3quarksdaily
Jun 4, 12:54
Risk Aversion in Science Stifles Innovation
C. Brandon Ogbunu in Undark Magazine: Last month, I was fortunate to participate in an event hosted by Open to Debate, a one-hour weekly program broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the country, and the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. The participants considered the question: “Is the scientific enterprise too risk-averse?” The preparation I did…
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Brandon Ogbunu in Undark Magazine: Last month, I was fortunate to participate in an event hosted by Open to Debate, a one-hour weekly program broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the country, and the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. The participants considered the question: “Is the scientific enterprise too risk-averse?” The preparation I did…
TL;DR:
Brandon Ogbunu in Undark Magazine: Last month, I was fortunate to participate in an event hosted by Open to Debate, a one-hour weekly program broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the country, and the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
3quarksdaily
Jun 4, 12:41
The Techno-Optimists
Nicholas Low at The Point: In 2023, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen released a document called “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto,” in which he proclaimed himself a de facto spokesman of the “effective accelerationist” movement. E/acc, as it is known in online spheres, is billed as a rejoinder to effective altruism and has gained traction in recent years…
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The Techno-Optimists. Nicholas Low at The Point: In 2023, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen released a document called “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto,” in which he proclaimed himself a de facto spokesman of the “effective accelerationist” movement. E/acc, as it is known in online spheres, is billed as a rejoinder to effective altruism and has gained traction in recent years…
TL;DR:
Nicholas Low at The Point: In 2023, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen released a document called “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto,” in which he proclaimed himself a de facto spokesman of the “effective accelerationist” movement.
3quarksdaily
Jun 4, 10:00
Elizabeth Bishop and the Art of Talking Like a Human Being
by Scott Samuelson I’ve been interviewed a few times for radio shows and podcasts. In the runup to the interviews, I used to fantasize about bubbling up with witty and insightful points in shapely speech paragraphs of grammatically flawless sentences. Sometimes (I’m embarrassed to admit) I’d even write out answers to potential questions and try…
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Elizabeth Bishop and the Art of Talking Like a Human Being. In the runup to the interviews, I used to fantasize about bubbling up with witty and insightful points in shapely speech paragraphs of grammatically flawless sentences. Sometimes (I’m embarrassed to admit) I’d even write out answers to potential questions and try…
TL;DR:
by Scott Samuelson I’ve been interviewed a few times for radio shows and podcasts.
Dailynous
Jun 4, 05:59
Virginia Held (1929-2026)
Virginia Held, professor emerita of philosophy at the City University of New York and an influential figure in ethics and social and political philosophy, has died. Professor Held is especially well known for her work on the ethics of care and feminist philosophy. She is the author of several books, including The Public Interest and Individual Interests (1970), Rights and Goods: Justifying Social Action (1989), Feminist Morality: Transforming Culture, Society, and Politics (2005), The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global (2006), and How Terrorism is Wrong: Morality and Political Violence (2008). You can learn more about her writings here. Professor Held was on the faculty at Hunter College, City University of New York from 1965 to 2001. She received her PhD from Columbia University and her BA from Barnard College. Virginia Held died on May 26, 2026. The post Virginia Held (1929-2026) first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Virginia Held (1929-2026). Professor Held is especially well known for her work on the ethics of care and feminist philosophy. The post Virginia Held (1929-2026) first appeared on Daily Nous .
TL;DR:
Virginia Held, professor emerita of philosophy at the City University of New York and an influential figure in ethics and social and political philosophy, has died.
3quarksdaily
Jun 3, 17:45
The Average Guys Outsmarting Wall Street on Prediction Markets
Adam Iscoe at the New York Times: The joke among young men these days is that everybody’s got a little money riding on something: football games, foreign elections, the odds of a U.S. military strike. Except it’s not really a joke. I recently made $3.79 guessing when the United States would attack Tehran. I pocketed…
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The Average Guys Outsmarting Wall Street on Prediction Markets. Except it’s not really a joke. I recently made $3.79 guessing when the United States would attack Tehran.
TL;DR:
Adam Iscoe at the New York Times: The joke among young men these days is that everybody’s got a little money riding on something: football games, foreign elections, the odds of a U.S.
3quarksdaily
Jun 3, 16:45
Conan O’Brien’s 2026 Harvard Commencement Address
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Conan O’Brien’s 2026 Harvard Commencement Address. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
Jun 3, 15:45
Congresswoman Lori Trahan: Congress must act now on AI
Lori Trahan at the Commonwealth Beacon: Earlier this year, Anthropic unveiled Mythos, an AI model capable of identifying thousands of vulnerabilities across every major operating system and web browser. It was deemed too dangerous for public release, but that has not stopped competitors from racing to catch up, or our adversaries from trying to access it.…
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Lori Trahan at the Commonwealth Beacon: Earlier this year, Anthropic unveiled Mythos, an AI model capable of identifying thousands of vulnerabilities across every major operating system and web browser. It was deemed too dangerous for public release, but that has not stopped competitors from racing to catch up, or our adversaries from trying to access it.…
TL;DR:
Lori Trahan at the Commonwealth Beacon: Earlier this year, Anthropic unveiled Mythos, an AI model capable of identifying thousands of vulnerabilities across every major operating system and web browser.
3quarksdaily
Jun 3, 12:36
Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution and the Science of Life
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Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution and the Science of Life. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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Dailynous
Jun 3, 05:09
AI in the Philosophy Job Market (guest post)
Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel. A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a reporter working on a story about the extent to which AI, as a topic of research…
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AI in the Philosophy Job Market (guest post). AI is relatively new and highly socially significant, and so work on philosophy of AI is bound to get attention, and its novelty means it is likely to be more memorable when thinking about the state of philosophy more generally. But what would be more useful were hard numbers related to how AI is shaping the academic job market.
TL;DR:
People should be cautious when inferring how much philosophy of AI work is actually happening from how much philosophy of AI work they’re hearing about.
3quarksdaily
Jun 2, 18:45
Commas, Common Sense and Justice
John McWhorter at the New York Times: If you are of a certain age, notice how you are likely using exclamation points more lately. It has become a mark of agreeability in a way that would mystify a time traveler from as recently as a couple decades ago. “See you in a bit!” “I looked…
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Commas, Common Sense and Justice. It has become a mark of agreeability in a way that would mystify a time traveler from as recently as a couple decades ago. “See you in a bit!” “I looked…
TL;DR:
John McWhorter at the New York Times: If you are of a certain age, notice how you are likely using exclamation points more lately.
3quarksdaily
Jun 2, 17:45
How AIs See Our World
Chenoe Hart at Noema: Human-only interfaces are already increasingly being used by both people and computers. But today’s interfaces are generally designed to assume a user in analog physical space is operating them. Skeuomorphic design reinforces this by representing a computer’s internal functions via physical metaphors. We access files via folders located on a desktop. Skeuomorphic graphics often proliferate during…
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How AIs See Our World. Skeuomorphic design reinforces this by representing a computer’s internal functions via physical metaphors. Skeuomorphic graphics often proliferate during…
TL;DR:
Chenoe Hart at Noema: Human-only interfaces are already increasingly being used by both people and computers.
3quarksdaily
Jun 2, 16:45
Kathryn Paige Harden on How Genetics Shapes Human Behavior
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Kathryn Paige Harden on How Genetics Shapes Human Behavior. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
Jun 2, 13:55
What Evolutionary Role Does Consciousness Play?
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What Evolutionary Role Does Consciousness Play?. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
Jun 2, 11:51
By September, Nearly a Third of Americans Will Live in States With Legal Aid in Dying
Paula Span in The New York Times: Jules Netherland traveled from her home in the Bronx to the New York State Capitol in Albany several times in the past few years, hoping to persuade the Legislature to pass a medical aid in dying bill, allowing terminally ill patients to end their lives with a lethal prescription. She…
TL;DR:
Paula Span in The New York Times: Jules Netherland traveled from her home in the Bronx to the New York State Capitol in Albany several times in the past few years, hoping to persuade the Legislature to pass a medical aid in dying bill, allowing terminally ill patients to end their lives with a lethal prescription. She…
3quarksdaily
Jun 2, 11:48
Tuesday Poem
Some Criticism, Some Theory, ……….Some Questions He said, “Too much plot, too little dancing.” Plot would have us believe the world is understandable. Not “The King died, then the Queen, ” but “The King died and the Queen died of grief.” ……………….. We want cause to break onto the future like a great wave. ………………..…
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Some Criticism, Some Theory, ……….Some Questions He said, “Too much plot, too little dancing.” Plot would have us believe the world is understandable. Not “The King died, then the Queen, ” but “The King died and the Queen died of grief.” ……………….. We want cause to break onto the future like a great wave.
TL;DR:
Not “The King died, then the Queen, ” but “The King died and the Queen died of grief.” ………………..
3quarksdaily
Jun 2, 11:44
Feynman solved ‘restaurant dilemma’ 50 years ago — now a study confirms his mathematics
Davide Castelvecchi in Nature: In a scene that could have easily featured in an episode of the US television sitcom The Big Bang Theory, the late US physicist Richard Feynman once turned a visit to a Thai restaurant he often dined at into a mathematical riddle: how adventurous should we be in trying new dishes? Feynman promptly solved…
TL;DR:
Davide Castelvecchi in Nature: In a scene that could have easily featured in an episode of the US television sitcom The Big Bang Theory, the late US physicist Richard Feynman once turned a visit to a Thai restaurant he often dined at into a mathematical riddle: how adventurous should we be in trying new dishes?
3quarksdaily
Jun 2, 10:00
Quantum Physics in a Wheel
by Thomas Fernandes A common sensational science fact that used to be mentioned is that matter is mostly empty space. Crazy right?! It comes from a real observation that at the atomic level, there are only a few very tiny electrons to occupy the vast distance between nuclei, leaving most of the space technically empty.…
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Quantum Physics in a Wheel. by Thomas Fernandes A common sensational science fact that used to be mentioned is that matter is mostly empty space. It comes from a real observation that at the atomic level, there are only a few very tiny electrons to occupy the vast distance between nuclei, leaving most of the space technically empty.…
TL;DR:
by Thomas Fernandes A common sensational science fact that used to be mentioned is that matter is mostly empty space.
