Robert B. Talisse and Sunnyside, Newfoundland and Labrador

Contents 1 Research 1.1 Folk epistemology 1.2 Informal logic 2 2002 conference controversy 3 Bibliography (authored books) 4 References 5 External links

Research

Talisse's philosophical work tends to employ the idiom of pragmatism, though his recent writings seem aimed at criticizing much of that tradition. Talisse is especially keen to object to the political philosophies of John Dewey, Richard Rorty, and Richard Posner. Talisse's 2007 book, A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy, is in large part a criticism of Deweyan Democracy. As Dewey is often regarded as the most important pragmatist philosopher, the book and related articles have stimulated several critical replies and a symposium issue of the leading journal in pragmatist philosophy, Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society. Talisse's contention is that Deweyan Democracy is incompatible with a due recognition of what John Rawls called "the fact of reasonable pluralism," which is the fact that several different views of the good life exist and persist among free persons. Deweyan Democracy, Talisse contends, is based on the idea that all social institutions should be designed to realize but one conception of the good life; Deweyan Democracy is consequently unfit as a model of modern democracy. In place of Deweyan Democracy, Talisse presents a view he allies with Charles Sanders Peirce according to which the epistemic processes of inquiry and reasoning supply sufficient grounds for democracy. Talisse's view is hence properly regarded as a species of deliberative democracy. In drawing on Peirce, Talisse is allied with Cheryl Misak of the University of Toronto, who argues for a similar view. Talisse and Misak are commonly discussed and criticized together, as proposing a single kind of view generally known as "Peircean Democracy." The view proposed by Talisse and Misak is also sometimes called "pragmatist political liberalism." Talisse is also known as a proponent of epistemic democracy, the view according to which part of the justification for democracy lies in its ability to produce collective decisions that are in some sense true or correct. He has also published several articles criticizing the value pluralism associated with Isaiah Berlin, William Galston, and John Gray; his 2012 book, Pluralism and Liberal Politics is devoted to these debates. Folk epistemology

In his most recent writing, Talisse has downplayed the pragmatist roots of his views, and instead attempted to devise a deliberative democratic theory from what he calls "folk epistemology". The idea is that there are epistemic norms which govern epistemic agents simply in virtue of the fact that they hold beliefs. One such norm is that we take what we believe to be true, and therefore tend to see the falsity of a statement to be a decisive reason against believing it. Talisse argues that the truth norm of belief can be shown to imply additional norms of belief, and that once these norms are identified they can be seen to provide compelling reasons for epistemic agents to uphold the social and political norms of democracy. Talisse's surprising conclusion is that our most basic reasons to be democrats, it seems, are epistemological and not moral. Given the epistemological nature of Talisse's democratic theory, his work tends to engage questions about public discourse, argumentation, the media, and public ignorance. Informal logic

Talisse has also contributed to contemporary discussions in informal logic. In a paper published in 2006 titled "Two Forms of the Straw Man", Talisse and Aikin proposed an original analysis of a new form of the Straw Man Fallacy, what they called The Weak Man Fallacy. In the traditional Straw Man, one misconstrues one's interlocutor's argument in a way that makes it especially weak, and then refutes it. In the Weak Man version, one selects an especially weak rendition of the opposing view, treats it as representative of the opposition as such, and refutes it, leaving one's audience with the impression that the opposition has thereby been refuted when in fact only the most vulnerable version of the opposing view has been addressed. Talisse and Aikin have also published a paper about the rhetorical strategy of repeating one's interlocutor's position in a dismissive or mocking tone of voice, which is titled "Modus Tonens". Talisse and Aikin have written a book together about atheism that is forthcoming from Prometheus Books titled Reasonable Atheism. 2002 conference controversy

In 2002, Talisse co-organized a conference marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of the pragmatist philosopher and public intellectual Sidney Hook. The conference provoked some controversy when several neo-conservatives, including Irving Kristol, Gertrude Himmelfarb, and Hilton Kramer, who had been invited to speak at the conference withdrew upon learning that the pragmatist philosopher Cornel West had also been invited. According to Talisse, some of those who withdrew threatened to also attempt to convince those who had provided funding for the event to withdraw. Despite the protests, the conference was held at the City University of New York Graduate Center in October 2002, with West as a participant.

