Philosophy in the News
- In Memoriam: Kent Johnson (1970-2017)
Dr. Johnson was an alumni of the UF Philosophy program. Kent took his MA here in 1996 -- writing his thesis on Aristotelian ethics -- and went on to a philosophy PhD at Rutgers. Dr. Johnson was Professor in the Department of Logic & Philosophy of Science at the University of California, Irvine and an expert in philosophy of linguistics, cognitive science, and psychology. We are greatly saddened to lose him.
- Remembering Emerita Quito
A personal remembrance of Phillipino philosopher Emerita Quito.
- Living in the Spurious Present
Taken literally, it's just bad advice. But philosophy can redeem this self-help cliché.
- Novel Causes and Hidden Powers
David Hume had a problem with causation—as we can't actually see it, maybe it's not causation at all. If there is no real causation in the cosmos then we could be up for anything; strike a match and you get a chicken! Metaphysician Stephen Mumford believes that if there's anything to bank on it's cause and effect; and to that effect he's written a short novel with causation at the core—along with love, lust and pride. (audio)
- Your Social Contract with Your Data
The data you acquire—no matter its source—generally comes from someone who was willing to share it with you. You have a responsibility to do the right thing with it, and could run into trouble if you don't. Here's why data ethics is becoming harder to ignore.
- Racism Without Race
There is no good way to make sense of the category "race" from biological or social perspectives.
- AI Research Desperately Needs Ethics Guidance
Stanford researchers recently devloped an algorithm that could with surprising success distinguish between (self-identified) gay and straight people on dating sites from their photograph. Their motive? To "expose the threat to privacy of gay men and women." But the controversy illuminates a problem in AI bigger than any single algorithm. More social scientists are using AI intending to solve society's ills, but they don't have clear ethical guidelines to prevent them from accidentally harming people.
- What Is Truth?
An interview with philosopher Volker Halbach.
- Virtue, Vice, Sex, and Robots
There's a new sex robot which comes programmed to resist your advances. Obviously that raises ethical questions but most of the public debate is about what that means for the robot—does it make sense to speak of violating them? Robotics philosopher Rob Sparrow discusses the issues. (audio)
- Philosophy Bakes Bread
An interview with the co-hosts of Philosophy Bakes Bread. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a radio show and podcast that promotes public philosophy by showcasing philosophy's relevance for everyday life as well as public policy.
- Rebel for Love
What does happiness have to do with morality? Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are perhaps the most recognised ‘happiness philosophers'. They gave us the moral rule we more-or-less live by today: seek the greatest good for the greatest number. But one of their number—William Godwin—often drops off the list. His views on free love, anarchy, and government stretched the doctrine about as far as it could go—and so did his love life. To this day his thinking challenges us to consider what it means to live well. (audio)
- Anyone Home? Schneider on AI Consciousness
How would we know if a machine had become self-aware? Rapid developments in artificial intelligence make this more and more pressing. Determining self-awarness in an AI will not be easy, but a newly proposed test might be able to detect consciousness in a machine. Philosopher Susan Schneider and cognitive scientist Edwin Turner discuss their proposed AI Consciousness Test (ACT).
- The Inequality Machine
How do societal inequalities arise and persist? Tania Lombrozo interviews philosopher Ron Mallon about "accumulation mechanisms": the processes that explain how small biases can have big effects.
- Lackey on Credibility and Its Lack
Generally speaking, the gender (say) of a person ought not be a factor in determining the credence you accord to what they are saying. We think that should hang things like whether what they're saying is plausible and well supported, etc. It's a good intuition, but philosopher Jennifer Lackey argues that that can't be the whole picture. (audio)
- Love + Reason = True Love
Falling in love has come to be understood as an irrational process—not something you can will, talk yourself into, or make accountable to rational self-assessment. It also seems to defy appraisal from the outside. Advising a friend about their poor romantic choices will likely result in a broken friendship, or worse. And so philosophical thinking has followed suit. But not for Sam Shpall who's determined to lay bare love's reasons. (audio)
- Is It Unwise to Be Wise?
Of course not. But what about becoming wise? Becoming wise is a tall order -- harder than you think. Maybe it is unwise to try to become wise.
- The Genealogy of Color
Philosopher Zed Adams talks about red, blue, and green, and how our ideas about color are a confusion of two historical sources. (audio)
- Dig If You Will the Picture
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on depiction. A good deal of philosophical industry during the past fifty years has aimed at developing theories of depiction in general, and realistic depiction in particular, which overcome the objections to views like those of Gombrich and Goodman.
- Of Art and Wisdom
An interview with philosopher David Roochnik.
- Duke Ellington and the Paradox of 2nd Referendums
He's been gone for 40 years but the Duke could still make a valuable philosophical contribution to the Brexit debate.