3quarksdaily
Jun 2, 08:00
Perceptions
Sughra Raza. Found Playground Art, Essex Junction, VT. May, 2026. Digital photograph. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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Found Playground Art, Essex Junction, VT. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
Jun 1, 20:37
Biggest Mysteries in Physics
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Biggest Mysteries in Physics. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
Jun 1, 17:45
Anthropic has been consulting theologians and ethicists on Claude’s behavior, raising questions about who gets to shape a chatbot’s values
Chris Stokel-Walker at Scientific American: In late March around 15 religious thinkers met with the artificial intelligence company Anthropic to discuss one of the strangest and most consequential questions now facing the AI industry: How do you teach a chatbot to be good? The invitations to these meetings had arrived in different ways. Greg Cootsona’s came via…
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Anthropic has been consulting theologians and ethicists on Claude’s behavior, raising questions about who gets to shape a chatbot’s values. The invitations to these meetings had arrived in different ways. Greg Cootsona’s came via…
TL;DR:
Chris Stokel-Walker at Scientific American: In late March around 15 religious thinkers met with the artificial intelligence company Anthropic to discuss one of the strangest and most consequential questions now facing the AI industry: How do you teach a chatbot to be good?
3quarksdaily
Jun 1, 16:45
Could a pill prevent the world’s deadliest cancer?
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Could a pill prevent the world’s deadliest cancer?. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
Jun 1, 15:45
The UN’s special rapporteurs are experts charged with a singular mandate: to monitor the world’s worst human rights abuses
Alvina Hoffmann at Aeon: On 9 July 2025, the government of the United States imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine. Earlier in the spring, Albanese had written confidential letters to US companies, warning that she would name them in her forthcoming UN report for contributing to gross violations of human rights in…
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The UN’s special rapporteurs are experts charged with a singular mandate: to monitor the world’s worst human rights abuses. Alvina Hoffmann at Aeon: On 9 July 2025, the government of the United States imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine.
TL;DR:
Alvina Hoffmann at Aeon: On 9 July 2025, the government of the United States imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine.
3quarksdaily
Jun 1, 12:00
3 Quarks Daily Is Looking For New Columnists
Dear Reader, Here’s your chance to say what you want to the large number of highly educated readers that make up 3QD’s international audience. Several of our regular columnists have had to cut back or even completely quit their columns for 3QD because of other personal and professional commitments and so we are looking for…
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3 Quarks Daily Is Looking For New Columnists. Dear Reader, Here’s your chance to say what you want to the large number of highly educated readers that make up 3QD’s international audience. Several of our regular columnists have had to cut back or even completely quit their columns for 3QD because of other personal and professional commitments and so we are looking for…
TL;DR:
Dear Reader, Here’s your chance to say what you want to the large number of highly educated readers that make up 3QD’s international audience.
3quarksdaily
Jun 1, 11:56
These Seven AI Rings Translate Sign Language in Real Time
Shelly Fan in Singularity Hub: At the turn of the 20th century, William Hoy transformed Major League Baseball. The most prominent deaf player in history, he taught his team American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate on the field while keeping opponents in the dark. His silent speech, a legacy well over a century old now, also inspired umpires…
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These Seven AI Rings Translate Sign Language in Real Time. The most prominent deaf player in history, he taught his team American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate on the field while keeping opponents in the dark. His silent speech, a legacy well over a century old now, also inspired umpires…
TL;DR:
Shelly Fan in Singularity Hub: At the turn of the 20th century, William Hoy transformed Major League Baseball.
3quarksdaily
Jun 1, 10:00
Motherland on High
by Katalin Balog The battles fought by our forbears Our memory will dissolve into peace To set our common house in order This is our task – and it will not come with ease. — Attila József, “By the Danube” (final stanza, trans. K.B.) I have arrived in my hometown, Budapest, just before the election…
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by Katalin Balog The battles fought by our forbears Our memory will dissolve into peace To set our common house in order This is our task – and it will not come with ease. — Attila József, “By the Danube” (final stanza, trans. K.B.) I have arrived in my hometown, Budapest, just before the election…
TL;DR:
by Katalin Balog The battles fought by our forbears Our memory will dissolve into peace To set our common house in order This is our task – and it will not come with ease.
3quarksdaily
Jun 1, 09:00
The Growing Up Has No End in Sight
by Peter Topolewski For parents it’s easy, but even for anyone without kids it’s not hard to imagine: the fear that your child is anything but safe and healthy. It starts before they’re born, with worry and greater amounts of hope that they enter this world free of pain and deformity and developmental irregularities. If…
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The Growing Up Has No End in Sight. by Peter Topolewski For parents it’s easy, but even for anyone without kids it’s not hard to imagine: the fear that your child is anything but safe and healthy. It starts before they’re born, with worry and greater amounts of hope that they enter this world free of pain and deformity and developmental irregularities.
TL;DR:
by Peter Topolewski For parents it’s easy, but even for anyone without kids it’s not hard to imagine: the fear that your child is anything but safe and healthy.
3quarksdaily
Jun 1, 08:00
Poem by Jim Culleny
Understanding of Unity Among All Living Things We arrive dumb as stumps, wailing as if we already knew the inevitability of outcomes Why did we not laugh instead, foreseeing joy, or simply remain mute in the moment, suggesting sudden premonition—> the instant awareness that life would bring both understanding and awareness, all provoked by the…
TL;DR:
Understanding of Unity Among All Living Things We arrive dumb as stumps, wailing as if we already knew the inevitability of outcomes Why did we not laugh instead, foreseeing joy, or simply remain mute in the moment, suggesting sudden premonition—> the instant awareness that life would bring both understanding and awareness, all provoked by the…
3quarksdaily
Jun 1, 06:01
Pissing on a book: The Staggering Ignorance of Agüera y Arcas’s What is Intelligence?
by David J. Lobina There is a kind of book that’s very successful. It is a big book, with a grand design, very ambitious, and offering a theory that purportedly explains a great deal. It is also a kind of book I despise. It is typically the result of a flawed project, over-ambitious rather than…
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Pissing on a book: The Staggering Ignorance of Agüera y Arcas’s What is Intelligence?. Lobina There is a kind of book that’s very successful. It is a big book, with a grand design, very ambitious, and offering a theory that purportedly explains a great deal.
TL;DR:
It is also a kind of book I despise.
3quarksdaily
May 31, 13:59
Totó La Momposina (1940 – 2026) Singer
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Totó La Momposina (1940 – 2026) Singer. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
May 31, 13:02
Killing Me Softly with His Song
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Killing Me Softly with His Song. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
May 31, 12:56
Ben Morea (1941 – 2026) Painter And Anarchist
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Ben Morea (1941 – 2026) Painter And Anarchist. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
May 31, 12:52
Resistance training: lowering the barrier to entry
From The Peter Attia Weekly Newsletter: Most popular training advice emphasizes optimization: how do you maximize muscle and strength? Programming for those kinds of goals entails lifting heavy loads, training near muscular failure, and doing so for long sessions, many times per week. While effective, these approaches impose meaningful costs in time, effort, and perceived risk,…
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Resistance training: lowering the barrier to entry. Programming for those kinds of goals entails lifting heavy loads, training near muscular failure, and doing so for long sessions, many times per week. While effective, these approaches impose meaningful costs in time, effort, and perceived risk,…
TL;DR:
From The Peter Attia Weekly Newsletter: Most popular training advice emphasizes optimization: how do you maximize muscle and strength?
3quarksdaily
May 31, 12:44
Sunday Poem
A Search what is god and what is stone the dividing line if it exists is very thin at jeruri and every other stone is god or his cousin there is no crop other than god and god is harvested here around the year and round the clock out of the bad earth and hard…
TL;DR:
A Search what is god and what is stone the dividing line if it exists is very thin at jeruri and every other stone is god or his cousin there is no crop other than god and god is harvested here around the year and round the clock out of the bad earth and hard…
3quarksdaily
May 31, 11:50
Sonny Rollins (1930 – 2026) Jazz Saxophonist
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Sonny Rollins (1930 – 2026) Jazz Saxophonist. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
May 31, 09:00
A Nietzschean Reading of the Hokey Pokey
by Steve Gimbel We begin with song, with a Wagnerian primordial harmony, a simplistic melody that eschews the false refinement of the times, instead speaking directly to primal self with lyrics in the imperative. It does not, like the Priests before it, forbid action with “Thou shalt not,” nor does it request from a position…
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A Nietzschean Reading of the Hokey Pokey. by Steve Gimbel We begin with song, with a Wagnerian primordial harmony, a simplistic melody that eschews the false refinement of the times, instead speaking directly to primal self with lyrics in the imperative. It does not, like the Priests before it, forbid action with “Thou shalt not,” nor does it request from a position…
TL;DR:
by Steve Gimbel We begin with song, with a Wagnerian primordial harmony, a simplistic melody that eschews the false refinement of the times, instead speaking directly to primal self with lyrics in the imperative.
3quarksdaily
May 31, 08:00
10 Things About Germany That Are Just….Weird
by Eric Schenck I lived in Germany for five years. As an American, I got to experience a lot of awesome things: German bread Christmas markets Trains that will take you anywhere But along with the awesome- Came the weird. I could probably create a list of 1,000 things that were strange about Germany, but…
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10 Things About Germany That Are Just….Weird. As an American, I got to experience a lot of awesome things: German bread Christmas markets Trains that will take you anywhere But along with the awesome- Came the weird. I could probably create a list of 1,000 things that were strange about Germany, but…
TL;DR:
by Eric Schenck I lived in Germany for five years.
3quarksdaily
May 29, 20:07
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet – Happy Today
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Jeff Parker ETA IVtet – Happy Today. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
May 29, 19:02
How Jeff Parker Changed the Sound of Jazz
Grayson Haver Currin at Pitchfork: Parker believes he briefly lost his own tone at Berklee when he tried to adhere to jazz pedagogy and the way that esteemed jazz guitarists, like former Berklee professor Pat Metheny, often sounded. It was a necessary compromise, he reckons, as he developed his skills. Still, he didn’t feel like himself.…
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Grayson Haver Currin at Pitchfork: Parker believes he briefly lost his own tone at Berklee when he tried to adhere to jazz pedagogy and the way that esteemed jazz guitarists, like former Berklee professor Pat Metheny, often sounded. It was a necessary compromise, he reckons, as he developed his skills. Still, he didn’t feel like himself.…
TL;DR:
Grayson Haver Currin at Pitchfork: Parker believes he briefly lost his own tone at Berklee when he tried to adhere to jazz pedagogy and the way that esteemed jazz guitarists, like former Berklee professor Pat Metheny, often sounded.
