#OTD 14 Feb. 1793: philosophical anarchist William Godwin published his celebrated love letter to the world, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, in which he envisaged a society based on justice, equality, tolerance, benevolence, & mutual moral accountability. #Valentine’sDay #LoveThyNeighbour

I don’t know why but the US just loves detaining a significant portion of its residents. Once it was mental hospitals (558,922 in 1955). Then prisons. Now as the prison population starts to fall, concentration camps.

Look what arrived today, or at least the ebook did. This is the first encyclopedia devoted exclusively to medieval women’s writing globally,focusing on the thousand-year period between 500-1500. Entries on about 250 women writers plus longer thematic essays. You’re welcome.

NEW BOOK! I'm very happy to say that my new book, Utopia, co-written with Douglas Mao, has been published on-line academic.oup.com/book/62279

www.bmj.com/content/392/... Autistic girls & women: By age 20, they were diagnosing pretty much equal numbers of men & women. Huge study, whole population of Sweden born 1985-2020. Not 1 in 10. Not 1 in 4. Not 1 in 3. Equal numbers, just about. 100 years of research, most based on the wrong info.

Just out: Natania Meeker on the role of femininity in French materialist philosophy, as it developed in the eighteenth century. A fine account of women writers who weren't, strictly speaking, philosophers but who recentered pleasure in philosophical terms.

For example. Today I watched this talk on "skilled seemings" to try to understand my experience of bird-watching. Skilled seemings are when things appear to you as a result of expert knowledge, they stand in contrast to ordinary seemings. Neat distinction. #philsky www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2vM...

Really looking forward to reading and reviewing the latest by the great @hdrochon.bsky.social

A very fine octopus encountered at Fly Point (Australia) today. Like an old battleship.

New paper (pre-print) out w/ @twigtechnology.bsky.social : Why don’t all animals use tools? If you’re into critters, game theory, cyborgs, tech, and/or the glories of the natural world, do give it a whirl 🐛🐇🛠️🧰

The British Philosophical Association has launch a new annual prize competition to celebrate the best of British Philosophy: bpa.ac.uk/prizes/. #philosophymatters

and that it is only here and there that the fabric of scientific knowledge betrays any rents. /2x

I’ve had my qualms about Trivers already when it was about evolution.

Final days to submit an abstract to #PBCS2026! If you are an early-career scholar looking for a supportive environment to discuss your work & meet international peers, consider applying! Another plus this year: The workshop will be in Madrid! sites.google.com/view/xivpbcs... #HPbio #philsci #philsky

Although I was not given funding to publish this OA, if anyone (or any one that you know) would like a pdf of the book, shoot me a message. I'd be more than happy to send it your way. www.cambridge.org/core/element...

I've been working for ages on a comprehensive revamp of the Stanford Encyclopedia Entry on "Animal Consciousness", with new sections on non-Western perspectives, methodological challenges and evolutionary big pictures, and it's out today: plato.stanford.edu/entries/cons.... Hope you find it useful!

This! Thanks @kevinlala.bsky.social

My Centre is a unique place to do a PhD in Philosophy, because you can be in constant contact with experts in veterinary medicine, psychology, zoology and policy and be part of a team united by a shared interest in animal minds. We now have our 1st ever PhD scholarship: www.lse.ac.uk/sentience/phd

An amazing collection of primary sources on how science is represented and how these representations evolved #histsci #philsci #hps

I like how doing philosophy w/ friends turns into a braided stream of views: confluence and collaboration on some; on others, the fun of productive disagreement 😉The special issue brings together a full range of positions on the concept & its future— all great contributions to the debate. #philsky

Who has shaped how we understand the human mind? Nominations for the David E. Rumelhart Prize are open through Feb 23, 2026 🗓️ Visit cognitivesciencesociety.org/rumelhart-pr... to learn about past recipients and submit a nomination!

How and when can internal conflicts tear an individual organism apart? That’s the question at the heart of this new paper. Great thread by lead author @martijnschenkel.bsky.social below.

