Pierre Saint-Germier | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research (original) (raw)

Books by Pierre Saint-Germier

This is a collection of essays of offered to Anne Reboul as a Festschrift for her 60th birthday.

Papers by Pierre Saint-Germier

Proponents of the “negative program” in experimental philosophy have argued that judgements in ph... more Proponents of the “negative program” in experimental philosophy have argued that judgements in philosophical cases, also known as case judgements, are unreliable and that the method of cases should be either strongly constrained or even given up. Here we put one of the main proponent’s account of why philosophical cases may cause the unreliability of case judgements to the test. We conducted our test with thought experiments from physics, which exhibit the exact same supposedly “disturbing characteristics” of philosophical cases.

Musicae Scientiae, 2020

Understanding how musicians can coordinate their musical actions when they improvise together rem... more Understanding how musicians can coordinate their musical actions when they improvise together remains an important theoretical and empirical challenge. In this paper, we suggest a broad theoretical framework, compatible with up-to-date research on joint action, which can account for coordination in collective improvisation, especially in the hard case of so-called collective free improvisation. This framework addresses the limits of an account of coordination in collective improvisation that relies only on low-level, emergent coordination mechanisms, and shows how these mechanisms can be combined with planned coordination mechanisms to explain how improvisers deal with some of the main coordination problems that typically arise in collectively improvised performances. As such, our framework allows for the formulation of new hypotheses that pave the way for further empirical investigations on collective improvisation and sheds light on collectively improvised behavior at large.

Logic in High Definition, A. Giordani, J. Malinowski (eds), Trends in Logic, Springer, 2020

Franz Berto has recently proposed two distinct semantics for the logic of ceteris paribus imagina... more Franz Berto has recently proposed two distinct semantics for the logic of ceteris paribus imagination, one which combines a theory of topics with a standard possible worlds semantics, another based on impossible worlds. An important motivation for using these tools is to handle the hyperintensionality of imagination reports. I argue however that both semantics prove inadequate for different reasons: the former fails to draw some intuitive hyperintensional distinctions, while the latter draws counterintuitive hyperintensional distinctions. I propose an alternative truthmaker semantics, guided by an independently motivated philosophical analysis of the content of imagination acts, that preserves the attractive features of both approaches, while avoiding their symmetrical defects in the treatment of hyperintensionality.

Les Principes métaphysiques, A. Declos et J.-B. Guillon, Éditions du Collège de France, 2020

Le but de la philosophie des modalités est d'identifier ce qui rend vrais les énoncés modaux. Une... more Le but de la philosophie des modalités est d'identifier ce qui rend vrais les énoncés modaux. Une philosophie des modalité a alors besoin d'un principe de plénitude qui affirme que les choses qui rendent vrais les énoncés modaux doivent être en nombre suffisant pour rendre compte de la vérité de tous les énoncés modaux. Ainsi il ne suffit pas à un théoricien des mondes possibles de postuler l'existence de mondes possibles pour rendre compte de la vérité des énoncés modaux, il lui faut encore poser un principe de plénitude affirmant qu'il y a suffisamment de mondes possibles pour rendre compte de tous les énoncés modaux. La difficulté est alors de donner une formulation précise et surtout cohérente de ce principe. En effet, plusieurs philosophes ont noté que les formulations les plus naturelles d'un principe de plénitude en termes de recombinaison soulèvent des paradoxes analogues à certains paradoxes ensemblistes. Nous nous intéressons à l'un de ces paradoxes de la recombinaison, formulé récemment par Fritz, qui à la différence de ses prédécesseurs, n'a pas besoin de recourir à des notions ensemblistes pour dériver une contradiction. Nous défendons une solution à ce paradoxe fondée sur la distinction entre multiplicités consistantes et inconsistantes et développons quelques unes de ses conséquences sur la question de l'actualisme. Il s'ensuit que les théoriciens des mondes possibles peuvent faire appel à un principe de recombinaison pour caractériser la plénitude des possibilités, mais seulement à condition de renoncer à une certaine forme d'actualisme.