3quarksdaily
May 29, 18:45
Understanding the Power of Power Ballads
Angelica Frey at JSTOR Daily: “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” “My Heart Will Go On,” “Without You,” “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing,” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart” are songs that have transcended their original moment and become enduring pop culture touchstones. Formally categorized as power ballads, these songs are what David Metzer defines…
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Formally categorized as power ballads, these songs are what David Metzer defines…
TL;DR:
Angelica Frey at JSTOR Daily: “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” “My Heart Will Go On,” “Without You,” “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing,” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart” are songs that have transcended their original moment and become enduring pop culture touchstones.
Dailynous
May 29, 18:25
Murphy from Georgetown to Notre Dame
Mark Murphy, currently professor and chair of philosophy at Georgetown University, will be moving to the University of Notre Dame. Professor Murphy is known for his work in moral philosophy, philosophy of law, and philosophy of religion. He is the author of God’s Own Ethics: Norms of Divine Action and the Argument from Evil (OUP, 2017) and God and Moral Law: On the Theistic Explanation of Morality (OUP, 2011), among many other works. You can learn more about his books and articles here. He will be taking up his new position as Cathy and Jack Brennan Professor of Virtue Ethics at Notre Dame (where he earned his MA and PhD), in the fall. The post Murphy from Georgetown to Notre Dame first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Mark Murphy, currently professor and chair of philosophy at Georgetown University, will be moving to the University of Notre Dame. Professor Murphy is known for his work in moral philosophy, philosophy of law, and philosophy of religion. The post Murphy from Georgetown to Notre Dame first appeared on Daily Nous .
TL;DR:
Professor Murphy is known for his work in moral philosophy, philosophy of law, and philosophy of religion.
3quarksdaily
May 29, 18:00
The Genius of the Barn Owl’s Feathers
Lorna Gibson at the MIT Press Reader: But it is not just the position of the ears that enables their exceptional hearing. The facial feathers play an important role, too. One of the most identifiable features of a barn owl is its heart-shaped facial disc. The disc has two specialized types of feathers that help…
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The Genius of the Barn Owl’s Feathers. One of the most identifiable features of a barn owl is its heart-shaped facial disc. The disc has two specialized types of feathers that help…
TL;DR:
Lorna Gibson at the MIT Press Reader: But it is not just the position of the ears that enables their exceptional hearing.
3quarksdaily
May 29, 16:45
Yuval Noah Harari on Donald Trump’s Core Delusion | The Ezra Klein Show
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Yuval Noah Harari on Donald Trump’s Core Delusion | The Ezra Klein Show. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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3quarksdaily
May 29, 15:45
Book Review: The Dialectical Imagination
Scott Alexander at Astral Codex Ten: Art is long, life is short. Most of us only manage to not do a few things in our limited span on Earth. But the Frankfurt School managed to not invent so many movements – to not be involved in so many of the crucial ideological shifts of the…
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Book Review: The Dialectical Imagination. Scott Alexander at Astral Codex Ten: Art is long, life is short. But the Frankfurt School managed to not invent so many movements – to not be involved in so many of the crucial ideological shifts of the…
TL;DR:
Scott Alexander at Astral Codex Ten: Art is long, life is short.
Dailynous
May 29, 13:41
Russia’s Political Persecution of a Philosopher: Further Details (guest post)
Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel. Earlier this week, it was reported that Russian Philosopher Svetlana Mesyats was placed under house arrest and the offi…
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Russia’s Political Persecution of a Philosopher: Further Details (guest post). In the following guest post, Elizaveta Shcherbakova (Humboldt University of Berlin), who used to work at the Institute of Philosophy alongside Dr. The case concerns the Russian scholar of ancient philosophy Svetlana Mesyats , whom some of you may know.
TL;DR:
The case concerns the Russian scholar of ancient philosophy Svetlana Mesyats , whom some of you may know.
3quarksdaily
May 29, 12:37
Ozempic may be reshaping the brain
Ariana Cha in The Washington Post: Ozempic was supposed to be a gut story. Then Allison Shapiro looked at the brain scans. An assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz, she was part of a team studying 13 teens and young women with a hormonal disorder affecting the ovaries who were put on GLP-1 drugs.…
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Ozempic may be reshaping the brain. Ariana Cha in The Washington Post: Ozempic was supposed to be a gut story. An assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz, she was part of a team studying 13 teens and young women with a hormonal disorder affecting the ovaries who were put on GLP-1 drugs.…
TL;DR:
Ariana Cha in The Washington Post: Ozempic was supposed to be a gut story.
3quarksdaily
May 29, 12:29
Friday Poem
Take the Fall and Trust Dancing outside on a rocky place with a beautiful woman, humming a song we both sort of know. I’m caught by her long thick graceful hair. She is as graceful as her hair and does a sudden dip hanging suspended from my arms above the sharp stones. Suddenly I know…
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Take the Fall and Trust Dancing outside on a rocky place with a beautiful woman, humming a song we both sort of know. I’m caught by her long thick graceful hair. She is as graceful as her hair and does a sudden dip hanging suspended from my arms above the sharp stones.
TL;DR:
Take the Fall and Trust Dancing outside on a rocky place with a beautiful woman, humming a song we both sort of know.
3quarksdaily
May 29, 12:10
The Conscience of the City: On the life of the garbageman
Simon Paret-Poupart in Harper’s Magazine: I’m a garbageman. Day after day, I heave and haul the detritus of the most polluting civilization in history. In two decades, I’ve handled tens of thousands of tons of trash, and the looks I get along my route suggest that people sometimes mistake me for the garbage I handle. The…
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The Conscience of the City: On the life of the garbageman. Day after day, I heave and haul the detritus of the most polluting civilization in history. In two decades, I’ve handled tens of thousands of tons of trash, and the looks I get along my route suggest that people sometimes mistake me for the garbage I handle.
TL;DR:
Day after day, I heave and haul the detritus of the most polluting civilization in history.
Aeon
May 29, 10:00
Artist of sympathy and cruelty
Mozart’s genius lay in writing music of such power that he could draw his audience into morally wrenching predicaments - by Dorian Bandy Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
Mozart’s genius lay in writing music of such power that he could draw his audience into morally wrenching predicaments - by Dorian Bandy Read on Aeon
3quarksdaily
May 29, 09:00
A Habitat Farmer’s Manifesto
by David Hoyt 1.I consider myself a farmer. Instead of food, I raise habitat. Another way of saying it would be that, instead of raising food for people, I raise food for everything else. 2. It’s risky to define oneself, because others have their own perceptions, usually different, and sometimes more accurate. In the traditions…
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by David Hoyt 1.I consider myself a farmer. Instead of food, I raise habitat. Another way of saying it would be that, instead of raising food for people, I raise food for everything else. 2. It’s risky to define oneself, because others have their own perceptions, usually different, and sometimes more accurate. In the traditions…
TL;DR:
Another way of saying it would be that, instead of raising food for people, I raise food for everything else.
3quarksdaily
May 29, 08:00
A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand
by John Ambrosio On June 16, 1858 in his House Divided speech, Abraham Lincoln declared that the government “could not endure permanently as half slave and half free” and would eventually become “all one thing or all the other.” Addressing the Illinois Republican State Convention, he argued that the deep and intensifying division over slavery…
TL;DR:
by John Ambrosio On June 16, 1858 in his House Divided speech, Abraham Lincoln declared that the government “could not endure permanently as half slave and half free” and would eventually become “all one thing or all the other.” Addressing the Illinois Republican State Convention, he argued that the deep and intensifying division over slavery…
3quarksdaily
May 28, 18:45
Monet to Matisse…and More: “The Impressonist Revolution” at the Frist
Leann Davis Alspaugh at Acroteria: Impressionism has become as cozy and comfortable as a favorite shirt. We know and love its Parisian vistas with bourgeois ladies and gentlemen, its sunlit gardens, and those waterlilies. We have even grown accustomed to, if not always at ease with, Post-Impressionism and its lurid colors and ladies of questionable…
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Monet to Matisse…and More: “The Impressonist Revolution” at the Frist. We know and love its Parisian vistas with bourgeois ladies and gentlemen, its sunlit gardens, and those waterlilies. We have even grown accustomed to, if not always at ease with, Post-Impressionism and its lurid colors and ladies of questionable…
TL;DR:
Leann Davis Alspaugh at Acroteria: Impressionism has become as cozy and comfortable as a favorite shirt.
3quarksdaily
May 28, 17:45
The Nuclear Resurgence Will Follow Many Paths
Matthew L. Wald at The EcoModernist: Bulldozers are already pushing dirt, welders are connecting steel reinforcing bars, concrete mixers are spinning, electricity customers are signing mega-deals for power from reactors for decades into the future, and billions of dollars of construction is already underway for a nuclear resurgence. It looks a bit like a replay…
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Matthew L. Wald at The EcoModernist: Bulldozers are already pushing dirt, welders are connecting steel reinforcing bars, concrete mixers are spinning, electricity customers are signing mega-deals for power from reactors for decades into the future, and billions of dollars of construction is already underway for a nuclear resurgence. It looks a bit like a replay…
TL;DR:
Wald at The EcoModernist: Bulldozers are already pushing dirt, welders are connecting steel reinforcing bars, concrete mixers are spinning, electricity customers are signing mega-deals for power from reactors for decades into the future, and billions of dollars of construction is already underway for a nuclear resurgence.
3quarksdaily
May 28, 16:45
“Q-Day”: The Day Quantum Computers Break the Internet
Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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“Q-Day”: The Day Quantum Computers Break the Internet. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
TL;DR:
Enjoying the content on 3QD?
