We were thrilled to welcome Professor Otávio Bueno (University of Miami) in the Spring of 2025. In addition to spending time with students, visiting with faculty and generally spreading his own personalized and marvelous sense of goodwill around the department, Prof. Bueno gave two talks; a specialized talk to the department and a more generalized talk to the SFSU community as a whole. See the abstracts below.
Department talk: “Dispensing with the Grounds of Logical Necessity”
Abstract: Logical laws are typically conceived as being necessary. But in virtue of what is this the case? That is, what are the grounds of logical necessity? In this paper, I examine four different answers to this question in terms of: truth-conditions, invariance of truth-values under different interpretations, possible worlds, and brute facts. I ultimately find all of them wanting. I conclude that an alternative conception of logic that dispenses altogether with grounds of logical necessity provides a less troublesome alternative. I then indicate some of the central features of this conception.
Public talk: “Evaluating Films: An Empiricist View”
Abstract: Film evaluation is a significant part of the experience of films. It is important to distinguish whether a film is good (or not) from whether we like it (or not). We may like certain films even though we realize they are not good; other films are good, but we simply do not like them. What are good making features of films? Is it possible to determine these properties in a way that is objective and sensitive to the complexities involved in film making and in their experience? In this talk, building on Noël Carroll’s work, I present a framework to address these issues indicating how films make claims; how the evaluation of films inevitably requires settling issues of interpretation; the complex ways in which shots, narrative structure and range of emotions contribute to a film’s central point. Throughout the account, experience plays a decisive role. The result is an empiricist way of evaluating films.
