Author: Justin Weinberg

Daily Nous Features

Mind Chunks

May 28, 2019
Teaching

Reading Philosophy: Observations & Advice

May 28, 2019

“I didn’t know that there is a field of study that counted as sensible the questions that were always in my head. Even more…
Philosophy and Politics

Concordia Philosophy Issues Statement on Controversial “Bill 21”

May 28, 2019

The Department of Philosophy at Concordia University has issued a statement opposing “Bill 21: an act respecting the laicity of the State,” also known as Québec’s…
Daily Nous Features

Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update

May 27, 2019

Here’s the weekly report on new entries in online philosophical resources and new reviews of philosophy books.
Academia

“The problem is not that humanities jobs are disappearing”

May 24, 2019

In an interview at Inside Higher Education, Jason Brennan (Georgetown) and Phillip Magness (American Institute for Economic Research), answer a question from interviewer Scott Jaschik about…
Daily Nous Features

Mini-Heap

May 23, 2019

Lots of interesting stuff this week, so here’s another Mini-Heap:
Graduate Programs

San Francisco State U. to Launch Grad Certificate in AI Ethics

May 23, 2019

San Francisco State University has developed a graduate program in artificial intelligence (AI) ethics.
Awards Grants Honors

President of Ireland Speaks at Youth Philosophy Awards Ceremony

May 23, 2019

“Too many policy lobbyists have, often unknowingly, unthinkingly perhaps, accepted a narrow and utilitarian view of… education—one that suggests we exist to be made…
Daily Nous Features

Mini-Heap

May 22, 2019

A new Mini-Heap.
Daily Nous Features

Chaospet

May 21, 2019
Philosophy and Politics

The Philosophy and Politics of Early Abortion in the U.S.

May 21, 2019

The past months have seen successful legislative efforts in several states to criminalize early abortion. Emboldened by Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court,…
Uncategorized

100 Greatest Philosophical Spoilers (guest post by Richard Greene)

May 20, 2019

The less a work has to offer us besides information about happens in the end, the more reason we have to avoid spoilers for it.…
Uncategorized

Mini-Heap

May 20, 2019

A new week, a new Mini-Heap…
Institutions

New Institute for Philosophy in Tunisia

May 20, 2019

The Tunis College for Philosophy, a new institute in Tunisia dedicated to philosophical research, academic events, and the promotion of philosophy, opened in Le…
Daily Nous Features

Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update

May 20, 2019

Here’s the weekly report on new entries in online philosophical resources and new reviews of philosophy books.
Awards Grants Honors

Philosophers Among Those Newly Elected to the American Philosophical Society

May 20, 2019

The American Philosophical Society (APS), the oldest learned society in the United States (“founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin for the purpose of ‘promoting…
Philosophy and Culture

Game of Thrones Quotes for Academic Contexts

May 19, 2019

Game of Thrones, a well-acted and beautifully filmed sprawling television fantasy of political ambition, royal lineage, revenge, zombies, surprising deaths, random magic, and dragons—entertaining…
philosophy

Did a Story about a Computer Made of Humans Scoop Searle’s “Chinese Room” by 20 Years?

May 15, 2019

A story called “The Game” by Anatoly Petrovich Mickevich (writing under the pseudonym A. Dneprov), published in 1961, tells the story of a fictional event in…
Daily Nous Features