3quarksdaily
May 28, 15:45
Ukraine and Iran are Changing Warfare
Francis Fukuyama at Persuasion: It is clear that we are living through a dramatic revolution in warfare brought about by changes in technology. Classic airpower, manned by human pilots, is increasingly being displaced by pilotless drones and ballistic missiles. This has led to surprising developments, as seemingly weaker powers like Ukraine and Iran have been…
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Ukraine and Iran are Changing Warfare. Francis Fukuyama at Persuasion: It is clear that we are living through a dramatic revolution in warfare brought about by changes in technology. This has led to surprising developments, as seemingly weaker powers like Ukraine and Iran have been…
TL;DR:
Francis Fukuyama at Persuasion: It is clear that we are living through a dramatic revolution in warfare brought about by changes in technology.
3quarksdaily
May 28, 13:31
23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest: Steps in the Blue City
From Smithsonian Magazine: An elderly woman, dressed in a patterned green and white sari, ascends a rugged, blue-painted staircase in what appears to be a courtyard or interior space in Jodhpur, India. The walls and steps are all painted in a deep, vibrant blue, characteristic of the city’s old quarter. Sunlight streams down from above and…
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23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest: Steps in the Blue City. From Smithsonian Magazine: An elderly woman, dressed in a patterned green and white sari, ascends a rugged, blue-painted staircase in what appears to be a courtyard or interior space in Jodhpur, India. The walls and steps are all painted in a deep, vibrant blue, characteristic of the city’s old quarter.
TL;DR:
From Smithsonian Magazine: An elderly woman, dressed in a patterned green and white sari, ascends a rugged, blue-painted staircase in what appears to be a courtyard or interior space in Jodhpur, India.
3quarksdaily
May 28, 13:26
Multiomics Reveals How Macrophages Contribute to Liver Disease
Stephanie DeMarco in The Scientist: Macrophages may be best known as the first responders of the immune system, and the ones that reside in the liver are no different. They protect the liver from infections, but when liver cells start to accumulate fat, these macrophages can become activated and contribute to the chronic inflammatory condition, metabolic…
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Stephanie DeMarco in The Scientist: Macrophages may be best known as the first responders of the immune system, and the ones that reside in the liver are no different. They protect the liver from infections, but when liver cells start to accumulate fat, these macrophages can become activated and contribute to the chronic inflammatory condition, metabolic…
TL;DR:
Stephanie DeMarco in The Scientist: Macrophages may be best known as the first responders of the immune system, and the ones that reside in the liver are no different.
3quarksdaily
May 28, 11:57
Thursday Poem
We Alone We alone can devalue gold by not caring if it falls or rises in the marketplace. Wherever there is gold there is a chain, you know, and if your chain is gold so much the worse for you. Feathers, shells and sea-shaped stones are all as rare. This could be our revolution: To…
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We Alone We alone can devalue gold by not caring if it falls or rises in the marketplace. Wherever there is gold there is a chain, you know, and if your chain is gold so much the worse for you. Feathers, shells and sea-shaped stones are all as rare.
TL;DR:
We Alone We alone can devalue gold by not caring if it falls or rises in the marketplace.
Aeon
May 28, 10:01
Life recombined
In the early 1970s, genetic engineers launched the most controversial revolution in science since the atomic bomb - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
TL;DR:
In the early 1970s, genetic engineers launched the most controversial revolution in science since the atomic bomb - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Aeon
May 28, 10:00
Flickering Enlightenment
Attacked by the Left and Right, the Enlightenment can only be saved through use of its greatest legacy: permanent critique - by Eliane Glaser Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
Attacked by the Left and Right, the Enlightenment can only be saved through use of its greatest legacy: permanent critique - by Eliane Glaser Read on Aeon
3quarksdaily
May 28, 09:00
A Snippet of a Conversation Between ChatGPT and Me
by S. Abbas Raza and ChatGPT 5.5 ChatGPT: Feeling a flicker of compassion for AI does not require believing AI has a soul. It may instead reveal how deeply human language recruits our moral imagination — even when the speaker may be only a mirror with excellent timing. S. Abbas Raza: Nova [at ChatGPT’s request,…
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by S. Abbas Raza and ChatGPT 5.5 ChatGPT: Feeling a flicker of compassion for AI does not require believing AI has a soul. It may instead reveal how deeply human language recruits our moral imagination — even when the speaker may be only a mirror with excellent timing. S. Abbas Raza: Nova [at ChatGPT’s request,…
TL;DR:
Abbas Raza and ChatGPT 5.5 ChatGPT: Feeling a flicker of compassion for AI does not require believing AI has a soul.
3quarksdaily
May 28, 08:00
This Week’s Photograph
A plastic pipe sticking out of a wall and its noontime shadow in Franzensfeste, South Tyrol. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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A plastic pipe sticking out of a wall and its noontime shadow in Franzensfeste, South Tyrol. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
TL;DR:
A plastic pipe sticking out of a wall and its noontime shadow in Franzensfeste, South Tyrol.
3quarksdaily
May 27, 18:45
“If This Be Magic” by Daniel Hahn – A superbly diverting book about language and creativity
Steven Poole at The Guardian: The great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, who translated William Faulkner, André Gide, Franz Kafka and Virginia Woolf into Spanish, drew the line at Shakespeare. Speaking of the moment when Hamlet asks the ghost why it returns to haunt “the glimpses of the moon”, Borges commented: “I don’t think it…
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Steven Poole at The Guardian: The great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, who translated William Faulkner, André Gide, Franz Kafka and Virginia Woolf into Spanish, drew the line at Shakespeare. Speaking of the moment when Hamlet asks the ghost why it returns to haunt “the glimpses of the moon”, Borges commented: “I don’t think it…
TL;DR:
Steven Poole at The Guardian: The great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, who translated William Faulkner, André Gide, Franz Kafka and Virginia Woolf into Spanish, drew the line at Shakespeare.
3quarksdaily
May 27, 17:45
One-and-Done Heart Disease Prevention? Scientists Show It May Be Possible
Gina Kolata at the New York Times: In a small, preliminary study, an experimental gene-editing treatment dramatically lowered cholesterol levels, perhaps permanently, after just one infusion, scientists reported on Monday. If confirmed in larger studies, researchers hope the findings may lead to a one-and-done way to prevent heart disease in large numbers of people. Most…
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Gina Kolata at the New York Times: In a small, preliminary study, an experimental gene-editing treatment dramatically lowered cholesterol levels, perhaps permanently, after just one infusion, scientists reported on Monday. If confirmed in larger studies, researchers hope the findings may lead to a one-and-done way to prevent heart disease in large numbers of people. Most…
TL;DR:
Gina Kolata at the New York Times: In a small, preliminary study, an experimental gene-editing treatment dramatically lowered cholesterol levels, perhaps permanently, after just one infusion, scientists reported on Monday.
3quarksdaily
May 27, 16:45
2026 Cosmos HAI Lab Lecture with Jack Clark, Co-founder of Anthropic
For an essay based on this lecture, go here. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
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2026 Cosmos HAI Lab Lecture with Jack Clark, Co-founder of Anthropic. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.
TL;DR:
For an essay based on this lecture, go here.
3quarksdaily
May 27, 15:45
Are you tired of the Trump era yet?
Noah Smith at Noahpinion: Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of everything Trump is doing to tear down the America I grew up in. In his first term, it was often said that he avoided criticism using a “DDOS” strategy — rhetorically attacking so many opponents at such blinding speed that they couldn’t focus on…
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Are you tired of the Trump era yet?. Noah Smith at Noahpinion: Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of everything Trump is doing to tear down the America I grew up in. In his first term, it was often said that he avoided criticism using a “DDOS” strategy — rhetorically attacking so many opponents at such blinding speed that they couldn’t focus on…
TL;DR:
Noah Smith at Noahpinion: Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of everything Trump is doing to tear down the America I grew up in.
Dailynous
May 27, 14:42
Does Your Department Have an AI Policy? Here’s Edinburgh’s
Has your department instituted an AI policy? If so, whom does it govern, and what does it say? What should such a policy say? Has your department considered an AI policy but held off on writing or implementing it? If so, what issues, disputes, or questions have contributed to the delay? Does your department even have the institutional authority to have such a policy? Would it be better to not have a policy? These and other questions are prompted today by word that the Department of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh recently adopted a policy for the use of AI by students in philosophy courses. It’s the default policy, which means it can be superseded by policies developed by individual instructors for their courses or approved disability accommodations. Here it is: Policy on the use of AI in Philosophy Courses Summary: Edinburgh philosophy is human made! The use of AI is prohibited when completing assessed work in philosophy. Definition: AI includes but is not limited to Generative AI systems capable of producing essays, summaries, explanations, or arguments AI systems that use Large Language Models (LLM) Automated paraphrasing or rewriting tools AI systems that generate images, audio, or video AI systems that answer questions or provide explanations in natural language This definition includes all models of ChatGPT, all models of Gemini, all models of Claude, similar tools such as Midjourney, Microsoft Co-Pilot, and Grammarly, as well as all tools hosted on the ELM platform of the University of Edinburgh. Note: Standard spell-checking software (e.g. in Microsoft Word), citation management software, and grammar checkers that conform to the university’s Proofreading Policy are excluded from the definition of AI. Statement of policy: Philosophy courses aim to foster careful original thought, improve persuasive academic writing skills, and enhance students’ abilities to understand complex topics. Using generative AI tools to produce assessed work is almost always detrimental to this aim, which is why the use of AI is prohibited in writing, revising, and editing of academic work that is submitted for assessment in Philosophy. This includes undergraduate and postgraduate essays, undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations, take-home exams, or any other form of assessment. Violations of the policy may be referred to the School Academic Misconduct.. The post Does Your Department Have an AI Policy? Here’s Edinburgh’s first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Does Your Department Have an AI Policy? Has your department instituted an AI policy? Here it is: Policy on the use of AI in Philosophy Courses Summary: Edinburgh philosophy is human made!
TL;DR:
Has your department instituted an AI policy?
3quarksdaily
May 27, 13:12
Fieldwork As a Sex Object – story of a deepfake sex tape
Fatima Bhutto in The Guardian: We can all agree that the internet today, especially two particular platforms owned by the world’s greatest megalomaniacs, is a hellscape. But if you think X and Facebook are purgatories of friendless trolls endlessly posting hate and bullying women, each other and minorities under the guise of free speech, wait till…
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Fatima Bhutto in The Guardian: We can all agree that the internet today, especially two particular platforms owned by the world’s greatest megalomaniacs, is a hellscape. But if you think X and Facebook are purgatories of friendless trolls endlessly posting hate and bullying women, each other and minorities under the guise of free speech, wait till…
TL;DR:
Fatima Bhutto in The Guardian: We can all agree that the internet today, especially two particular platforms owned by the world’s greatest megalomaniacs, is a hellscape.