Synthese, 2019

It has been pointed out that Gettier case scenarios have deviant realizations and that deviant re... more It has been pointed out that Gettier case scenarios have deviant realizations and that deviant realizations raise a difficulty for the logical analysis of thought experiments. Grundmann and Horvath have shown that it is possible to rule out deviant realiza-tions by suitably modifying the scenario of a Gettier-style thought experiment. They hypothesize further that the enriched scenario corresponds to the way expert episte-mologists implicitly interpret the original one. However, no precise account of this implicit enrichment is offered, which makes the proposal somewhat ad hoc. Drawing on pragmatic theory, I argue that the content of Grundmann and Horvath's modified scenario corresponds to the default interpretation of the original scenario and that epistemological expertise is not required to access the deviance-proof interpretation. This Default Interpretation proposal offers thus a more general and independently motivated solution to the Problem of Deviant Realizations.

Philosophical Studies, 2019

Proponents of the ‘‘negative program’’ in experimental philosophy have argued that judgements in ... more Proponents of the ‘‘negative program’’ in experimental philosophy have
argued that judgements in philosophical cases, also known as case judgements, are unreliable and that the method of cases should be either strongly constrained or even abandoned. Here we put one of the main proponent’s account of why philosophical cases may cause the unreliability of case judgements to the test. We conducted our test with thought experiments from physics, which exhibit the exact same supposedly ‘‘disturbing characteristics’’ of philosophical cases.

In various arguments, Descartes relies on the principles that conceivability implies possibility ... more In various arguments, Descartes relies on the principles that conceivability implies possibility and that inconceivability implies impossibility. Those principles are in tension with another Cartesian view about the source of modality, i.e. the doctrine of the free creation of eternal truths. In this paper, I develop a ‘two-modality’ interpretation of the doctrine of eternal truths which resolves the tension and I discuss how the resulting modal epistemology can still be relevant for the contemporary
discussion.

Philosophiques, 2017

We discuss the view, accepted by many rational intuition theorists, that rational intuitions invo... more We discuss the view, accepted by many rational intuition theorists, that rational intuitions involve appearances of necessity. The fact that we can have rational intuitions of contingent propositions casts a doubt on the adequacy of this view. This fact can be accommodated by a fallibilist theory of rational intuitions, provided one accepts that these intuitions generate ineliminable modal illusions. Drawing on two-dimensional explanations of the contingent a priori, we defend an alternative view according to which the appearances involved in rational intuitions are not appearances of necessity but rather an expression of their a priori status.

Plusieurs auteurs contemporains utilisent le passage de la conceva-bilité à la possibilité pour a... more Plusieurs auteurs contemporains utilisent le passage de la conceva-bilité à la possibilité pour attaquer le physicalisme au sujet de la conscience phénoménale. On peut trouver la source de cette forme d'argumentation dans la Méditation Sixième de Descartes. Nous proposons une étude parallèle de l'argument de concevabilité cartésien et de ses avatars contemporains, en étant attentif aux points communs et aux différences, de façon à éclairer quelques aspects de l'évolution du problème corps-esprit.

à paraître dans Guide de métaphysique compréhensive, sous la direction de J.-M. Monnoyer, 2020

Le processus mélodique.

Malgré l'indulgence de l'éditeur de ce volume, je n'ai pas été en mesure de rendre ma contributio... more Malgré l'indulgence de l'éditeur de ce volume, je n'ai pas été en mesure de rendre ma contribution à temps pour la publication. En lieu et place de l'article, inexistant hélas, que j'avais promis, je propose à la sagacité du lecteur la transcription d'une discussion sur la musique qui est apparue de façon impromptue lors d'un test de Turing mené par une ancienne collègue philosophe, aujourd'hui reconvertie dans l'informatique et qui mène des recherches en intelligence artificielle pour le compte d'une grande multinationale (dont je ne peux ici révéler le nom). Connaissant mon intérêt philosophique pour l'improvisation musicale, cette amie de longue date a eu la gentillesse de me faire parvenir, par e-mail, le script de cette conversation, augmenté de quelques notes de bas de page qu'elle a fort aimablement ajoutées pour mon information personnelle. Je me permets de les reproduire ici en espérant qu'elles intéressent le lecteur.

In 2011, in The Poverty of Clio, Francesco Boldizzoni launched an open attack against cliometrics... more In 2011, in The Poverty of Clio, Francesco Boldizzoni launched an open attack against cliometrics, a sub-discipline of economics which applies economic theory to past societies. In their introductive section, Christelle Rabier et Pierre Saint-Germier revisit the issues lying beneath the fierce controversy that erupted as a result, regarding the goals and methods of economic history, and the reasons of its non-reception in France. In the latter, as different methodological paths were trodden, cliometrics has remained a curiosity, as the contributors to this special issue suggest.

