PROFILES EDITORS EDITORIAL BOARD. RADU J. BOGDAN, Tulane University ILKKA NIINILUOTO, University of Helsinki VOLUME 4

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1 D.M.ARMSTRONG

2 PROFILES AN INTERNATIONAL SERIES ON CONTEMPORAR Y PHILOSOPHERS AND LOGICIANS EDITORS RADU J. BOGDAN, Tulane University ILKKA NIINILUOTO, University of Helsinki EDITORIAL BOARD D. FQ>LLESDAL, University of Oslo S. KORNER, University of Bristol J. J. C. SMART, Australian National University W. STEGMULLER, Universitiit Milnchen P. SUPPES, Stanford University K. SZANIA WSKI, University of Warsaw J. VUILLEMIN, College de France VOLUME 4

3 D. M. ARMSTRONG Edited by RADU J. BOGDAN Tulane University D. Reidel Publishing Company A MEMBER OF THE KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP " Dordrecht / Boston / Lancaster

4 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: D. M. Armstrong. (profiles; v. 4) Bibliography: p. Includes indexes. 1. Armstrong, D. M. (David Malet), I. Armstrong, D. M. (David Malet), II. Bogdan, Radu J. III. Series: Profiles (Dordrecht, Netherlands); v. 4. B5704.A754D ' ISBN-13: e-isbn-13: : / Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, Holland. Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and. Canada by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 190 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043, U.S.A. In all other countries, sold and distributed by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, P.O. Box 322, AH Dordrecht, Holland. All Rights Reserved by D. Reidel Publishing Company. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1984 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION PREFACE vii ix Part One D. M. ARMSTRONG ~ Self-Profile 3 1. Early Influences and Education 3 2. Philosophy Student at Sydney 6 3. Philosophy Student at Oxford 9 4. First Appointment: London Melbourne, and the Philosophy of Perception Materialism and the Mind A Year's Leave Return to Sydney, and the Knopfelmacher Case The Mind, Belief and Knowledge The Strike and Split in the Sydney Philosophy Department Universals Laws of Nature In Conclusion 49 Part Two DAVID H. SANFORD ~ Armstrong's Theory of Perception 55 DAVID M. ROSENTHAL ~ Armstrong's Causal Theory of Mind 79

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS STEPHEN P. STICH - Armstrong on Belief 121 WILLIAM G. LYCAN - Armstrong's Theory of Knowing 139 BRUCE AUNE - Armstrong on Universals and Particulars 161 MARTIN M. TWEEDALE - Armstrong on Determinable and Substantival Universals 171 JOHN EARMAN - Laws of Nature: The Empiricist Challenge 191 D. M. ARMSTRONG - Replies 225 Part Three BIBLIOGRAPHY OF D. M. ARMSTRONG INDEX OF NAMES INDEX OF SUBJECTS vi

7 EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION The aim of this series is to inform both professional philosophers and a larger readership (of social and natural scientists, methodologists, mathematicians, students, teachers, publishers, etc.) about what is going on, who's who, and who does what in contemporary philosophy and logic. PROFILES is designed to present the research activity and the results of already outstanding personalities and schools and of newly emerging ones in the various fields of pilljosophy and logic. There are many Festschrift volumes dedicated to various philosophers. There is the celebrated Library of Living Philosophers edited by P. A. Schilpp whose format influenced the present enterprise. Still they can only cover very little of the contemporary philosophical scene. Faced with a tremendous expansion of philosophical information and with an almost frightening division of labor and increasing specialization we need systematic and regular ways of keeping track of what happens in the profession. PROFILES is intended to perform such a function. Each volume is devoted to one or several philosophers whose views and results are presented and discussed. The profiled philosopher(s) will summarize and review his (their) own work in the main fields of Significant contribution. This work will be discussed and evaluated by invited contributors. Relevant historical and/or biographical data, an up-to-date bibliography with short abstracts of the most important works and, whenever possible, references to significant reviews and discussions will also be included. Since rigorous argumentation and a rational approach to philosophical problems are among the most worthwhile trends in contemporary philosophical thought, PROFILES will give priority to surveys of the work of authors and schools of thought that meet these standards. However, this preference allows for a broad spectrum of philosophical and methodological viewpoints. As a vehicle of information about, and systematization of, vii

8 EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION contemporary philosophical and logical knowledge, PROFILES will strive to report on any major contribution to that body of knowledge, be it personal or collective. PROFILES will also report on research and new projects that, although still esoteric and even tentative, may be expected to become seminal and influential in some field of philosophical or logical studies. The sooner the information about such new ventures is disseminated and systematized, the greater will be its impact on undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, teachers on all levels, editors, publishers, university and foundation managers, etc. The editors will welcome information on personal and collective research in progress, Ph.D. theses, surveys and monographs dealing with individual philosophers and schools of thought working in contemporary philosophy and logic. RADU J. BOGDAN Tulane University ILKKA NIINILUOTO Unh'ersity of Helsinki viii

9 PREFACE The mind and its various states and processes, then specifically perception, belief and knowledge, understood causally and from a systematic materialist perspective - these are the basic themes and positions characterizing David Armstrong's work for almost three decades. In recent years Armstrong has also turned to ontological issues, particularly universals and the laws of nature. This is what the present volume is about. In his Selffrofile, in Part One, Armstrong surveys and reexamines his work. In his Bibliography, in Part Three, he summarizes his major publications and adds details to the main story told in the Self Profile. In Part Two, Armstrong's contributions to the various fields mentioned earlier are critically examined by distinguished workers in those fields. Armstrong's Replies conclude this part. Those interested in other critical discussions of Armstrong's work will find references under the relevant items in the final Bibliography, in Part Three. All those who made this volume possible are warmly thanked. New Orleans, May 1983 RADU J. BOGDAN ix