Is God’s Benevolence Impartial?

In this paper I consider the intuitive idea that God is fair and does not play favorites. This belief appears to be held by many theists. I will call it the Principle of Impartial Benevolence (PIB) and put it as follows: As much as possible, for all persons, God equally promotes the good and equally prevents the bad. I begin with the conviction that there is a prima facie tension between PIB and the disparity of human suffering. My aim in what follows is to clarify this tension and show that it runs deep. More specifically, I will argue that PIB imposes stringent demands—including a patient-centered theodicy—on the sorts of reasons that would justify God in permitting suffering, and, that the historical disparity of suffering indicates that these demands are not met. I conclude that theists should disavow PIB or at least consider it sub judice

Tropes as Divine Acts: The Nature of Creaturely Properties in a World Sustained by God

I aim to synthesize two issues within theistic metaphysics. The first concerns the metaphysics of creaturely properties and, more specifically, the nature of unshareable properties, or tropes. The second concerns the metaphysics of providence and, more specifically, the way in which God sustains creatures, or sustenance. I propose that creaturely properties, understood as what I call modifier tropes, are identical with divine acts of sustenance, understood as acts of property-conferral. I argue that this *theistic conferralism* is attractive because it integrates trope theory and the doctrine of sustenance in a mutually enhancing way. Taking modifier tropes to be divine acts mitigates certain weaknesses of trope theory and safeguards divine sustenance from the threat of both deism and occasionalism

Is Trope Theory a Divided House?

In this paper I explore Michael Loux’s important distinction between “tropes” and “tropers”. First, I argue that the distinction throws into relief an ambiguity and discrepancy in the literature, revealing two fundamentally different versions of trope theory. Second, I argue that the distinction brings into focus unique challenges facing each of the resulting trope theories, thus calling into question an alleged advantage of trope theory—that by uniquely occupying the middle ground between its rivals, trope theory is able to recover and preserve the insights of these views. Ultimately, the distinction suggests that trope theory is a divided house

Tropes as Character-Grounders

There is a largely unrecognized ambiguity concerning the nature of a trope. Disambiguation throws into relief two fundamentally different conceptions of a trope and provides two ways to understand and develop each metaphysical theory that put tropes to use. In this paper I consider the relative merits that result from differences concerning a trope’s ability to ground the character of ordinary objects. I argue that on each conception of a trope, there are unique implications and challenges concerning character-grounding

Toward Intellectually Virtuous Discourse: Two Vicious Fallacies and the Virtues that Inhibit Them

We have witnessed the athleticization of political discourse, whereby debate is treated like an athletic contest in which the aim is to vanquish one's opponents. When political discourse becomes a zero-sum game, it is characterized by suspicions, accusations, belief polarization, and ideological entrenchment. Unfortunately, athleticization is ailing the classroom as well, making it difficult for educators to prepare students to make valuable contributions to healthy civic discourse. Such preparation requires an educational environment that fosters the intellectual virtues that characterize an examined life. This, in turn, requires an amicable and hospitable atmosphere in which a student enjoys the freedom to discover and articulate what she believes, how well her beliefs hang together, and what underlying assumptions or biases might be at work—without the fear that her self-disclosure will trigger immediate accusations and pigeonholing from fellow students. Educating for intellectual virtue is crucial for meeting these challenges and in this chapter we contribute to this strategy by offering some tools and guidance for promoting productive discussion of controversial issues. In the first two sections, we identify and explain two fallacious patterns of thought that often encumber discussion of controversial issues: assailment-by-entailment and the attitude-to-agent fallacy. In effect, these sections diagnose two diseases of discourse. We conclude each section with practical suggestions—in the form of thinking routines—for curing these ills. We will argue that part of the cure is to be found in the intellectual virtues. In particular, we will discuss how the virtues of intellectual charity, humility and carefulness can inoculate the mind against the fallacies we identify

A Morphological Diagnostic for Dynamical Evolution of Wolf-Rayet Bubbles

We have observed H-alpha and [OIII] emission from eight of the most well defined Wolf-Rayet ring nebulae in the Galaxy. We find that in many cases the outermost edge of the [OIII] emission leads the H-alpha emission. We suggest that these offsets, when present, are due to the shock from the Wolf-Rayet bubble expanding into the circumstellar envelope. Thus, the details of the WR bubble morphology at H-alpha and [OIII] can then be used to better understand the physical condition and evolutionary stage of the nebulae around Wolf-Rayet stars, as well as place constraints on the nature of the stellar progenitor and its mass loss history.Comment: 11 pages, LaTex, 8 figures, accepted for publication in AJ, November 200

La Bundle Theory y el desafío del carácter denso

The challenge of thick character consists in explaining the apparent fact that one object can be charactered in many ways. If we assume a trope bundle theory, we ought to answer in turn the two following questions: (P1) What are the requirements on a trope bundle theory if it is to adequately account for thick-character?; (P2) Is a trope bundle theory that meets those requirements preferable to rival theories? In order to address the above questions, the paper proceeds as follows. In the first section I cover two preliminary matters: I introduce the concept of thick-character and distinguish it from other related concepts. Then, I sketch several leading accounts of character and situate bundle theory among them. Also, I pick up (Q1) and argue that there are three requirements on a trope bundle theory if it is to adequately account for thick-character. Lastly, in the third section I pick up (Q2) and argue that the requirements spell trouble for trope bundle theory. This trouble, I argue, indicates that trope bundle theory—and hence bundle theory simpliciter—fails to better its chief rival, substance-attribute theory.El desafío del carácter denso consiste en explicar el hecho aparentemente evidente de que un objeto pueda estar caracterizado de muchas maneras. Si asumimos una Bundle Theory de tropos, dar cuenta de este desafío supone responder a las dos siguientes preguntas: (P1) ¿Cuáles son los requerimientos que una bundle theory de tropos debe satisfacer a la hora de explicar adecuadamente el carácter denso?; (P2) ¿Es tal teoría viable vis-à-vis sus rivales? En vistas a responder adecuadamente tales preguntas, el presente artículo se articula del siguiente modo. Primero me ocupo de dos asuntos preliminares, a saber, introducir el concepto de carácter denso y distinguirlo de otros conceptos relacionados. Luego esbozo las principales teorías de carácter denso y el lugar que la bundle theory ocupa dentro ese espectro. A continuación, retomo (P1) y muestro que existen tres requerimientos para toda bundle theory de tropos que explique adecuadamente el carácter denso. En la última sección, vuelvo a (P2) y argumento que dichos requerimientos ocasionan efectivamente problemas para la bundle theory de tropos. Estos problemas, sostengo, hacen evidente que la bundle theory de tropos—y por extensión cualquier bundle theory—falla a la hora de superar a su principal rival, la teoría de substrato y atributos