Carl G. Hempel Lecture Series7

The Carl G. Hempel Lectures—named in honor of Princeton philosopher Carl Hempel, a leading figure in twentieth-century philosophy—are given annually at Princeton University by the leading figures in the field.

  • The Idea of Prison Abolition The Idea of Prison Abolition Tommie Shelby

    Despite its omnipresence and long history, imprisonment is a deeply troubling practice. In the United States and elsewhere, prison conditions are inhumane, prisoners are treated without dignity, and sentences are extremely harsh. Mass...
  • Rethinking Language, Mind, and Meaning Rethinking Language, Mind, and Meaning Scott Soames

    In this book, Scott Soames argues that the revolution in the study of language and mind that has taken place since the late nineteenth century must be rethought. The central insight in the reigning tradition is that propositions are...
  • The Moral Nexus The Moral Nexus R. Jay Wallace

    The Moral Nexus develops and defends a new interpretation of morality—namely, as a set of requirements that connect agents normatively to other persons in a nexus of moral relations. According to this relational interpretation, moral...
  • Speech Matters Speech Matters: On Lying, Morality, and the Law Seana Valentine Shiffrin

    To understand one another as individuals and to fulfill the moral duties that require such understanding, we must communicate with each other. We must also maintain protected channels that render reliable communication possible, a...
  • Aboutness Aboutness Stephen Yablo

    Aboutness has been studied from any number of angles. Brentano made it the defining feature of the mental. Phenomenologists try to pin down the aboutness-features of particular mental states. Materialists sometimes claim to have...
  • Mere Possibilities Mere Possibilities: Metaphysical Foundations of Modal Semantics Robert Stalnaker

    It seems reasonable to believe that there might have existed things other than those that in fact exist, or have existed. But how should we understand such claims? Standard semantic theories exploit the Leibnizian metaphor of a set of...
  • Surviving Death Surviving Death Mark Johnston

    In this extraordinary book, Mark Johnston sets out a new understanding of personal identity and the self, thereby providing a purely naturalistic account of surviving death.

    Death threatens our sense of the importance of goodness. The...