BJPS

19/12/2025

From the new issue: Cristian Larroulet Philippi, 'Against Prohibition (or, When Using Ordinal Scales to Compare Groups Is OK)'
Read it here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/721759

ABSTRACT. There is a widely held view on measurement inferences that defends the prohibition that we should not make inferences from averages taken with ordinal scales (versus quantitative scales; interval or ratio). This prohibition is general—applying to all ordinal scales—and is sometimes endorsed without qualification. Adhering to it dramatically limits research in the social and biomedical sciences. I provide a Bayesian analysis of this problem, determining when measurements from ordinal scales can be used to confirm hypotheses about relative group averages. I illustrate with the alleged paradigm ordinal scale—the Mohs scale of mineral hardness—arguing that it has been mischaracterized in the literature. The prohibition, I conclude, cannot be upheld, even in a qualified sense. The beliefs needed to make average comparisons are less demanding than those appropriate for quantitative scales.

18/12/2025

From the new issue: Francesca Zaffora Blando, 'Bayesian Merging of Opinions and Algorithmic Randomness'
Read it here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/721758

ABSTRACT. When they agree on which data streams are algorithmically random, two Bayesian agents beginning the learning process with different priors may be seen as having compatible beliefs about the global uniformity of nature. This is because the algorithmically random data streams are of necessity globally regular: they are precisely the sequences that satisfy certain important statistical laws. By virtue of agreeing on which data streams are algorithmically random, two Bayesian agents can thus be taken to concur on which global regularities they expect to see in the data. I show that this type of compatibility between priors suffices to ensure that two computable Bayesian agents will reach inter-subjective agreement with increasing information. Thus, when shared by computable Bayesian learners with different subjective priors, the beliefs about uniformity captured by algorithmic randomness provably lead to merging of opinions.

17/12/2025

From the new issue: Adrià Segarra, 'A Hybrid Theory of Induction'
Read it here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/725724

ABSTRACT. There are two important traditions in the philosophy of induction. According to one, inductive arguments are warranted by rules. Bayesianism is the most popular view within this tradition. According to the other, inductive arguments are not warranted by rules but by matters of fact. Norton’s material theory of induction is one such influential view within this tradition. Despite their limitations, both approaches illuminate important aspects inductive support. Here I present a hybrid theory of induction, in which I acknowledge and articulate the role of both rules and matters of fact in our understanding. Rules of induction accurately describe relations of inductive support when they are warranted, and a rule of induction is warranted if the right facts about the matter of the induction obtain. This provides a functional and accurate account of inductive support that can make sense of how different rules of induction coexist and tackle problems in epistemology.

16/12/2025

New from the BJPS Review of Books: Thomas Ryckman reviews The Einstein Paradox, by Guido Bacciagaluppi & Elise Crull. Read it here:

Thomas Ryckman reviews The Einstein Paradox, by Guido Bacciagaluppi and Elise Crull

15/12/2025

From the new issue: Sheldon Goldstein, Ward Struyve & Roderich Tumulka, 'The Bohmian Approach to the Problems of Cosmological Quantum Fluctuations'
Read it here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/721531

ABSTRACT. There are two kinds of quantum fluctuations relevant to cosmology that we focus on here: those that form the seeds for structure formation in the early universe and those giving rise to Boltzmann brains in the late universe. Boltzmann brains are random agglomerates of particles that, by extreme coincidence, form functioning brains. Unlikely as these coincidences are, they seem to be predicted to occur in a quantum universe as vacuum fluctuations if the universe continues to exist for an infinite (or just very long) time. Indeed, they are predicted to occur over and over, forming the majority of all brains in the history of the universe. We provide an introduction to the Bohmian version of quantum theory and explain why in this version, the undesirable kind of fluctuation leading to Boltzmann brains does not occur (or at least not often), while the desirable kind of fluctuation responsible for structure formation in the early universe does.

12/12/2025

From the new issue: Francesca Bellazzi, 'Biochemical Functions'
Free to read here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/723241

ABSTRACT. Biochemists commonly ascribe functions to biomolecules and classify them accordingly, as has been noted in the recent literature on biochemical kinds. But while a lot has been written on biological and psychological functions, less has been said about biochemical functions. I consider whether a biological or a chemical understanding of function can be applied to biochemical functions, illustrating the issue with the example of vitamin B12. I argue that an adequate characterization of biochemical function cannot be provided by either a biological or a chemical understanding alone. Instead, I argue that if we accept functional attribution to biochemical molecules, then biochemical function is constituted by chemical dispositional properties that causally contribute to selected biological processes.