Each generation seems to rediscover the riddle of organismal agency: are organisms agents that pursue intrinsic goals—and how could we know? Our 📕 gathers historians, philosophers & scientists to explore this debate—now available in paperback!👇 www.routledge.com/The-Riddle-o... #philsky #HPS #evobio

What are the benefits of doing philosophy? So glad to see our contribution (with Anna Ichino and @matteomameli.bsky.social) in a special issue dedicated to philosophy in the public sphere! #philsky #philosophymatters #philosophyforeveryone

"I really like the ideas of Jeremy Bentham." "The ones about maximising pleasure and treating everyone equally?" "Not those ones, no." "Animal welfare? Decriminalising consensual sexual acts? Expanding democratic accountability?" "Not exactly." "Which ones then?" "Oh, you know the ones..."

I really enjoyed @neilsinhababu.bsky.social's "Nietzsche on the eternal recurrence". Together with Paul Loeb's work it's persuaded me that Nietzsche believed his eternal recurrence doctrine to be literally true, or at least probably true. (1/4) philpapers.org/rec/SINNOT-9

It’s the North American publication day of my textbook written with @nmckeever3.bsky.social 🥂 www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...

Warmest congratulations to this year's BSHP/BJHP prize-winners! The Rogers Prize has been awarded to Jari Kaukua (University of Jyväskylä) The Beaney Prize has been awarded to Aminah Hasan-Birdwell (Emory University)

We're no longer posting on twitter. Since we wanted to ensure our authors continue to receive as much coverage as possible for their work, we can now also be found on linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/brit...

Updated website, now with links to all PDFs after deleting academia dot edu check it out! karen-ng.com

Our director, Edouard Machery has just published a new on book on the concepts of health and disease. You can download it for free for two weeks at https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/health-and-disease/275DD294A0657AE0A4E12B710677A051

We are delighted to announce that the BSPS will be running a doctoral scholarship competition in 2026! The competition will open in February, and the deadline will be 27 March. www.thebsps.org/funding/doct...

Available next week! My third book.

Cont. #ayearinreview #philsky #philosophyforeveryone Coauthored with Anna Ichino and @matteomameli.bsky.social, an open-access paper on philosophy for and by everyone with illustrations from Philosophy Museum in Milan and the Philosophy Garden shs.cairn.info/revue-revue-... Out today!

Here’s a book you don’t see everyday - an illustrated edition of Simone de Beauvoir’s essay “Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome” #FoundInOxfam

A natural light photo from the post:

The Cambridge History of Rights by Samuel Moyn and Meredith Terretta A comprehensive and authoritative examination of rights-making in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. 📚 https://cup.org/4pQar8Y #humanrights

G.D.H. Cole had a flair for (albeit sexist) titles. This is from his The Simple Case For Socialism.

Help us send 2,000 books to readers who are incarcerated this winter through our Books Not Bars program

Caleb Williams (1794), William Godwin's timely exposé of fake news, dirty tricks, and all the truth-twisting deceptions by which authoritarian governments maintain power, is now trending on Bluesky. (Image from 19c. reprint)

Really interesting research showing that while ultra-specialization in a single discipline might lead to better results early in one’s career, multi-discipline training and practice pays off big time in the long run. This applies to a range of professions from scientists to athletes and more

One of the standard tropes in the history of political thought is the great advance moving in from ‘the rule of man’ to the ‘the rule of law.’ The US has adopted a grim hybrid in which presidential dictatorship is enhanced by outrageously expansive interpretations of law to terrorise opponents.

Call for papers: Ian Hacking and the Philosophy of Psychiatry. Deadline: 1st February 2026. Guest editors: Şerife Tekin and Jonathan Y. Tsou. Submit your work! think.taylorandfranc... #philsky #philpsy #philsci

Pleased to announce that my Scientific American piece with @hikemix.bsky.social and James Humphries was one of this year's winners of the @apaphilosophy.bsky.social Op-Ed Contest. See our cringe bios and the other winners here: www.apaonline.org/page/2025pri...

Cont. #ayearinreview wrote a chapter in French with @kmurphyhollies.bsky.social and @matteomameli.bsky.social on confabulation (English translation here drive.google.com/file/d/1ZPED...)

The shorteste daye The longest nighte Welcome, sun Welcome, lighte

I was interviewed about my research and my experience with the viral response to my DPhil viva! Video here 👇 youtu.be/v_46GqZDZCk?...

First proof now off my desk. Corrected second proof expected in Jan. 2026. Thanks to all those watching & waiting. #thelongestjourney global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Biological Theory is now on Bluesky! We have a new team of editors and a new editorial board. We will soon be posting about all our articles. Find out more about the journal at link.springer.com/journal/13752