Tracés. Revue de Sciences Humaines, 18, Jan 1, 2010

Tracés, 2010

Sociologue de renom international, mais aussi pianiste de jazz et photographe, Howard Becker est ... more Sociologue de renom international, mais aussi pianiste de jazz et photographe, Howard Becker est l'une des figures marquantes de l'interactionnisme symbolique, courant traditionnellement rattaché à l'école de Chicago. Devenu célèbre avec son enquête sur la carrière des ...

Book Reviews by Pierre Saint-Germier

Metascience, 2020

According to a common view in the history of philosophy and science, reality is organized into a ... more According to a common view in the history of philosophy and science, reality is organized into a series of layers, elements of which depend on elements of lower layers, until one reaches a fundamental layer: The galaxies and quasars are "on top", the lakes and snakes are somewhat in the middle, below them come molecular compounds, and at the very bottom lie the phenomena discussed in particle physics. Various notions have been used over the years to clarify this picture: relative fundamentality, ontological dependence, metaphysical grounding, all of which are standardly taken to have the formal structure of a strict partial order (SPO), i.e., an irreflexive and transitive, and so asymmetric, relation on the domain of reality. It is also commonly assumed that this order is well-founded, in the sense that all chains of so-ordered items terminate in a foundational element. The recent, growing work in analytic metaphysics devoted to the clarification and critical discussion of this broad picture has however shown a significant interest in various possible alternative sketches of reality's structure. In the case of grounding , for example, irreflexivity and transitivity have both been challenged, individually (Jenkins 2011; Schaffer 2012) and collectively (Rodriguez-Pereyra 2015). Moreover, just like Agrippa's trilemma requires epistemologists to choose between unjustified, circular or endless justifications, some metaphysicians have contrasted the metaphysical foundationalism built in the standard picture with a metaphysical coherentism (e.g., Bliss 2014; Thompson 2016), allowing for circles and symmetries of metaphysical dependence, and a metaphysical infinitism (e.g., Morganti 2014), according to which chains of metaphysical dependence extend indefinitely without ever reaching an ultimate foundation. This nice collection of essays edited by Ricki Bliss and Graham Priest, aptly entitled Reality and its Structure, aims to systematically question all the details of the traditional picture and explore its alternatives in an open-minded and anti-dogmatic spirit.

This is a collection of essays of offered to Anne Reboul as a Festschrift for her 60th birthday.

Proponents of the “negative program” in experimental philosophy have argued that judgements in ph... more Proponents of the “negative program” in experimental philosophy have argued that judgements in philosophical cases, also known as case judgements, are unreliable and that the method of cases should be either strongly constrained or even given up. Here we put one of the main proponent’s account of why philosophical cases may cause the unreliability of case judgements to the test. We conducted our test with thought experiments from physics, which exhibit the exact same supposedly “disturbing characteristics” of philosophical cases.

Musicae Scientiae, 2020

Understanding how musicians can coordinate their musical actions when they improvise together rem... more Understanding how musicians can coordinate their musical actions when they improvise together remains an important theoretical and empirical challenge. In this paper, we suggest a broad theoretical framework, compatible with up-to-date research on joint action, which can account for coordination in collective improvisation, especially in the hard case of so-called collective free improvisation. This framework addresses the limits of an account of coordination in collective improvisation that relies only on low-level, emergent coordination mechanisms, and shows how these mechanisms can be combined with planned coordination mechanisms to explain how improvisers deal with some of the main coordination problems that typically arise in collectively improvised performances. As such, our framework allows for the formulation of new hypotheses that pave the way for further empirical investigations on collective improvisation and sheds light on collectively improvised behavior at large.