11/12/2025

From the new issue: Lu Chen, 'Why the Weyl Tile Argument Is Wrong'.
Read it here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/722106

ABSTRACT. Weyl famously argued that if space were discrete, then Euclidean geometry could not hold even approximately. Since then, many philosophers have responded to this argument by advancing alternative accounts of discrete geometry that recover approximately Euclidean space. However, they have missed an importantly flawed assumption in Weyl’s argument: physical geometry is determined by fundamental spacetime structures independently from dynamical laws. In this article, I aim to show its falsity through two rigorous examples: random walks in statistical physics and quantum mechanics.

10/12/2025

Editors' Choice (free to read): Sara Aronowitz, 'Semanticization Challenges the Episodic–Semantic Distinction'. Free to read here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/721760

ABSTRACT. Episodic and semantic memory are often taken to be fundamentally different mental systems, and contemporary philosophers often pursue research questions about episodic memory, in particular, in isolation from semantic memory. This article challenges that assumption, and puts pressure on philosophical approaches to memory that break off episodic memory as its own stand-alone topic. I present and systematize psychological and neuroscientific theories of semanticization, the thesis that memory content tends to drift from episodic to semantic in structure over time and exposure to an environment. Semanticization, I argue, is a long-term interconnection between episodic and semantic systems that requires approaching both the content and function of these two memory systems as a whole. Thus we have a reason to reject projects by Martin, which aims to carve out a uniquely episodic memory content, and Michaelian, which pairs episodic memory to its own unique function. Instead, seeing declarative memory as a single system with two facets or even a continuum of features allows for deeper insight into both content and function.

09/12/2025

New from the BJPS Review of Books: Olivier Morin reviews It’s Only Human, by Armin W Schulz. Read it here:

Olivier Morin reviews It’s Only Human, by Armin Schulz

08/12/2025

Santa has come early! New issue out now, full of festive treats for all the family. Biochemical functions and quantum fluctuations! Weyl tiles and ordinal scales! Mass extinctions and neural networks! Uncertainty, typicality, and much, much more… Find it here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/bjps/current

BJPS Volume 76, Issue 4
Table of Contents

Editors' Choice Article:
Semanticization Challenges the Episodic–Semantic Distinction
By Sara Aronowitz

Why the Weyl Tile Argument Is Wrong
By Lu Chen

Biochemical Functions
By Francesca Bellazzi

The Bohmian Approach to the Problems of Cosmological Quantum Fluctuations
By Sheldon Goldstein, Ward Struyve, and Roderich Tumulka

A Hybrid Theory of Induction
By Adrià Segarra

Bayesian Merging of Opinions and Algorithmic Randomness
By Francesca Zaffora Blando

Against Prohibition (or, When Using Ordinal Scales to Compare Groups Is OK)
By Cristian Larroulet Philippi

Are We in a Sixth Mass Extinction? The Challenges of Answering and Value of Asking
By Federica Bocchi, Alisa Bokulich, Leticia Castillo Brache, Gloria Grand-Pierre, and Aja Watkins

A Falsificationist Account of Artificial Neural Networks
By Oliver Buchholz and Eric Raidl

General-Purpose Institutional Decision-Making Heuristics: The Case of Decision-Making under Deep Uncertainty
By David Thorstad

The Typical Principle
By Isaac Wilhelm

02/12/2025

New from the BJPS Review of Books: Azita Chellappoo reviews S*x, Gender, Ethics, and the Darwinian Evolution of Mankind, edited by Michel Veuille
Read it here:

Azita Chellappoo reviews S*x, Gender, Ethics, and the Darwinian Evolution of Mankind, edited by Michel Veuille

27/11/2025

Just accepted: Nicola Bamonti, Enrico Cinti & Marco Sanchioni, Non-relativistic Background Independence and the Gauging of Spacetime Symmetries
Read it here:

ABSTRACT. This article redefines background independence through a gauge-theoretic lens, arguing that it is not exclusive to general relativity but inherent to any gravitational theory whose spacetime geometry emerges dynamically from gauging symmetry groups' algebras. Applying this framework, we demonstrate that (torsional) Newton–Cartan and Carrollian gravities—obtained via gauging the Bargmann and Carroll algebras, respectively—satisfy background independence. This shows that background independence is decoupled from relativistic structures (for example, Lorentzian metrics, light cones) and instead is a hallmark of gauging: spacetime geometry arises as an interacting dynamical gauge field. We also suggest that this new way of thinking about background independence might have relevant implications for quantum gravity theory building.