now officially published, a mere four years after it was accepted at Philosphers' Imprint. #philsky #philsci #philpapers https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/article/id/4961/

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