Philosophy in the News
- David Chalmers and a Superintelligent Ai Order Chips
An interview with philosopher David Chalmers on artificial general superintelligence and virtual worlds.
- Decoding Denis Diderot
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on Enlightenment thinker Denis Diderot which offers to extract and ressussitate the philosphical strains in Diderot's work.
- Philosopher Who Hung the Moon Very Nearly Hung for It
2,500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras correctly determined that the moon was a mountainous body that reflected light from the sun. This allowed him to explain lunar phases and eclipses. In politicized Athens, it also got him sentenced to death and then exiled.
- The Doctor Said “Just Try Not to Think”
After a head injury, a philosopher must get total brain rest for recovery: no reading, writing or even thinking. "But, I'm a philosopher!"
- Your One-way Ticket to Immortality
Want to live forever? You might change your mind a million years down the line.
- How Much Does the Future Weigh?
How should we conceptualise human well-being over time and across generations? How ought the interests of people in the distant future to be taken into account when we make our own decisions? A new entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy discusses F.P. Ramsey's approach to this problem
- Ethics of Speech Analysis
Speech is at the heart of social interactions, and we unwittingly reveal much about ourselves when we talk. Your voice data is now picked up in so many ways. So, what happens when voice collection starts analyzing not just what we say, but how we say it?
- Do You Know Where Your Brain (Data) Is?
Increasing use of brain data, either from research contexts, medical device use, or in the growing consumer brain-tech sector raises privacy concerns. And that foil hat is not going to help you anymore.
- Read Like a Philosopher!
Philosopher David Concepción tells you how (and why it's hard).
- Philosophy of Macroevolution
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on the philosophical discourse on macroevolution. Macroevolution refers (most of the time, in practice) to evolutionary patterns and processes above the species level. It is usually contrasted with microevolution, or evolutionary change within populations. One question that looms over philosophical work on macroevolutionary theory is how macroevolution and microevolution are related.
- Plato on the Value of Philosophy
An interview with philosopher Tushar Irani about his recent book Plato on the Value of Philosophy: The Art of Argument in the Gorgias and Phaedrus.
- Decisionmaking as Making
The decisions you make aren't just about what you want to do; they're about who you want to be. For centuries, philosophers have tried to understand how we make decisions and, by extension, what makes any given decision sound or unsound, rational or irrational.
- Mortality Also Means Being Born
Read more "Mortality Also Means Being Born"
- The Beauty Imperative
What does it mean when beauty moves from aesthetic choice to ethical ideal? (audio)
- Pentagon Seeks Principles for AI
The Pentagon is seeking a set of ethical principles for the use of artificial intelligence in warfare. The principles are intended to guide a military whose interest in AI is accelerating and to reassure potential partners in Silicon Valley about how their AI products will be used.
- Human Reason vs Animal Reaction
In a faceoff which does better? Hmm.
- Are Avocados Vegan??
...and other disturbing ethical concerns.
- Philosophy of Horror
Your first assignment: make a horror film.
- Haslanger on Ideology
We throw the word ‘ideology' around a lot, but what does it actually mean? Not just a set of beliefs, it turns out. Philosopher Sally Haslanger explains why one's ideology encompasses a great deal more. (audio)
- Wittgenstein By the Yard
Suppose you tied a rope tight around the Earth's equator... What the limits of human intuition tells us about our convictions. (video)