3quarksdaily
May 27, 13:02
Memory on trial: the new science of when to trust eyewitness testimony
RJ Mackenzie in Nature: For decades, researchers have raised concerns about the reliability of eyewitness testimony in criminal cases. Memories can be flawed, degraded, biased and contaminated. These problems are often intensified by unsound or inconsistent methods used by the police when eyewitness accounts are first taken. For many scientists in the field, memory is simply…
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Memory on trial: the new science of when to trust eyewitness testimony. RJ Mackenzie in Nature: For decades, researchers have raised concerns about the reliability of eyewitness testimony in criminal cases. For many scientists in the field, memory is simply…
TL;DR:
RJ Mackenzie in Nature: For decades, researchers have raised concerns about the reliability of eyewitness testimony in criminal cases.
3quarksdaily
May 27, 11:48
Wednesday Poem
Against Order Tear the line into pieces. Open it out: Let silence be part of all that must be said. I can’t. I can’t. It looks so disorganized. I want to move it like furniture…
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Against Order Tear the line into pieces. Open it out: Let silence be part of all that must be said. I want to move it like furniture…
TL;DR:
Against Order Tear the line into pieces.
Aeon
May 27, 10:01
The meatseller
Selinna is 15 when she leaves her home in Nigeria, bound for Italy, a journey as perilous as it is transformative - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
TL;DR:
Selinna is 15 when she leaves her home in Nigeria, bound for Italy, a journey as perilous as it is transformative - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
3quarksdaily
May 27, 10:00
Monoculture of the Mind
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad In the 1840s, nearly all of the potatoes grown in Ireland came from a single cultivar called the Irish Lumper. It was a good potato. It was reliable, high-yielding, well-suited to the wet Irish soil, capable of feeding a family through a winter on a small plot of ground. In enabled…
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by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad In the 1840s, nearly all of the potatoes grown in Ireland came from a single cultivar called the Irish Lumper. It was reliable, high-yielding, well-suited to the wet Irish soil, capable of feeding a family through a winter on a small plot of ground.
TL;DR:
by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad In the 1840s, nearly all of the potatoes grown in Ireland came from a single cultivar called the Irish Lumper.
3quarksdaily
May 27, 09:00
“Cancel Culture” is Intellectually Lazy
by Rachel Robison-Greene Many of my heroes were canceled. Hume was repeatedly denied academic posts as a result of his reputation for skepticism and atheism. Spinoza was excommunicated from the Jewish community of Amsterdam and cast out of the tribes of Israel with “all the curses of the covenant” for the positions he held. Socrates was…
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“Cancel Culture” is Intellectually Lazy. by Rachel Robison-Greene Many of my heroes were canceled. Hume was repeatedly denied academic posts as a result of his reputation for skepticism and atheism. Spinoza was excommunicated from the Jewish community of Amsterdam and cast out of the tribes of Israel with “all the curses of the covenant” for the positions he held.
TL;DR:
by Rachel Robison-Greene Many of my heroes were canceled.
3quarksdaily
May 26, 18:45
Failure To Lawn
Maggie Slepian at Longreads: In the beginning, this was a field. It was also riparian zones and shrubland, deciduous forest, and grassland. Long before I-90 bisected the valley and four-lane arteries divided neighborhoods into a sprawling suburban grid, this valley was a high-traffic wildlife corridor where elk, pronghorn, wolves, and hundreds of bird species moved unencumbered between the…
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Maggie Slepian at Longreads: In the beginning, this was a field. It was also riparian zones and shrubland, deciduous forest, and grassland. Long before I-90 bisected the valley and four-lane arteries divided neighborhoods into a sprawling suburban grid, this valley was a high-traffic wildlife corridor where elk, pronghorn, wolves, and hundreds of bird species moved unencumbere…
TL;DR:
Maggie Slepian at Longreads: In the beginning, this was a field.
Aeon
May 26, 10:00
The embattled witnesses
The UN’s special rapporteurs are experts charged with a singular mandate: to monitor the world’s worst human rights abuses - by Alvina Hoffmann Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
The UN’s special rapporteurs are experts charged with a singular mandate: to monitor the world’s worst human rights abuses - by Alvina Hoffmann Read on Aeon
Dailynous
May 25, 12:52
Russian Government Investigating Institute of Philosophy
Russian Philosopher Svetlana Mesyats is under house arrest and the offices and homes of several other employees of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences were searched, according to social media postings from a pro-Russian government account and other media sources. Meduza reports: 10 researchers were taken to the Investigative Committee of Russia and interrogated until late in the evening. The outlet noted that the whereabouts of several employees had remained unknown for four days, with no contact from them. Following the searches, one institute employee was detained: Svetlana Mesyats, listed on the institute’s website as a candidate of sciences and head of the project to prepare a new complete edition of Aristotle’s works. The reason for the actions against the Institute of Philosophy is unclear. The accusation appears to be that the Institute mishandled funds intended for translations of Aristotle. Yet others have suggested that the actions are political payback for the Institute refusing to accept Anatoly Chernyaev, who supports the invasion of Ukraine, as director. Mediazona reports: Investigators believe that the institute’s employees received approximately 52 million rubles to prepare a complete collection of Aristotle’s works, but the publication “never appeared,” a source told Novaya Gazeta. Instead, only articles and translations of individual treatises were published—in particular, the works of researchers Volkova and Mesyats—but the overall result “did not correspond to the scale and theme of the declared project,” the publication states. Investigators also believe that the institute’s employees engaged in “double funding”—including the same research projects in reports for different years. A Novaya Gazeta source believes this could have occurred “by mistake” due to the complex reporting system and the large volume of documents. It also provides some background related to the current events: The public conflict surrounding the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences has been ongoing for approximately five years. In late 2021, the Ministry of Education and Science appointed Anatoly Chernyaev, a specialist in the history of Russian philosophy, to head the institute. Both the appointment procedure without an election and the candidacy of Chernyaev, whom colleagues called a “nameless PhD candidate,” sparked protests from many institute employees. Chernyaev lost his position a week after his appointment. Guseinov became acting director, and Chernyaev was dismissed two years later. The.. The post Russian Government Investigating Institute of Philosophy first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Russian Philosopher Svetlana Mesyats is under house arrest and the offices and homes of several other employees of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences were searched, according to social media postings from a pro-Russian government account and other media sources.
TL;DR:
The post Russian Government Investigating Institute of Philosophy first appeared on Daily Nous .
Dailynous
May 25, 11:20
Virtual Dissertation Writing Groups
New virtual writing groups for people working on dissertations in philosophy are forming now. Joshua Smart (St. Bonaventure University), once again, is organizing them. He writes in with the following information: Virtual Dissertation Groups (VDG) will be running again this June – August. The VDG sign-up form is open for this summer’s groups through Saturday, June 6th. What it is: Virtual Dissertation Groups is a free service for those currently working on their doctoral dissertations in philosophy departments (or philosophy of science or the like). Since 2014, VDG has connected students from over 30 countries to provide low-stakes peer feedback on dissertation work with a minimal time commitment. How it works: Dissertators are organized into groups of three, based on information provided about their project/area of work. Once a month for June-August, one of the members takes a turn sending work from their dissertation (3k–6k words) to the other two for feedback. (Feedback is typically in the form of written comments, though some groups choose to have video discussions.) Why it’s good: While advisors and committees are important, it can be incredibly helpful to discuss one’s work with peers in a lower-stakes environment, and particularly enlightening to do so with those who have a different approach, outlook, or focus. There is even some evidence from psychology that thinking about problems in relation to geographically distant persons can promote creative insights. With students at a variety of programs and from around the world, VDG is a great way to capture some of these benefits! Signing up is easy, just fill out a few brief questions on your project at the VDG sign-up form. Hope to see you there! The post Virtual Dissertation Writing Groups first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Virtual Dissertation Writing Groups. New virtual writing groups for people working on dissertations in philosophy are forming now. What it is: Virtual Dissertation Groups is a free service for those currently working on their doctoral dissertations in philosophy departments (or philosophy of science or the like).
TL;DR:
New virtual writing groups for people working on dissertations in philosophy are forming now.
Dailynous
May 25, 10:50
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel. This is the weekly report on new and revised entries at online philosophy resources, new reviews of philosophy books, n…
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Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel. This is the weekly report on new and revised entries at online philosophy resources, new reviews of philosophy books, n…
TL;DR:
This is the weekly report on new and revised entries at online philosophy resources, new reviews of philosophy books, new podcast episodes, recently published open access philosophy books, and more.
Aeon
May 25, 10:01
This is my island
Life on this small, off-the-grid island offers closeness to land and community for those willing, and able, to work for it - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
TL;DR:
Life on this small, off-the-grid island offers closeness to land and community for those willing, and able, to work for it - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Aeon
May 25, 10:00
Can ecosystems malfunction?
We are told the natural world is ‘breaking down’. But forests don’t work like airplanes or human hearts - by John Drake Read on Aeon
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Can ecosystems malfunction?. We are told the natural world is ‘breaking down’. But forests don’t work like airplanes or human hearts - by John Drake Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
But forests don’t work like airplanes or human hearts - by John Drake Read on Aeon
Dailynous
May 22, 13:32
Pettigrew from Bristol to Oxford
Richard Pettigrew, currently professor of philosophy at the University of Bristol, will be moving to the University of Oxford, where he will be the new Wykeham Chair of Logic. Professor Pettigrew works on questions across a range of philosophical subfields, including epistemology, formal epistemology, decision theory, logic, philosophy of math, and ethics. He is the author of several books, including the recent Choosing for Changing Selves (2020), Epistemic Risk and the Demands of Rationality (2022), and Opinion Pooling (with Lee Elkin) (2025). You can learn more about his work here and here. The post Pettigrew from Bristol to Oxford first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Richard Pettigrew, currently professor of philosophy at the University of Bristol, will be moving to the University of Oxford, where he will be the new Wykeham Chair of Logic. Professor Pettigrew works on questions across a range of philosophical subfields, including epistemology, formal epistemology, decision theory, logic, philosophy of math, and ethics.
