Response to Akagi, Hughes, and Springle

Abstract

Cases such as the Gödel case, the fake barn case, and the trolley case are used in several ways in philosophy, most of which are innocuous. Philosophy Within Its Proper Bounds is concerned with the use of cases to support philosophical conclusions about either the meaning of words or content of concepts of philosophical interest (what I call ‘the formal use of cases’) or what these words or concepts are about (‘the material use of cases’)...