The Philosophy of Roderick M. Chisholm

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Roderick Chisholm was one of the most important American philosophers during the second half of the 20th century. This seminar is organized around the work of Chisholm, but it is not just about him. Chisholm had distinctive positions on most of the major topics in epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of mind, positions that were subsequently built upon or challenged by others. Tracing his views and the responses to them can thus serve as something of a history of metaphysics and epistemology over a 50-year period, leading up to contemporary debates and providing background for them. My plan is to pair the reading by Chisholm each week with one or more readings by other philosophers who subsequently expounded his work, built on it, criticized it, or set forth competing positions.