Logic in High Definition, A. Giordani, J. Malinowski (eds), Trends in Logic, Springer, 2020

Franz Berto has recently proposed two distinct semantics for the logic of ceteris paribus imagina... more Franz Berto has recently proposed two distinct semantics for the logic of ceteris paribus imagination, one which combines a theory of topics with a standard possible worlds semantics, another based on impossible worlds. An important motivation for using these tools is to handle the hyperintensionality of imagination reports. I argue however that both semantics prove inadequate for different reasons: the former fails to draw some intuitive hyperintensional distinctions, while the latter draws counterintuitive hyperintensional distinctions. I propose an alternative truthmaker semantics, guided by an independently motivated philosophical analysis of the content of imagination acts, that preserves the attractive features of both approaches, while avoiding their symmetrical defects in the treatment of hyperintensionality.

Les Principes métaphysiques, A. Declos et J.-B. Guillon, Éditions du Collège de France, 2020

Le but de la philosophie des modalités est d'identifier ce qui rend vrais les énoncés modaux. Une... more Le but de la philosophie des modalités est d'identifier ce qui rend vrais les énoncés modaux. Une philosophie des modalité a alors besoin d'un principe de plénitude qui affirme que les choses qui rendent vrais les énoncés modaux doivent être en nombre suffisant pour rendre compte de la vérité de tous les énoncés modaux. Ainsi il ne suffit pas à un théoricien des mondes possibles de postuler l'existence de mondes possibles pour rendre compte de la vérité des énoncés modaux, il lui faut encore poser un principe de plénitude affirmant qu'il y a suffisamment de mondes possibles pour rendre compte de tous les énoncés modaux. La difficulté est alors de donner une formulation précise et surtout cohérente de ce principe. En effet, plusieurs philosophes ont noté que les formulations les plus naturelles d'un principe de plénitude en termes de recombinaison soulèvent des paradoxes analogues à certains paradoxes ensemblistes. Nous nous intéressons à l'un de ces paradoxes de la recombinaison, formulé récemment par Fritz, qui à la différence de ses prédécesseurs, n'a pas besoin de recourir à des notions ensemblistes pour dériver une contradiction. Nous défendons une solution à ce paradoxe fondée sur la distinction entre multiplicités consistantes et inconsistantes et développons quelques unes de ses conséquences sur la question de l'actualisme. Il s'ensuit que les théoriciens des mondes possibles peuvent faire appel à un principe de recombinaison pour caractériser la plénitude des possibilités, mais seulement à condition de renoncer à une certaine forme d'actualisme.

Synthese, 2019

It has been pointed out that Gettier case scenarios have deviant realizations and that deviant re... more It has been pointed out that Gettier case scenarios have deviant realizations and that deviant realizations raise a difficulty for the logical analysis of thought experiments. Grundmann and Horvath have shown that it is possible to rule out deviant realiza-tions by suitably modifying the scenario of a Gettier-style thought experiment. They hypothesize further that the enriched scenario corresponds to the way expert episte-mologists implicitly interpret the original one. However, no precise account of this implicit enrichment is offered, which makes the proposal somewhat ad hoc. Drawing on pragmatic theory, I argue that the content of Grundmann and Horvath's modified scenario corresponds to the default interpretation of the original scenario and that epistemological expertise is not required to access the deviance-proof interpretation. This Default Interpretation proposal offers thus a more general and independently motivated solution to the Problem of Deviant Realizations.

Philosophical Studies, 2019

Proponents of the ‘‘negative program’’ in experimental philosophy have argued that judgements in ... more Proponents of the ‘‘negative program’’ in experimental philosophy have
argued that judgements in philosophical cases, also known as case judgements, are unreliable and that the method of cases should be either strongly constrained or even abandoned. Here we put one of the main proponent’s account of why philosophical cases may cause the unreliability of case judgements to the test. We conducted our test with thought experiments from physics, which exhibit the exact same supposedly ‘‘disturbing characteristics’’ of philosophical cases.

In various arguments, Descartes relies on the principles that conceivability implies possibility ... more In various arguments, Descartes relies on the principles that conceivability implies possibility and that inconceivability implies impossibility. Those principles are in tension with another Cartesian view about the source of modality, i.e. the doctrine of the free creation of eternal truths. In this paper, I develop a ‘two-modality’ interpretation of the doctrine of eternal truths which resolves the tension and I discuss how the resulting modal epistemology can still be relevant for the contemporary
discussion.