In February 2010 Talisse appeared on the popular podcast Philosophy Bites where he was interviewed by Nigel Warburton about pragmatism and American philosophy. Bibliography (authored books) Why We Argue (And How We Should), with Scott Aikin (forthcoming, Routledge, 2014) Pluralism and Liberal Politics, Routledge, 2012 (softcover, 2013) Reasonable Atheism, with Scott Aikin, Prometheus Books, 2011 Democracy and Moral Conflict, Cambridge University Press, 2009 Pragmatism: A Guide for the Perplexed, with Scott Aikin, Continuum Books, 2008 A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy, Routledge, 2007 Democracy After Liberalism, Routledge, 2005

Sunnyside, Newfoundland and Labrador and Robert B. Talisse

According to the 2011 Statistics Canada Census: Population: 452 % Change (2006–2011): -3.8 Dwellings: 233 Area (km²): 37.95 Density (persons per km²): 11.9 History

On the East coast of the province of Newfoundland, there is a small town known as Sunnyside. The town stretches for about five miles along the shore of Trinity Bay, also known as Bull Arm. Sunnyside is believed to have been once inhabited by the native people of Newfoundland known as the Beothuk, discovered by the explorer John Guy. After a few hundred years, the area was settled by the ancestors, of many of the families living there today. Those families were involved in developing the economy of Sunnyside by beginning the fishery, logging, and mining industries in the community. With the creation of those industries, the population has increased over the years resulting in Sunnyside as it is known today.

Before the town of Sunnyside was even settled, explorer John Guy, in the year of 1612, "to the north near the present Sunnyside he found a group of natives…" (Rockwood, 1992) According to the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website, "The Beothuks are the aboriginal people of the island of Newfoundland. They were Algonkian-speaking hunter-gatherers who probably numbered less than a thousand people at the time of European contact." (Pastore, 1997) Prior to the area being known as Sunnyside, John Guy had named the area Truce Sound in honour of the good relations established with the Beothuk.

As the area was first settled, it was known as Bottom of Bay Bulls Arm. There were other related settlements nearby like Centre Cove. The area was known as Bay Bulls Arm for some time and then changed to Bull Arm. The reason for the change was likely due to the fact that there is another town known as Bay Bulls. The first permanent settlers to the community were the Snooks from the nearby community of New Perlican. The current name of Sunnyside came from a former school teacher who said "…the spot of sun which seems always to shine on that tiny section of Trinity Bay."(Rockwood, 1992)

By the mid 19th century, the community was made up of full fisherman and loggers. During that time, working in the saw-mill was an important job but due to a fire in the community, most of the standing timber was destroyed. The pulpwood drive was also an important form of employment and Morgan Snook was the foreman of the Main River and Badger drive. Fishing was a small part of the economy, but people from other Trinity Bay communities came to Bay Bulls Arm to fish.

"In 1921, the population had reached 337, and the town name had officially been changed to Sunnyside." (Hike Discovery, para. 3) By the 1930s the population in the community had reached its peak of 399 citizens. The population by the 1950s had declined to 228 people. After that time, the population grew steadily over the years until reaching a high population of 726, later decreasing to 634 by 1986. Over the years many of the citizens of Sunnyside could be found in road construction and other large construction projects. The oil refinery, located in Come By Chance, is a source of employment for many Sunnyside residents. Along with the oil refinery, many of the residents were once employed by working on the Hibernia Oil Platform project, which was located right in their own backyards. "One of the five super modules, the wellhead module, was built at the Bull Arm construction site in Newfoundland. The other four super modules were constructed outside Canada (two in Italy and two in Korea) and shipped to Bull Arm in May and June of 1995 where they were welded together to form one integrated unit." (Hibernia, para. 10)

Even though Sunnyside is a very small community of Newfoundland, the town has a very rich history dating back to the native people known as the Beothuk. Over the centuries, the community has grown and has become a very rich and cultural town. See also List of cities and towns in Newfoundland and Labrador
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