Tag: Eliot Michaelson

Public Philosophy and Outreach

Philosophy Time with James Franco (guest post by Eliot Michaelson)

July 25, 2017

The following is a guest post* by Eliot Michaelson, Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at King’s College London, about Philosophy Time, a series of philosophy videos…

Heap of Links

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
“AI poses two different existential threats to [our] valuing practices” — Jordan MacKenzie offers an account of why negative judgments about AI taking over our creative and caring activities are justified
“Submission” is a humorous clicker-style game about starting a career in academic philosophy (or not) — created by Nat Hansen
“The best investment in education is to become the most human human—a challenging, fulfilling, exciting pursuit that connects us across generations” — an interview with Christa Acampora, philosopher and dean of Arts & Sciences at UVA
“What would happen if we tried to live without the mythology of agency at all?” — It's worth pondering, since "agency is just an internal command hallucination," says Alexander Douglas
“Reading List” is a free Mac app for keeping track of papers to read — philosophy PhD student Hayden Kajercline created this productivity tool for researchers, with help from Claude
How should we react to scary predictions about AI? “First: by asking questions” — "If you believe predictions uncritically, it amounts to obeying in advance," says Carissa Véliz
“I feel unbelievably lucky that I was able to make philosophy my profession” — Karen Ng reflects on her path into philosophy, at #first-genphilosophers
The ordinary concept of knowledge “doesn’t work at all the way philosophers said it does” — a round-up of studies shows how weird the philosophers' version of the concept is
1000 or so psychiatrists were asked to diagnose standardized clinical case vignettes. “Two doctors agreed on the diagnosis only 55% of the time” — What does this tell us about psychiatry? Or about other fields in which experts disagree?
Where Aristotle taught Alexander — "this newest dig may be the most revealing yet, offering insight into the specifics of Alexander the Great’s education"

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Latest Comments

Runa on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
Ouji boards work too, I heard.
Ben on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
What a depressing view of the profession, and I strongly disagree with it. I don't actually think salami slicing is all that common in philosophy. I take pride…
AGT on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
Yes, but assuming now that those who today 'do' philosophy, do it because they like it, despite the pressures, the incentives system, the publish and perish, the impossible…
Runa on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
Thanks!
AGT on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
I still think that this prediction (or, shall we say, hope?) is way too optimistic. If universities weren't run as businesses, I might even believe it, but not…
Derek Baker on Is a “Hardwired Pause” of AI Possible?
Why assume that other countries want to build AI so powerful that they can't control it? So far that's really just been the US frontier labs, and it…
Kenny Easwaran on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
I'm not sure I understand the complaint here. The one that makes the most sense to me is the complaint that people at a particular career stage -…
why on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
Hmm… Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy
Kenny Easwaran on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
I think because 90% of the events and discussions that are affecting philosophy as of late are related to AI.
Kenny Easwaran on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
If the dean identifies "research" with "journal publications", then sure. But most deans are actually academics, and understand that the journal publication is a particular public-facing part of…
Kenny Easwaran on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
If it's really true that the AI could cue someone without the skills to give a Deep Talk of this sort, then we're far beyond the situation we've…
BRYAN FRANCES on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
Anything that radically changes the horrible journal system will probably come up with something better. Good riddance. I wonder if AI-generated philosophy will NOT produce the kind of…
Michel on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
If you're not using entrails, you're doing it wrong.
Patrick Lin on The Future Currency of Achievement in Human Philosophy
Make Oracles Great Again (M.O.G.A.)! 🧘
Patrick Lin on Is a “Hardwired Pause” of AI Possible?
Thanks for the clarification, Wes. Ok, I've now read sec. 6.4.5. Just so I understand: Are you saying that “they would be so energy-intensive and impractical that it…

Tag: Eliot Michaelson

Philosophy Time with James Franco (guest post by Eliot Michaelson)