Philosophiques, 2017

We discuss the view, accepted by many rational intuition theorists, that rational intuitions invo... more We discuss the view, accepted by many rational intuition theorists, that rational intuitions involve appearances of necessity. The fact that we can have rational intuitions of contingent propositions casts a doubt on the adequacy of this view. This fact can be accommodated by a fallibilist theory of rational intuitions, provided one accepts that these intuitions generate ineliminable modal illusions. Drawing on two-dimensional explanations of the contingent a priori, we defend an alternative view according to which the appearances involved in rational intuitions are not appearances of necessity but rather an expression of their a priori status.

Plusieurs auteurs contemporains utilisent le passage de la conceva-bilité à la possibilité pour a... more Plusieurs auteurs contemporains utilisent le passage de la conceva-bilité à la possibilité pour attaquer le physicalisme au sujet de la conscience phénoménale. On peut trouver la source de cette forme d'argumentation dans la Méditation Sixième de Descartes. Nous proposons une étude parallèle de l'argument de concevabilité cartésien et de ses avatars contemporains, en étant attentif aux points communs et aux différences, de façon à éclairer quelques aspects de l'évolution du problème corps-esprit.

à paraître dans Guide de métaphysique compréhensive, sous la direction de J.-M. Monnoyer, 2020

Le processus mélodique.

Malgré l'indulgence de l'éditeur de ce volume, je n'ai pas été en mesure de rendre ma contributio... more Malgré l'indulgence de l'éditeur de ce volume, je n'ai pas été en mesure de rendre ma contribution à temps pour la publication. En lieu et place de l'article, inexistant hélas, que j'avais promis, je propose à la sagacité du lecteur la transcription d'une discussion sur la musique qui est apparue de façon impromptue lors d'un test de Turing mené par une ancienne collègue philosophe, aujourd'hui reconvertie dans l'informatique et qui mène des recherches en intelligence artificielle pour le compte d'une grande multinationale (dont je ne peux ici révéler le nom). Connaissant mon intérêt philosophique pour l'improvisation musicale, cette amie de longue date a eu la gentillesse de me faire parvenir, par e-mail, le script de cette conversation, augmenté de quelques notes de bas de page qu'elle a fort aimablement ajoutées pour mon information personnelle. Je me permets de les reproduire ici en espérant qu'elles intéressent le lecteur.

In 2011, in The Poverty of Clio, Francesco Boldizzoni launched an open attack against cliometrics... more In 2011, in The Poverty of Clio, Francesco Boldizzoni launched an open attack against cliometrics, a sub-discipline of economics which applies economic theory to past societies. In their introductive section, Christelle Rabier et Pierre Saint-Germier revisit the issues lying beneath the fierce controversy that erupted as a result, regarding the goals and methods of economic history, and the reasons of its non-reception in France. In the latter, as different methodological paths were trodden, cliometrics has remained a curiosity, as the contributors to this special issue suggest.

Tracés. Revue de Sciences Humaines, 18, Jan 1, 2010

Tracés, 2010

Sociologue de renom international, mais aussi pianiste de jazz et photographe, Howard Becker est ... more Sociologue de renom international, mais aussi pianiste de jazz et photographe, Howard Becker est l'une des figures marquantes de l'interactionnisme symbolique, courant traditionnellement rattaché à l'école de Chicago. Devenu célèbre avec son enquête sur la carrière des ...

Metascience, 2020

According to a common view in the history of philosophy and science, reality is organized into a ... more According to a common view in the history of philosophy and science, reality is organized into a series of layers, elements of which depend on elements of lower layers, until one reaches a fundamental layer: The galaxies and quasars are "on top", the lakes and snakes are somewhat in the middle, below them come molecular compounds, and at the very bottom lie the phenomena discussed in particle physics. Various notions have been used over the years to clarify this picture: relative fundamentality, ontological dependence, metaphysical grounding, all of which are standardly taken to have the formal structure of a strict partial order (SPO), i.e., an irreflexive and transitive, and so asymmetric, relation on the domain of reality. It is also commonly assumed that this order is well-founded, in the sense that all chains of so-ordered items terminate in a foundational element. The recent, growing work in analytic metaphysics devoted to the clarification and critical discussion of this broad picture has however shown a significant interest in various possible alternative sketches of reality's structure. In the case of grounding , for example, irreflexivity and transitivity have both been challenged, individually (Jenkins 2011; Schaffer 2012) and collectively (Rodriguez-Pereyra 2015). Moreover, just like Agrippa's trilemma requires epistemologists to choose between unjustified, circular or endless justifications, some metaphysicians have contrasted the metaphysical foundationalism built in the standard picture with a metaphysical coherentism (e.g., Bliss 2014; Thompson 2016), allowing for circles and symmetries of metaphysical dependence, and a metaphysical infinitism (e.g., Morganti 2014), according to which chains of metaphysical dependence extend indefinitely without ever reaching an ultimate foundation. This nice collection of essays edited by Ricki Bliss and Graham Priest, aptly entitled Reality and its Structure, aims to systematically question all the details of the traditional picture and explore its alternatives in an open-minded and anti-dogmatic spirit.

