Links of interest to people interested in philosophy…
- Can you be friends with an AI chatbot? Should we be concerned that people think you can be? — Vox asks philosophers about AI friendship
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says people have a right to “share in scientific advancement” — What does that entail? More than you might think, argues Michela Massimi
- It’s time for Vermont’s statewide Public Philosophy Week — The Vermont Digger reports, with comments from Tyler Doggett, Lorraine Besser, and links to the schedule of events
- They are “functionally illiterate” with “atrocious” writing skills; they “lie”, “cheat”, “vanish”, and “just don’t care” — Steven Hales on today’s average college student
- What is it for a product to be creative? Must it be made by a creative agent? — Catherine Wearing on AI creativity
- The Anti-Authoritarian Academic Code of Conduct — by Rachel Barney
- New: “Daybreak”, a podcast from the Centre for Research in Post-Kantian Philosophy at the University of Warwick — the first episode’s topic: ressentiment, with a focus on Andrew Huddleston’s paper on it in Ethics
Mini-Heap posts usually appear when 7 or so new items accumulate in the Heap of Links, a collection of items from around the web that may be of interest to philosophers. The Heap of Links consists partly of suggestions from readers; if you find something online that you think would be of interest to the philosophical community, please send it in for consideration for the Heap. Thank you.
Previous Edition
I didn’t know things were getting so bad a professor would have to write about it, I just gave article 4 a read.
I know I could post there but for the sake of reaching someone here, as a student, it isn’t unbelievable.
I’ve heard stories from coworkers about people coming to every class and sitting on tiktok the whole time, a kid who is a repeat offender of this played tiktok outloud in class once and the teacher asked them ‘to turn it down’.
I spent the whole shift thinking about that, playing it back, laughing at the absurdity, of how skit-like it is, cracking jokes with my coworker about it. But it’s only really funny when removed from it, or as a tv-bit. It’s not really funny irl, its sad.
I wonder if anyone here has had similar experiences, and I would like to know to have an idea of what I’m coming into as a grad student, as well as advice about what to do about it (I can’t just laugh in students faces)
Re: 1 The short answer to the first question is No. The short answer to the second question is Yes. Alas, it is rather sad if not depressing to learn we need even discuss such things, i.e., that the ethically sober or sane views and answers are not already well-known or understood. Next up: AI chatbot conversations about love, compassion, the Good….
For what it’s worth, here is a response to Steven Hales’ piece:
https://handlingideas.blog/2025/03/30/the-average-professorial-laments-and-remarks-on-reading-a-reply-to-steven-hales/