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When a big snowstorm hits Boston as it often does in December, narrow streets become medieval footpaths and traffic laws are abandoned. When, in addition, the air is so cold that grey cracks appear in the pavement and it hurts to breath, then it must be time for the Eastern APA to come to town. The event took place this year within the Boston Copley Marriot, a hotel housed inside an up-up-up-market indoor mall. Not that I was there to shop: I was expected to be responsible for three groups sessions, two by HEAPS, the new History of Early Analytic Philosophy Society, and one by our own BRS. As host of the party, so to speak, I was especially pleased at the turn out for the BRS group session. The Bertrand Russell Society met on Tuesday evening and was attended by about 15 people, who remained for all three talks. This was a good turnout for a group session at the Eastern APA, especially given the last minute withdrawal of one speaker (Henrique Ribeiro) and a mistake in the program that led some to expect Nick Griffin (McMaster University), who was in Australia, to put in an appearance. The first paper of the evening, ‘Psychologism and the Development of Russell’s Theory of Propositions’, delivered by David Godden (University of Winnipeg) and co-written with Nick, concerned the evolution of Russell’s thought towards psychologism in the teens and early twenties. Gary Hardcastle (Bloomsburg University), who had served as moderator of an earlier HEAPS session, gave a largely sympathetic response; and because this subject is of particular interest to me, I shamelessly abused my power as Chair to hog the question and answer period. In the next talk, titled ‘The Significance of Moore’s Theory of Judgment for an Understanding of the Analytic-Synthetic Distinction’, Consuelo Preti (College of New Jersey) outlined what she sees as important anticipations in the early G. E. Moore of externalist views of semantic content (where a part of the meaning of a belief is a function of the believer’s physical environment). In his commentary, John Ongley (Edinboro University of PA) discussed Consuelo’s evidence for this view and presented evidence for an alternative interpretation of Moore. The two of them then engaged in a brief debate over the nature of Moore’s extra-mental objects. Standing in for the absent Henrique Ribeiro, David White (St. John Fisher College) delivered the final talk on Russell’s work of fiction Satan in the Suburbs, after wisely distributing copies of the little known piece to the audience to peruse. The session was attended by some of the audience from the two HEAPS sessions that met earlier that day, confirming my belief that the two groups will benefit each other. The first HEAPS group took place in the morning and addressed the theme, Frege, Husserl, and Analysis. Sanford Shieh (Wesleyan University) chaired as Michael Beaney (Open University–U.K.) spoke on ‘Frege and the Paradox of Analysis’, Sandra LaPointe (Concordia University) discussed ‘Frege and Husserl on Signs and Linguistic Behavior’, and Matthew Morgan (Duquesne University) explored ‘A Graphic Display of Sinn: Frege and Husserl on Sense and Meaning’. In commentary, Sanford Shieh raised several objections to Beaney’s talk, Ed Boedecker (University of Northern Iowa) used symbolic logic to address LaPointe, and Mirja Hartimo (Boston University) doubted the wisdom of Morgan’s emphasis on Frege’s theory of sinn. The second HEAPS session, chaired by Gary Hardcastle, turned to the theme of Logical Positivism. Michael Stoelzner (University of Bielefeld) presented ‘Quantum Mechanics without Indeterminism: On the Surprising Strength of Verificationism within Schlick’s 2nd Theory of Causality’, Uljana Feest (Max Planck Institute—History of Science) spoke on ‘Meaningful Structures: Placing the Aufbau in the Context of Holistic Science’, and Mazi Allen (Binghamton University–SUNY) concluded with ‘A Road Less Traveled: The Lasting Significance of Waismann’s “How I See Philosophy’. Melanie Frappier (University of Western Ontario), Chris Pincock (Purdue University), and David Godden delivered comments. Though with an audience of 10, this session of HEAPS drew fewer than the 22 people attending the morning one, the turnout was nevertheless fair to good for the vastly over-booked Eastern APA.
—Rosalind Carey
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