All Outputs (27)

On the individuation of words (2019)
Journal Article
Miller, J. (2020). On the individuation of words. Inquiry, 63(8), 875-884. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174x.2018.1562378

The idea that two words can be instances of the same word is a central intuition in our conception of language. This fact underlies many of the claims that we make about how we communicate, and how we understand each other. Given this, irrespective o... Read More about On the individuation of words.

Are All Primitives Created Equal? (2018)
Journal Article
Miller, J. (2018). Are All Primitives Created Equal?. The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 56(2), 273-292. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjp.12279

Primitives are both important and unavoidable, and which set of primitives we endorse will greatly shape our theories and how those theories provide solutions to the problems that we take to be important. After introducing the notion of a primitive p... Read More about Are All Primitives Created Equal?.

Language and ontological emergence (2017)
Journal Article
Miller, J. (2017). Language and ontological emergence. Philosophica (Gent. Printed), 91, 105-143

Providing empirically supportable instances of ontological emergence is notoriously difficult. Typically, the literature has focused on two possible sources. The first is the mind and consciousness; the second is within physics, and more specifically... Read More about Language and ontological emergence.

The Non-existence of Ontological Categories: A defence of Lowe (2016)
Journal Article
Miller, J. (2016). The Non-existence of Ontological Categories: A defence of Lowe. Metaphysica, 17(2), 163-176. https://doi.org/10.1515/mp-2016-0012

This paper addresses the ontological status of the ontological categories as defended within E.J. Lowe’s four-category ontology (kinds, objects, properties/relations, and modes). I consider the arguments in Griffith (2015. “Do Ontological Categories... Read More about The Non-existence of Ontological Categories: A defence of Lowe.

Can an Ontological Pluralist Really be a Realist? (2016)
Journal Article
Miller, J. (2016). Can an Ontological Pluralist Really be a Realist?. Metaphilosophy, 47(3), 425-430. https://doi.org/10.1111/meta.12185

This article examines whether it is possible to uphold one form of deflationism towards metaphysics, ontological pluralism (as defined by Eklund 2008), whilst maintaining metaphysical realism. The focus therefore is on one prominent deflationist who... Read More about Can an Ontological Pluralist Really be a Realist?.

Lexicalisation and the Origin of the Human Mind (2013)
Journal Article
Hughes, T. J., & Miller, J. (2014). Lexicalisation and the Origin of the Human Mind. Biosemiotics, 7(1), 11-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-013-9189-1

This paper will discuss the origin of the human mind, and the qualitative discontinuity between human and animal cognition. We locate the source of this discontinuity within the language faculty, and thus take the origin of the mind to depend on the... Read More about Lexicalisation and the Origin of the Human Mind.

The Unavoidable Dream Problem (2012)
Book Chapter
Miller, J. (2012). The Unavoidable Dream Problem. In D. Johnson, & W. Irwin (Eds.), Inception and Philosophy: Because It's Never Just a Dream. Wiley