A classic argument for skepticism about the external world runs as follows. First: we cannot know that the evil-demon hypothesis is false, where the evil-demon hypothesis says that all of our sensory experiences have been produced by an evil demon. Second: if we cannot know that the evil-demon hypothesis is false, we cannot know we have hands. Conclusion: We cannot know we have hands. Generaliz...

This paper develops the first parts of a logical framework for the empirical sciences, by means of a redefinition of theory structuralism as originally developed by Joseph Sneed, Wolfgang Stegmüller, and others, in the context of a ‘rigid’ logic as based on a fixed (therefore rigid) ontology. The paper defends a formal conception of the empirical sciences that has an irreducible ontological bas...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of post-structuralist theory to understanding hypertext and the World Wide Web, and the challenge posed by digital information technology to the practices of the information profession. Design/methodology/approach – The method adopted is that of a critical study. Findings – The paper argues for the importance of post-structuralis...

This paper develops an analogy proposed by Stachel between general relativity (GR) and quantum mechanics (QM) as regards permutation invariance. Our main idea is to overcome Pooley’s criticism of the analogy by appeal to paraparticles. In GR the equations are (the solution space is) invariant under diffeomorphisms permuting spacetime points. Similarly, in QM the equations are invariant under pa...