Mini-Heap

May 15, 2019

New Mini-Heap here.
Daily Nous Features

Ad Hoc

May 14, 2019

Heap of Links

Is there anything to the concept of “intrinsic human dignity”? — yes, says Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, and "it names a burden as much as a distinction"
“Intuition is the cognitive means by which the conceptual structure of a situation is revealed to us” — whether that situation is a stylized thought experiment or a real world experience, says Marc A. Moffett
“Professors can’t fix the problem on their own” — Victor Kumar on what university administrators need to do address AI's threat to higher education
“The wall between jus ad bellum and jus in bello, which had sustained his theory for almost half a century, was no longer sturdy” — a profile of Michael Walzer, focusing on his thoughts about just war theory and the Israeli-Palestine conflict
We may think that we lose something significant when AI beats us to a discovery — if we do, Daniel Greco says, that seems to imply we gained something significant, too
“Once upon a time there were a couple of handsome naturalistic philosophers working in and around the philosophy of fiction” — thoughts on new directions in philosophy of fiction, from several philosophers
What is the debate over whether trans women are women even about? — Katie Zhou argues that it's about which facts are granted "the cross-contextual significance and stickiness characteristic of gender"
We’re putting human brain cells into mice brains — One moral risk of this, says Mackenzie Graham, is a decrease in our ability to interpret what mice behavior tells us about their experiences and welfare
The Rawls Game — with instructions, background, advice, and downloadable character cards
“The central question would shift from ‘How do we maximize shareholder value?’ to ‘How do different forms of organization distribute power, risk and reward — and which should we strengthen?'” — Chris Marquis on the case for abolishing, or at least radically changing, business schools
Asking “How did I get here?” may help us reflect on the nature of personal identity in ways that asking “Who am I?” cannot — Marya Schechtman's 2024 Central Division Meeting Presidential Address
“Collecting is a game, but what kind of game? It is an imperfect information game of acquisition” — a theory of collecting, from Steven Hales
“A general human tendency: to overestimate how far we have come in the progress of human knowledge” — a lengthy interview with Thomas Nagel
“Many couples do not survive trauma like this” — A profile of Susan Brison—who was brutally attacked in 1990, and who wrote about it in Aftermath—and her husband, Thomas Trezise, who has now written his own book stemming from those events
“Bad AI Consciousness Takes” Bingo Card — Henry Shevlin's area of specialization is becoming a popular topic in popular discourse, and he can't stand the "cavalcade of terrible takes"
Does the principle of sufficient reason imply panpsychism? If it does, do we then ponens or tollens? — Sam Kimpton-Nye on these questions and the "demand for intelligibility"
PTSD flashbacks may be harmful, but they may also be helpfully “resupplying phenomenal experience” to those who, owing to trauma, are “grasp alienated” — Michaela McSweeney on trauma and "madness-as-strategy"
A look at the very first issue of Mind — Brett Mullins surveys its articles on the occasion of the journal's 150th anniversary
The most bizarre plagiarism-related story ever — featuring: a death, an investigator, a dissertation, a mysterious red book, and more
New data on earnings by major and university — though not all universities

All Links →

Latest Comments

HotWheelReggie1991 on Coordinating the Philosophy Profession’s Response to the Use of AI in Research
I think we might have an easier time of things getting the field of academic philosophy to develop a coordinated response to the problem of free will.
Kenny Easwaran on Coordinating the Philosophy Profession’s Response to the Use of AI in Research
I am skeptical that coordination on something like this is either possible or desirable for an entity as large and diverse as the philosophical community. But I do…
Rollo Burgess on Linguistic and Conceptual Justice in AI
I saw a great lecture from some researcher one of the labs about this: it's much more interesting. The LLM isn't fundamentally working in any language; the patterns…
Patrick Lin on Linguistic and Conceptual Justice in AI
Signed! The Conversation had published several articles that speak to or are related to this important but hidden concern, e.g.: https://theconversation.com/large-language-models-often-prioritize-western-moral-values-overlooking-other-cultures-285660 https://theconversation.com/ais-fluency-in-other-languages-hides-a-western-worldview-that-can-mislead-users-a-scholar-of-indonesian-society-explains-276865 https://theconversation.com/ai-systems-are-built-on-english-but-not-the-kind-most-of-the-world-speaks-249710 https://theconversation.com/how-generative-ai-could-change-how-we-think-and-speak-267118
Patrick Lin on Coordinating the Philosophy Profession’s Response to the Use of AI in Research
Very timely. Best of luck, Barry and team!
Filippo Contesi on Linguistic and Conceptual Justice in AI
Not English-only but English is superdominant and so most LLMs default to English. China's LLMs might be different…
philatetelist on Linguistic and Conceptual Justice in AI
This is all news to me. So, is it true that most LLM's are trained on a corpus that is English-only, and then generate non-English output only at…
Matthew Duncombe on Timothy Smiley (1930-2026)
Very sorry to read about this. I only met Tim Smiley a handful of times, but his erudition, intelligence and kindness, and interest in ancient logic made a…
James Mackay on Calls for Papers / Grants / Etc.
Byung-Chul Han and Contemporary Culture. Online (hosted by European University Cyprus). 19 March 2027. Abstracts due 18 January 2027. https://byungchulhanstudies.org/call-for-papers/An online symposium putting Byung-Chul Han’s concepts – burnout,…
Student Philosopher on Where Intuitions Conflict
But the history of philosophy shows us no cases in which adept questioners left their interlocutors in aporia Mad Max – That's Bait
Vinicius Rodrigues on Where Intuitions Conflict
One of my main concerns with your answer to x-phi studies is that it makes having an intuition a difficult thing to pick out in the stream of…
philatetelist on Where Intuitions Conflict
This is a startling hypothesis, because if one and the same individual can have conflicting intuitions about cases, then a philosophically adept questioner should be able to elicit…
Patrick Lin on Death Just Got Out of This Truck (guest post)
“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there's still going to be somebody who hates peaches.”— Dita Von Teese, American philosopher
Non-classical? on Where Intuitions Conflict
I guess I can see that reading of the call, but then I just know even less what to do with the call. Consider that, at least as…
PhilCon Ed on Death Just Got Out of This Truck (guest post)
That which makes plainspoken language more accessible and meaningful to you is the same mechanism which makes flowery, emotive language more meaningful and accessible to others.