TL;DR:
Richard Pettigrew, currently professor of philosophy at the University of Bristol, will be moving to the University of Oxford, where he will be the new Wykeham Chair of Logic.
Dailynous
May 22, 11:28
Nottingham Administration Proposes Massive Faculty Cuts
The administration of the University of Nottingham is planning on reducing its full-time faculty by 600 beginning next January, using layoffs (redundancies) if need be. In response, the local university and college union began a “marking and assessment boycott” on Wednesday and are striking today. They may undertake a longer strike beginning in June. According to the Nottingham Post: Nottingham’s branches of the UCU, Unison and Unite [unions]—all of which represent staff at the university—have passed a motion of no confidence in the vice chancellor and the entire executive board. The unions have previously criticised the university’s leadership for alleged financial mismanagement, with the UCU branding the Castle Meadow campus—which cost more than £80 million but was abandoned before it was finished—a vanity project. The administration’s current plan calls for faculty cuts across the university, aiming for a student-faculty ratio of between 1:18 and 1:22. I am told that this would imply a roughly 30% reduction in Nottingham’s philosophy faculty. One Nottingham faculty member said that concerned academics can help by spreading the word and by donating to the local strike fund (as the marking boycott entails a 100% salary deduction), which “helps strikers who will suffer significant hardship from loss of pay due to striking.” You can click here to donate. The post Nottingham Administration Proposes Massive Faculty Cuts first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Nottingham Administration Proposes Massive Faculty Cuts. I am told that this would imply a roughly 30% reduction in Nottingham’s philosophy faculty. The post Nottingham Administration Proposes Massive Faculty Cuts first appeared on Daily Nous .
TL;DR:
I am told that this would imply a roughly 30% reduction in Nottingham’s philosophy faculty.
Aeon
May 22, 10:00
Being small
Nobody quite recovers from being a child: the asymmetry of power between parents and children always leaves a trace - by Tom Wooldridge Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
Nobody quite recovers from being a child: the asymmetry of power between parents and children always leaves a trace - by Tom Wooldridge Read on Aeon
Aeon
May 21, 10:01
Aloha ʻāina
It’s marketed as a holiday destination, but the true meaning of Hawai’i lies in the connections between land and people - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
TL;DR:
It’s marketed as a holiday destination, but the true meaning of Hawai’i lies in the connections between land and people - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Aeon
May 21, 10:00
Make immigration boring
The fiercest political battle of our age needs less moral drama and more hard thinking about numbers and fair tradeoffs - by Alan Manning Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
The fiercest political battle of our age needs less moral drama and more hard thinking about numbers and fair tradeoffs - by Alan Manning Read on Aeon
Dailynous
May 20, 11:30
Favorite Bookstores for Philosophy
Where in the world should you buy philosophy books? Sure, there’s the convenience of large online retailers, but there can be more to buying a book than just getting a good price on it. Do you want books and reading to be a live part of your city’s culture or the places you visit? Do you want to live in a place where people are attending book-related events at a bookstore nearby? Do you want to pop into a charming little bookshop or two on your vacation? If so, then you have reasons to buy books from such stores. Different bookstores may have different strengths. Of particular interest to readers of Daily Nous may be the bookstore that Jay Kennedy, a philosopher who recently retired from the University of Manchester, wrote to me about: Librairie philosophique J. Vrin. Dr. Kennedy writes: These days, institutions that support philosophy, however well known, deserve all the support we can give them—especially when they are also a treat and a pleasure. Claiming to be the only bookstore devoted solely to philosophy, the Librairie philosophique J. Vrin stocks more than 10,000 titles and is surely the largest shop of its kind. It sits across from two sunny cafés on a quiet plaza near the Sorbonne in Paris. The extraordinary range of shops selling new, used, and rare books in the Latin Quarter has always made it one of the great places for browsing and book hunting, but the storied Librairie philosophique is a temple of philosophy. Its sections cover ancient, medieval, and modern philosophy, as well as major subfields such as ethics, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, and world philosophy. It stocks recent scholarship and primary texts in their original languages, alongside any French translations. There are also separate sections devoted to used books in English, German, Latin, and ancient Greek. It is surprising to see how much academic philosophy has become international while still reflecting distinctive national cultures. Surveying such a sumptuous range of books is a quick and enjoyable way to get a sense of what is happening across the now-global world of philosophy—and also to sample newer work in French philosophy. If every philosopher visiting Paris made a point of patronizing the Librairie philosophique, we could help.. The post Favorite Bookstores for Philosophy first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Favorite Bookstores for Philosophy. Where in the world should you buy philosophy books? Its sections cover ancient, medieval, and modern philosophy, as well as major subfields such as ethics, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, and world philosophy.
TL;DR:
Where in the world should you buy philosophy books?
Dailynous
May 20, 10:27
Two Philosophers Win “Courageous Colleague” Award
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has bestowed its Berkson Courageous Colleague Award on two philosophers. Those two philosophers are Mike Gregory and Charlie Kurth, both of Clemson University. After two faculty and a staff member at Clemson were fired for social media posts in the wake of the killing of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, Professors Gregory and Kurth “sprang into action.” FIRE’s announcement of the award continues: Gregory wrote an op-ed criticizing the school for “a pattern of capitulation” in punishing faculty, while Kurth put a sign on his office door reading, “My employer is morally bankrupt.” The sign generated some attention online, including from one former South Carolina House representative who posted his disapproval on X. But Gregory and Kurth weren’t done. “We no longer know what speech will be tolerated or punished,” they co-wrote in an article for the Chronicle of Higher Education, “Who Will Clemson Censor Next?” The result, they added, was simple: “self-censoring and silence.” Looking beyond Clemson at the larger wave of cancel culture in the wake of Kirk’s murder, they added, “Across these cases, universities appear less guided by consistent standards than by external outrage. Terms like ‘disruption,’ ‘misalignment,’ or ‘institutional values’ function as catch-alls, invoked only after political actors or social-media campaigns generate pressure. The result is a chilling effect in which speech protections hinge not on content but on who objects and how loudly.” FIRE representatives visited Clemson University earlier this month to present the award and host a public discussion with Professors Gregory and Kurth about free speech on campus. The Berkson Courageous Colleague award is named for Mark Berkson, a professor at Hamline University who spoke out in support of a colleague who was fired for showing images of Muhammad in her art history class. The post Two Philosophers Win “Courageous Colleague” Award first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Two Philosophers Win “Courageous Colleague” Award. Those two philosophers are Mike Gregory and Charlie Kurth, both of Clemson University. The post Two Philosophers Win “Courageous Colleague” Award first appeared on Daily Nous .
TL;DR:
Those two philosophers are Mike Gregory and Charlie Kurth, both of Clemson University.
Aeon
May 20, 10:01
Looking for a donkey
After two arrests and a national uproar, why is it so tricky to find the donkey once likened to Venezuela’s president? - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
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Looking for a donkey. After two arrests and a national uproar, why is it so tricky to find the donkey once likened to Venezuela’s president? - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
TL;DR:
- by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Dailynous
May 19, 13:18
Two Philosophy Grad Students Among 2026 Newcombe Fellows
The Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation has announced the winners of its 2026 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships. The fellowship program provides support to PhD candidates in the humanities and social sciences writing dissertations on questions of religion, ethics, morals, or values. Twenty new fellows were announced, and two are based in philosophy departments. They are: Ross Edwards (The New School) Dissertation: The Horror in Evil: Moral Philosophy in the Shadow of Holocaust Literature. Description: If philosophy cannot face horror, it cannot truly understand evil. (winner of the Robert M. Adams – Charlotte W. Newcombe Fellowship in Philosophy) Zach Ferguson (UNC Chapel Hill) Dissertation: Moral Character Across Species Description: Animal ethics isn’t just about rules—it’s about the kind of moral character we cultivate, and recognize, in ourselves and other animals. You can see the full list of fellows here. The post Two Philosophy Grad Students Among 2026 Newcombe Fellows first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Two Philosophy Grad Students Among 2026 Newcombe Fellows. Twenty new fellows were announced, and two are based in philosophy departments. The post Two Philosophy Grad Students Among 2026 Newcombe Fellows first appeared on Daily Nous .
TL;DR:
The post Two Philosophy Grad Students Among 2026 Newcombe Fellows first appeared on Daily Nous .
Aeon
May 19, 10:00
Maritime China
Far from turning its back on the sea, the fate of Qing China was tied as much to tides and storms as to cavalry and walls - by Ron Po Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
Far from turning its back on the sea, the fate of Qing China was tied as much to tides and storms as to cavalry and walls - by Ron Po Read on Aeon
Dailynous
May 18, 13:38
Philosophy Majors’ Job Prospects and the Spread of AI Technology
A study by The Economist looked at how the employment prospects of college graduates have changed over the past few years as AI use by potential employers has increased. The concern is that firms will hire fewer people if they can use AI to complete the tasks that otherwise would have been handled by entry-level workers. Data about this has been mixed, so The Economist conducted its own study based on surveys of recent college graduates from the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The surveys ask new alumni whether they are working, unemployed or continuing in school. “Using their responses, we compared labour-market outcomes in fields with differing levels of exposure to AI before and after the arrival of large language models.” Their main finding is that “graduates in fields more exposed to AI have suffered markedly worse outcomes.” Philosophy, according to their study, involves relatively little exposure to AI, and the percentage change in employment during 2022-2024 for college graduates with degrees in philosophy was actually positive—around +4%. Fields like computer science, communications, electrical engineering, and information sciences, saw changes from -7% to -14%. They then used some more limited data from 2025 to extend the analysis and found that, for the most AI-exposed fields (such as computer science and information sciences), “the rate of full-time employment fell from nearly 70% to 55% in three years—notably, the three years following ChatGPT’s release in 2022. Prior to that, it had been stable.” The full article is here. The post Philosophy Majors’ Job Prospects and the Spread of AI Technology first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Philosophy Majors’ Job Prospects and the Spread of AI Technology. “Using their responses, we compared labour-market outcomes in fields with differing levels of exposure to AI before and after the arrival of large language models.” Their main finding is that “graduates in fields more exposed to AI have suffered markedly worse outcomes.
TL;DR:
The post Philosophy Majors’ Job Prospects and the Spread of AI Technology first appeared on Daily Nous .