This is a review of Philip Goff's book Consciousness and Fundamental Reality, OUP, 2017

This is a review of Edouard Machery's book Philosophy within its Proper Bounds, OUP, 2017

Les arguments de concevabilité sont des arguments philosophiques reposant sur le principe selon l... more Les arguments de concevabilité sont des arguments philosophiques reposant sur le principe selon lequel tout ce qui est concevable est possible. Cette thèse se propose d’examiner et d’évaluer à un niveau général cette forme d’argumentation en s’appuyant sur des exemples historiques et contemporains. Nous examinons en particulier plusieurs candidats possibles pour préciser la notion de concevabilité et montrons que le passage de la concevabilité à la possibilité ne parvient pas à remplir tous les objectifs philosophiques que se fixe cette forme d'argumentation, en particulier lorsqu'elle vise à établir des thèses métaphysiques substantielles.

Summary in English of my PhD Dissertation

Our relation with music is inter alia a cognitive relation. When we play music, we think about wh... more Our relation with music is inter alia a cognitive relation. When we play music, we think about which notes we play. When we listen to music, our minds perform some complex information processing that enables us, for example, to recognize a familiar melody. So it is not surprising that a cognitive science has emerged during the last thirty years, trying to explain the phenomena pertaining to the production and perception of music. 1 Now, it is not difficult to see that the cognitive relation we have with music is not a disembodied relation. A pianist plays with her hand. Actually, it is quite difficult to think of musically productive activities that are not deeply embodied activities. So it is not surprising either that an embodied cognition approach of music has emerged recently. 2 However, it is not clear that all musical activities are embodied in the same sense or in the same way. For example, some of our cognitive performances, like key inference or music composition, look more intellectual and remote from the body than, say, the expressive execution of a pre-composed piece. And the very meaning of the notion of embodiment requires clarification. On a one reading, the claim that music cognition is embodied looks trivial. No one ever pretended that cognitive agents concerned with the perception or the production of music were disembodied or bore no relation to their bodies. However, it is true that some accounts of the cognitive mechanisms at work in the perception and production of music don't even mention the fact that the cognitive system under study is also a body in an environment. 3 The claim that cognition is embodied is precisely targeted at these kinds of cognitive explanations. On another reading, then, the claim that music cognition is embodied is not that trivial. It can even be quite radical in fact. Here is a famous statement by developmental psychologist Esther Thelen (2001):

Pierre Saint-Germier, ENS de Lyon §1. Introduction

There is a long tradition of philosophical arguments seeking to prove substantial metaphysical th... more There is a long tradition of philosophical arguments seeking to prove substantial metaphysical theses starting from epistemic premises. In particular, in order to prove that something is possible, in an interesting metaphysical sense, some philosophers start from what is conceivable (in some sense to be determined). The aim of this paper is to distinguish and evaluate the differents ways one can reject the metaphysical conclusion of a conceivability argument while accepting its epistemic premise. To do so, I will focus on a particular conceivability argument, namely the zombie argument attributed to David Chalmers (1996). However, the conclusions are intended to be generalizable to any conceivability argument.
Suppose that A submits a zombie argument to B. Suppose that B accept the premise that zombies are concevable. Our question is : how can B consistently accept that and the conclusion that zombies are possible?
The paper presents three arguments designed to show that three different options are available to B. If we generalize of other kinds of conceivability arguments, there are at least three ways to refuse the possibility-conclusion while accepting the conceivability-premise of a conceivability argument.

Robert Stalnaker, « Une conception réaliste des contrefactuels », traduction française de Pierre Saint-Germier, Tracés. Revue de Sciences humaines, vol. 24, p. 179-214