The problem of future contingents: scoping out a solution

Various philosophers have long since been attracted to the doctrine that future contingent propositions systematically fail to be true—what is sometimes called the doctrine of the open future. However, open futurists have always struggled to articulate how their view interacts with standard principles of classical logic—most notably, with the Law of Excluded Middle. For consider the following two claims: Trump will be impeached tomorrow; Trump will not be impeached tomorrow. According to the kind of open futurist at issue, both of these claims may well fail to be true. According to many, however, the disjunction of these claims can be represented as p ∨ ~p—that is, as an instance of LEM. In this essay, however, I wish to defend the view that the disjunction these claims cannot be represented as an instance of p ∨ ~p. And this is for the following reason: the latter claim is not, in fact, the strict negation of the former. More particularly, there is an important semantic distinction between the strict negation of the first claim [~] and the latter claim. However, the viability of this approach has been denied by Thomason, and more recently by MacFarlane and Cariani and Santorio, the latter of whom call the denial of the given semantic distinction “scopelessness”. According to these authors, that is, will is “scopeless” with respect to negation; whereas there is perhaps a syntactic distinction between ‘~Will p’ and ‘Will ~p’, there is no corresponding semantic distinction. And if this is so, the approach in question fails. In this paper, then, I criticize the claim that will is “scopeless” with respect to negation. I argue that will is a so-called “neg-raising” predicate—and that, in this light, we can see that the requisite scope distinctions aren’t missing, but are simply being masked. The result: a under-appreciated solution to the problem of future contingents that sees and as contraries, not contradictories

Waller Creek Rapid Visual Litter Assessment Method and Baseline Results

This short report surveyed 10 different Waller Creek sites using a litter index field sheet that they designed. These scores were then assigned to each survey site.The Watershed Protection Department has developed a method to assess litter in creeks and provide a way to evaluate the success of litter management efforts in the lower Waller Creek watershed over time. A rapid visual litter assessment method was applied at ten sites on Waller Creek in downtown Austin, Texas, to describe the abundance and type of litter present at each site in addition to identification of possible sources of litter. Surveys were timed to provide an estimate of staff time necessary to conduct future litter surveys using this method. On average, to complete the survey at one site took between 6.7 and 7.5 minutes. Surveys concluded that there was a significant presence of litter in lower Waller Creek. Beverage containers were identified to be the most prevalent type of litter. Surveys identified a few point sources of litter. Additional data points at each site may be needed to more accurately describe baseline conditions in Waller Creek.Waller Creek Working Grou

A Collection of Observations and Advice on University Teaching

Outline 1. A Prime Directive: Don’t Bore the Students 2. The Secret to Classroom Buzz: Listen to, and Play Off, Students’ Questions 3. Puzzle, Enlighten, Repeat 4. Memorable Illustrations 5. Old School, Chalk and Notes 6. Research and Teaching Fusion 7. BackstageAerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanic

Looped and Perforated Elbow Pipes in Northeast Texas

Todd presented a general chronology for the presence of aboriginal-manufactured clay elbow pipes in Northeast Texas Caddo sites. Most of the pipe types have an extensive range in time; however, this may be true for thong elbow pipes. This paper looks further at the time range for; and the variety, of thong pipes. Jackson refers to elbow pipes that have a hole between the keel and the bowl as thong pipes. A string appears to have been run through the holes. He refers to the two types of pipes as handled and holed, but I use the terms looped and perforated. Perino mentions that the perforation in the pipe\u27s keel may have been so that a cord could be fastened to the stem, similar to some French and Native American micmac pipes

Notes on the Mollusca from Site 41DT59, Cooper Lake, Delta County, Texas

This paper focuses on the information about the mollusca from site 41DT59. The author takes the information from Dr. Fullington, the noted malacologist, and illustrates how the archeologist can take the information and apply it to site analysis. This information derived from the analysis mainly supports what the authors have concluded about site 41DT59, but does discuss material not covered in the original text. The analysis is divided into two sections. The information derived from the gastropods is discussed first, and the information derived from the mussels second