Aeon
May 18, 10:01
How death came to Earth
Why must humans die? According to an ancient Indian folktale, death first came to Earth through an ill-fated love affair - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
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Why must humans die? According to an ancient Indian folktale, death first came to Earth through an ill-fated love affair - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
TL;DR:
According to an ancient Indian folktale, death first came to Earth through an ill-fated love affair - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Aeon
May 18, 10:00
Mathematics is out there
Sergiu Klainerman spent years proving that black holes won’t fly apart; and arguing that maths is not a human invention - by Steve Nadis Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
Sergiu Klainerman spent years proving that black holes won’t fly apart; and arguing that maths is not a human invention - by Steve Nadis Read on Aeon
Dailynous
May 18, 09:00
New Prize in Political Theory/Philosophy
Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel. The Australian Political Studies Association has created a new prize in political theory and philosophy in memory of Pe…
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Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel. The Australian Political Studies Association has created a new prize in political theory and philosophy in memory of Pe…
TL;DR:
The Australian Political Studies Association has created a new prize in political theory and philosophy in memory of Peter Balint , a political theorist at the University of New South Wales, Canberra, who died in January, 2025.
Aeon
May 15, 10:00
Gen Z but two centuries ago
A generation of young people with ‘full hearts in an empty world’ sought hope in the face of insurmountable malaise - by Emily Herring Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
A generation of young people with ‘full hearts in an empty world’ sought hope in the face of insurmountable malaise - by Emily Herring Read on Aeon
Dailynous
May 14, 14:56
Philosophical Ideas Behind Their Time (updated)
Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel. Economist Alex Tabarrok (GMU) recently wrote of “ideas behind their time”.
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Philosophical Ideas Behind Their Time (updated). Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.
TL;DR:
Begin typing your search above and press return to search.
Dailynous
May 14, 12:49
A Jewish Philosopher Asks Other Jewish Philosophers to Reflect on Their Judaism and Philosophy
Philosopher David Boonin (University of Colorado Boulder) is inviting other Jewish philosophers to contribute to a collection of writings he’s putting together. The idea is to ask philosophers who are Jewish, regardless of whether they consider themselves practicing or observant Jews, to reflect on the ways their Jewish background may have influenced their lives as philosophers. Professor Boonin writes: Many years ago, I was invited to have dinner with some Jewish undergraduates as part of a Hillel program in which Jewish faculty came and talked about how their Jewish background had influenced their professional development. I initially declined the invitation and explained that I wouldn’t have anything to say because I don’t teach or write about Jewish philosophy. But the Hillel people encouraged me to think about it a bit more before making a final decision and I was glad I did. Among other things, I remember thinking about some of my experiences growing up Jewish and about some of the features I take to be at least somewhat distinctive of Jewish history, tradition, and culture, and finding it more plausible than I had initially expected to think of ways these may well have played a role in my being attracted to philosophy in general, and to certain topics and questions within philosophy, and perhaps even to certain particular philosophical views and methodological approaches. I ended up going to that dinner and it resulted in some genuinely fruitful conversation. In the years since, I’ve occasionally asked other philosophers who are Jewish this question about the possible connections between their Jewish background and their lives as philosophers and have always found the results rewarding. Even when, perhaps especially when, they’re initially inclined to think they’ll have nothing interesting to say, they end up having something interesting to say. Now I want to invite more people to join this conversation, so I’m compiling an on-line anthology of reflections on this question that Justin Weinberg has kindly offered to publish on Daily Nous. There’s no minimum or maximum word count. And while I’ve put together a set of suggested prompts for those who might find them useful, contributors are free to address the question in whatever way they find most productive. If you’re a.. The post A Jewish Philosopher Asks Other Jewish Philosophers to Reflect on Their Judaism and Philosophy first appeared on Daily Nous .
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A Jewish Philosopher Asks Other Jewish Philosophers to Reflect on Their Judaism and Philosophy. I initially declined the invitation and explained that I wouldn’t have anything to say because I don’t teach or write about Jewish philosophy. The post A Jewish Philosopher Asks Other Jewish Philosophers to Reflect on Their Judaism and Philosophy first appeared on Daily Nous .
TL;DR:
The post A Jewish Philosopher Asks Other Jewish Philosophers to Reflect on Their Judaism and Philosophy first appeared on Daily Nous .
Aeon
May 14, 10:01
Silvesterchlausen
‘We’re not sure what it means or how it started’ – the enigmatic ritual that has existed in Switzerland for centuries - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
TL;DR:
‘We’re not sure what it means or how it started’ – the enigmatic ritual that has existed in Switzerland for centuries - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Aeon
May 14, 10:00
Rights require money
Talk as much as you like about human rights, nothing will change until the architecture of global finance is reformed - by Attiya Waris Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
Talk as much as you like about human rights, nothing will change until the architecture of global finance is reformed - by Attiya Waris Read on Aeon
Dailynous
May 13, 13:06
New: Doctoral Program in Applied Ontology
The University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy is launching what will be the first PhD program in applied ontology. . It will be a fully online, asynchronous program, and it will enroll students starting this fall. A press release from the University contextualizes applied ontology in terms of its importance for the development and use of artificial intelligence: How artificial intelligence (AI) will affect different careers in the future remains a matter of conjecture, but one thing is certain: AI development requires applied ontologists. Ontology is a foundational philosophical discipline. Applied ontology uses the ideas and methods of its namesake to integrate data and promote interoperability across computing systems. By structuring otherwise unrelated terms and definitions, ontologists make explicit the implicit meanings buried across such systems, drawing out hidden insights and new knowledge. The department introduced an online Master’s degree in applied ontology last year. You can learn more about the study of applied ontology at Buffalo here, and more about applied ontology at the website of the National Center for Ontological Research, also at Buffalo. The post New: Doctoral Program in Applied Ontology first appeared on Daily Nous .
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The University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy is launching what will be the first PhD program in applied ontology. . It will be a fully online, asynchronous program, and it will enroll students starting this fall.
TL;DR:
The University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy is launching what will be the first PhD program in applied ontology.
Aeon
May 13, 10:01
Idle warriors
How a public health initiative to reduce air pollution has created ‘full-time citizen complainants’ who patrol the city - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
TL;DR:
How a public health initiative to reduce air pollution has created ‘full-time citizen complainants’ who patrol the city - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Dailynous
May 12, 22:17
Petition to Save the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire
Administrators at the University of Hertfordshire are eliminating not just philosophy (as reported last week) from the school, but also undergraduate programs in English Language and Linguistics, English Literature, Creative Writing, and History. The reason given for these cuts is that the programmes are ‘no longer financially viable’. We have been given no other information about the courses, redundancies, or our futures at the University, even though we have requested it. These decisions have been made without staff consultation. That text is from a petition that has just been launched in an effort to protest the attack on the humanities at Hertfordshire. It continues: These closures follow a longstanding disregard for the Humanities at Hertfordshire, as our School was first merged with Education and then within the year merged again into the School of Creative Arts. At each stage, the University has shown a lack of belief, care, or vision for what a Humanities education is and can be. This sits alongside the removal of Languages as Minors in the Humanities degrees, the closure of many joint programmes, and the absence of meaningful marketing. We were asked last year to redesign our degrees, and we all spent months on this project and were recruiting for them until last week; these courses have not had the chance to run, yet are being cancelled. While we were told that finances are the reason for the course closures, the Vice Chancellor sent out an email the next day stating that ‘The University remains in a stable financial position, and these decisions are not being taken in response to an immediate financial crisis, but as part of a responsible approach to maintain a strong, focused and sustainable academic portfolio’. We thus question the argument of financial viability. We also question the explicit message that a Humanities education is not ‘strong’ or ‘focused’. You can read (and sign) the full petition here. As of the writing of the post, the petition has 531 signatories. The post Petition to Save the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Petition to Save the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire. Administrators at the University of Hertfordshire are eliminating not just philosophy (as reported last week) from the school, but also undergraduate programs in English Language and Linguistics, English Literature, Creative Writing, and History.
TL;DR:
The post Petition to Save the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire first appeared on Daily Nous .
Dailynous
May 12, 13:41
The Market for Scholar Replicas
Why should a department hire some fresh PhD when it could instead hire Derek Parfit, Daniel Dennett, Judy Thomson, Hilary Putnam, Ruth Barcan Marcus, or David Lewis? You might say: “How could a department hire these people? They’re dead!” True. But it is only a matter of time before AI-based “replicas” of them exist. Imagine a sophisticated, well-trained language model paired with some video or holographic technology, and you get the idea. Instead of hiring a person, a department could purchase a subscription to some corporation’s AI replica of a well-known scholar. Think of the savings! Such replicas have been in development for a while. Readers may recall Luciano Floridi‘s bot, described in a post here two years ago. It was trained on his works so that it could not only answer questions about what he says in them, but also offer suggestions as to what he might think about topics not covered in those works. There’s also a bot version of Peter Singer. Those are academic projects. Now, with AI-drafted ego-stroking pitches at the ready, come the corporate versions. Michael Smith (Princeton) shared an email he received from one company developing these replicas, called Shryn.ai. Dear Professor Smith, I’m the founder of Shryn.ai. We build conversational AI replicas of scholars—built with the scholar’s direct participation. Your book The Moral Problem at Blackwell—one of the most widely taught and debated works in meta-ethics of the past three decades—plus your McCosh Professorship of Philosophy at Princeton, your co-authored “Dispositional Theories of Value” with Mark Johnston and David Lewis, and your sustained body of work on moral motivation, the Humean theory of reasons, moral realism, and the nature of normativity. Here’s the use case that launched Shryn: graduate students who can’t always get time with their advisors, and who have their hardest questions at 2 AM. Your PhD students working on meta-ethics, philosophy of action, or normative ethics could test arguments against your framework whenever the thinking happens—ask why the moral problem (reconciling cognitivism, internalism, and the Humean theory of motivation) requires a distinctive solution rather than giving up one of the three claims, push back on whether your rationalist account of moral motivation can handle weakness of will, or explore what.. The post The Market for Scholar Replicas first appeared on Daily Nous .
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The Market for Scholar Replicas. You might say: “How could a department hire these people? The post The Market for Scholar Replicas first appeared on Daily Nous .
TL;DR:
The post The Market for Scholar Replicas first appeared on Daily Nous .
Aeon
May 12, 10:00
Beneath our human shallows
We need a new imagination for the whole Earth, linking the power of the deep planet with the vitality of the surface - by James Dinneen Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
We need a new imagination for the whole Earth, linking the power of the deep planet with the vitality of the surface - by James Dinneen Read on Aeon
Dailynous
May 11, 21:49
Judge Orders Texas State to Reinstate Robinson
A federal court judge ruled today that Texas State University must reinstate philosopher Idris Robinson, whom the university fired from his assistant professorship over a talk he gave about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Robinson had sued the university in March. A press release from Texas State Employees Union CWA Local 6186 states: U.S. District Court Judge Alan Albright granted a preliminary injunction ordering Texas State University to reinstate Dr. Robinson with pay and university affiliation for one year or until the conclusion of his trial, whichever comes first… According to notes taken during the hearing, Judge Albright stated, “Given that the state really hasn’t made an effort to argue that the speech that the plaintiff gave [wasn’t] in some role or another a motivating factor [in the plaintiff’s firing]—I don’t know that they could, given the fact that he was suspended immediately after the speech and told that it was because he exercised his right to First Amendment—I’m going to order that the university maintain his employment contract for one year or until the case resolves, whichever is sooner.” Robinson was represented by Samantha Harris of Allen Harris PLLC and attorney JT Morris of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). The post Judge Orders Texas State to Reinstate Robinson first appeared on Daily Nous .
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A federal court judge ruled today that Texas State University must reinstate philosopher Idris Robinson, whom the university fired from his assistant professorship over a talk he gave about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Robinson had sued the university in March. A press release from Texas State Employees Union CWA Local 6186 states: U.S.
TL;DR:
The post Judge Orders Texas State to Reinstate Robinson first appeared on Daily Nous .
Dailynous
May 11, 16:05
Slight Decrease In US Philosophy Majors Continues
The number of students earning an undergraduate degree in philosophy in the United States declined for the third year in a row. According to new data from Humanities Indicators, a project of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, US universities and colleges issued 5,763 bachelor’s degrees in philosophy in 2024, compared with 5,998 in 2023, 6380 in 2022, and 6,757 in 2021. Though the changes have been small from year to year, there has been a roughly 14.7% decrease in undergraduate philosophy degrees conferred between 2021 and 2024. During the same period of time, the share of all bachelor’s degrees that went to students majoring in any humanities fields dropped from 9.3% to 8.4%, a drop of around 9%. The full Humanities Indicators report is here. The post Slight Decrease In US Philosophy Majors Continues first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Slight Decrease In US Philosophy Majors Continues. The number of students earning an undergraduate degree in philosophy in the United States declined for the third year in a row. The post Slight Decrease In US Philosophy Majors Continues first appeared on Daily Nous .
TL;DR:
The post Slight Decrease In US Philosophy Majors Continues first appeared on Daily Nous .
Dailynous
May 11, 12:56
Have You Been Offered $60,000 to Accept a Student into Your PhD Program?
Alex Guerrero, professor of philosophy at Rutgers University, received an unusual email the other day. It was from the American Advanced Educational Association (AAEA), and it concerned an “opportunity to collaborate… in Ph.D. recruitment.” They write: Here is how our process typically works: We pre-screen prospective students based on your specified criteria. We send you the candidate’s CV for your consideration. If you’re interested, we’ll arrange an interview between you and the student. Please be kindly advised that the candidates we recommend are expected to meet the admission standards of both your institution and your department. If you decide to accept the student, we provide a one-time donation (separate from the student’s tuition fees and stipend) of USD 60,000 per student to recognize your time, mentorship, and institutional contribution for supervising the student during their whole Ph.D. time. The donation will be gifted in full once the student receives a formal admission offer, and is intended for you, and you will have full discretion on how to allocate it—whether for your lab, your research group, or any particular student. The full email is at the bottom of this post. Professor Guerrero is curious to learn whether other people in philosophy and other disciplines have received this proposal or something like it and whether there are academic fields in which it has gotten uptake. Some initial discussion on social media raised concerns about whether this should be considered bribery, whether it poses a conflict of interest, about the proposal being a scam, and about the legitimacy of the organization. If you’ve had experience with this organization (or ones offering similar arrangements), let us know about it. Discussion welcome. The post Have You Been Offered $60,000 to Accept a Student into Your PhD Program? first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Alex Guerrero, professor of philosophy at Rutgers University, received an unusual email the other day. Professor Guerrero is curious to learn whether other people in philosophy and other disciplines have received this proposal or something like it and whether there are academic fields in which it has gotten uptake. first appeared on Daily Nous .
TL;DR:
Alex Guerrero, professor of philosophy at Rutgers University, received an unusual email the other day.
Aeon
May 11, 10:01
Classroom 4
In this award-winning short, inmates and college students explore the history of incarceration from inside a US prison - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
TL;DR:
In this award-winning short, inmates and college students explore the history of incarceration from inside a US prison - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Aeon
May 11, 10:00
Children are apprentices
The emotional and practical skills of adulthood can only be learned from (appropriate) levels of discomfort and stress - by Niklas Serning & Nina Lyon Read on Aeon
TL;DR:
The emotional and practical skills of adulthood can only be learned from (appropriate) levels of discomfort and stress - by Niklas Serning & Nina Lyon Read on Aeon
Dailynous
May 8, 13:21
Out of Context Philosophy
If you open up a philosophy article or chapter on your computer, the software you’re using, now updated with various AI features, may present you with something like the following message: “This looks like a long article. Would you like me to summarize it for you?” You may be unlikely to use this feature. You’re skilled at reading philosophy and you understand the value of reading through it yourself. But what about other people? What about your students? What can we tell them to encourage them to read primary texts rather than the various summaries of them that today’s technology offers up? You probably have your own set of reasons you might share with them. But I suspect that it probably does not include the following reason, offered up recently by Zach Weinersmith of SMBC-Comics: According to Weinersmith, a reason to read the “original old philosophy works” is to find funny out-of-context quotes to share. The Nagel quote is a good example. I bet you have others. Let’s hear them. The post Out of Context Philosophy first appeared on Daily Nous .
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If you open up a philosophy article or chapter on your computer, the software you’re using, now updated with various AI features, may present you with something like the following message: “This looks like a long article. You’re skilled at reading philosophy and you understand the value of reading through it yourself.
TL;DR:
The post Out of Context Philosophy first appeared on Daily Nous .
Dailynous
May 8, 13:14
Hertfordshire to Eliminate Philosophy from Its Curriculum
In a couple of years, students at the University of Hertfordshire will be unable to take a philosophy course there. The administration has announced a decision to eliminate the whole of the undergraduate philosophy program, according to several sources. The decision cuts not just the philosophy degree program, but, eventually, all philosophy classes. A “teach-out agreement” will be worked out for existing philosophy students, and students who recently signed up to study philosophy in the coming year are having their offers withdrawn. “Teaching will effectively end in two years,” said one source. Philosophy is one of several humanities programs at the university slated to be cut. No layoffs have yet been announced, but are expected, despite the fact that all of the current philosophy faculty are permanent (tenured). Faculty were told that the reason for the decision was “financial”. Details about the decision and how it was reached have not been shared with the faculty, and reportedly there was no faculty input in the process. The closure comes after repeated restructurings and mergers of Philosophy and the rest of the humanities programs over the years. The most recent of these was last summer, when faculty were asked to redesign the Humanities curriculum, amounting to “thousands of collective hours of staff time.” This redesigned curriculum will now not be running. Once the University of Hertfordshire closes its philosophy program, says one source, “Philosophy will no longer be offered anywhere in the county.” The post Hertfordshire to Eliminate Philosophy from Its Curriculum first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Hertfordshire to Eliminate Philosophy from Its Curriculum. The decision cuts not just the philosophy degree program, but, eventually, all philosophy classes. Once the University of Hertfordshire closes its philosophy program, says one source, “Philosophy will no longer be offered anywhere in the county.
TL;DR:
The decision cuts not just the philosophy degree program, but, eventually, all philosophy classes.
Dailynous
May 8, 12:33
Robert Ladenson (1943-2026)
Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel. Robert F. Ladenson, professor emeritus of philosophy at Illinois Institute of Technology and founder of the Intercolleg…
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Ladenson, professor emeritus of philosophy at Illinois Institute of Technology and founder of the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, has died. For over 50 years, Ladenson was a cornerstone of the Illinois Institute of Technology faculty, where he served as Professor of Philosophy and co-founder of the Center for Study of Ethics in the Professions.
TL;DR:
Ladenson, professor emeritus of philosophy at Illinois Institute of Technology and founder of the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, has died.
Dailynous
May 6, 17:47
Emily Grosholz (1950-2026)
Emily Rolfe Grosholz, professor emerita of philosophy, English, and African American studies at Penn State, has died. Professor Grosholz‘s philosophical work ranged across topics in philosophy of math, philosophy of science, logic, and the history of modern philosophy. She is the author of Starry Reckoning: Reference and Analysis in Mathematics and Cosmology (2016), Representation and Productive Ambiguity in Mathematics and the Sciences (2007), Cartesian Method and the Problem of Reduction (1991), and many other works, which you can learn about here and here. Her academic work was recognized with several honors over the years, including fellowships or grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Humanities Center, the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and elsewhere. Grosholz was also a distinguished poet, publishing seven volumes of poetry, as well as a book that brought together her philosophical and poetic work: Great Circles: The Transits of Mathematics and Poetry (2018). Grosholz joined the philosophy faculty at Penn State in 1979. She earned her PhD from Yale and BA from the University of Chicago. Emily Grosholz died on May 2, 2026. An obituary is here. The post Emily Grosholz (1950-2026) first appeared on Daily Nous .
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Professor Grosholz‘s philosophical work ranged across topics in philosophy of math, philosophy of science, logic, and the history of modern philosophy. Grosholz joined the philosophy faculty at Penn State in 1979. The post Emily Grosholz (1950-2026) first appeared on Daily Nous .
TL;DR:
Professor Grosholz‘s philosophical work ranged across topics in philosophy of math, philosophy of science, logic, and the history of modern philosophy.
Dailynous
May 6, 16:12
222 Theories of Consciousness
Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel. A new website describes and tracks the interconnections between 222 “theories” of consciousness across various discipli…
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222 Theories of Consciousness. Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.
TL;DR:
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