Philosophy has a personal aspect, at the very least because it shows how the author thinks and what led them to accept their view.

On the one hand, I fully support academic philosophy embracing and studying non-Western thought. On the other hand, I personally think Western thought is much more interesting and diverse… but that’s probably because I’m not too familiar with non-Western philosophy! 😔

This is absolutely wild, and super important. There are zillions of studies claiming that fMRI signals indicate increased brain activity, and it looks like that's often just wrong. If confirmed, this means we've misinterpreted a lot of research.

Dumb argument for soft polytheism: If cosmopsychism is true, and the cosmic mind is a unified subject, it makes sense to refer to general ideas, like love or wisdom, as being limitations of the cosmic mind, and so to personify them. Time to revive Pallas Athens! 🏛️ #philsky

“Of course, all cognitive scientists will believe that there are neural mechanisms underpinning our psychological capacities ... But this is consistent with being neutral on the materialism/dualism question or even with thinking that question is misconceived.” #philsky

I watched Smoke (1995) yesterday on TV. It’s a wonderful, quietly philosophical film.

This year I finally accepted in my heart that being a Philosopher is not a nobiliary title but simply a job description, and that the job might overlap (but not necessarily) with teaching Philosophy. I used to shudder at being called "a philosopher", I thought I didn't deserve to be called that...

I had a period when I moved away from panpsychism and wanted to spend more time thinking about physicalism. I think it was fruitful, but eventually I came back to panpsychism. I’m not entirely sure, though. I sort of wish there were other options that I’d find equally attractive… 🤔 #philsky

In simpler terms, you are a conscious particle. Right now, there is a fundamental particle in your brain that is having the exact experience you are having, such as reading these words, thinking these thoughts, perhaps enjoying a cup of tea. #philsky

The jump from panpsychism or cosmopsychism to pantheism or teleology always seemed unjustified to me. I just can’t envision a good argument for why the conscious universe should be understood as a unified mind or agent, and I haven’t come across one either. ✨ #philsky

I’ve submitted an abstract to a conference in Germany. Getting some feedback on my ideas would be invaluable. Also, I really need something to soothe my impostor syndrome. Wish me luck! 🤞🏻 #philsky

Happy holidays! 🎄✨

Talos, the bronze guardian of Crete, had a single vein filled with ichor. He moved and acted like a human. If a bronze automaton can have human features, then perhaps we are automata as well. This idea is at the heart of The Talos Principle, the video game partially inspired this myth. #philsky

I recently heard this defense of LLMs against the (correct) charge that they are just long-form auto-complete algorithms that exhibit neither intelligence nor thinking: that's no different than humans. While I wanted to object, the last 10 years made me pause...

We have a new essay! "Causation: What Are Causes?" by Dan Peterson We expect that reading this essay would causes you to understand theories of causation better! 1000wordphilosophy.com/2025/12/20/c... #cause #Causation #Because #philosophy #metaphysics

Do you think using LLMs to address linguistic injustice, like the advantage native English speakers have in academia over non-native speakers, is a good idea? 1/2 #philsky

I find the first critique of the simulation hypothesis unconvincing: there might be a great filter that prevents civilisations from ever reaching the level of technological sophistication required to simulate worlds like ours, but we cannot infer that from within the simulation. … 🧵 #philsky

When someone slams academic philosophy for being closed-minded, and then they drop sacred geometry 😶

We're all fundamental. Here's my weird take on #panpsychism. Open-access article! 🙂 #philsky

This is a bit like a personality test, but for ultimate meaning and purpose! #philsky

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year! 🎄✨

The thing is, I’m fundamentally a very lazy person, but I’ve only rarely had the opportunity to express my true nature.

I believe we should have both primary and secondary new years resolutions. The primary one is something common and obvious, like ‘I’ll start going to the gym’. But what’s your secondary, more personal (and likely more realistic) resolution? 😄

LLMs are an algorithm like any other, yet we are more inclined to treat them as intelligent or even conscious... They are great baits for 'semantic pareidolia', for us attributing such properties, personalities, and selves to them. #philsky - 1/2

Search you camera roll for “Hell” Setenil de las Bodegas, Spain

Philosophy is the most important thing we’ve ever done, are doing now, and will ever do. Laws, science, technology, all stem from the germ of an idea. That idea is philosophical before it is anything else.

This is a really nice tool for visualising your year on #Bluesky. My highlights: I wrote 2K posts and 5K replies (equivalent to 40% of War and Peace!); most used hashtags: Trumpland, PhilSky and Philosophy; favourite emoji: 😂 and 😅. #BlueskyWrapped www.madebyolof.com/bluesky-wrap...

Those who disparage philosophy as useless often fail to notice that they veer into philosophy the moment they try to define and defend their views. Else, they act like dogmatists, resistant to reason. Sadly, this is true of some philosophers too… #philsky

Sometimes I come across people who write about #philosophy in non-academic spaces, like Substack, disparaging academic philosophy. Yet I can’t imagine a better environment for doing philosophy than traditional academia. #philsky 1/2

🚨 My new paper challenging the adequacy of computational reliabilism as an epistemological framework for AI is now out in the Synthese book Philosophy of Science for Machine Learning , ed. Giorgia Pozzi and Durán. (Open access) #philsci #philtech link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

There are so many conceptual problems with testing ‘what it is like’ to be someone, or even to have only one of their qualities. Even if we somehow connected the neurons, so I could experience what you’re experiencing for a moment, it would still be experienced as a token quality… 1/3 #philsky 🧵

What’s the best theory of consciousness, in your opinion? 🧠 #philsky

Argumenta will have a special issue on #epistemicinjustice guest-edited by @lalumera.bsky.social & myself. Deadline: September 2026. Open access. The line-up of invited contributors is already spectacular but we'll add more! #philsky @philhead.bsky.social www.argumenta.org/cfp/the-epis...

Academics on here—do you ever worry about neglecting your non-academic followers? I’ve been thinking about how to make my posts engaging for everyone. Do you share this concern? And if so, how do you balance it? I would love to hear your thoughts and any strategies that have worked for you.

The question of whether AI is already conscious, and whether it deserves moral status, largely depends on which approach we consider. Someday, we may face tough questions about how we define consciousness and assign moral status. #philsky #AI

It just occured to me that we philosophers of mind are not so good in organising ourselves. Compare: philosophers of science have dedicated associations, conferences and a number of prominent journals. What have we got?

“In such a decadent climate as this, there naturally arises a pathology of atavism: an over-idealized and schizophrenic nostalgia, a Gatsby-esque obsession with reliving past glories by any means necessary, an unconscious subscription to the Nietszchean belief in the eternally recurrent...” #philsky

I submitted a paper right before Christmas. Not out of productivity, but as a preventative measure against the festive onset of existential academic dread. #philosophy #philsky #cogsci #science #academia

This is a great article on the extended mind thesis. I would also like to recommend Yōko Ogawa’s book The Housekeeper and the Professor, where the professor has an 80-minute memory span, so he pins notes to his suit in order to remember. It’s a personal and comforting take on the thesis! #philsky

You can please some of the people all of the time and you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please Reviewer 2 any of the bloody time.

In my first Substack post, I write about why panpsychism - the view that consciousness is everywhere - should be taken seriously. While seemingly radical, it rests on a set of individually compelling premises about the nature of reality. Subscribe for more! ✨ #philsky

I am talking first thing tomorrow at our conference on "Physics and the Self", Institute of Philosophy, Senate House, London. You can still sign up for online attendance here: forms.office.com/e/9Nx9mYEdy3 www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

philosophy (n.) the art of finding ingenious ways to make the facts fit your intuitions

“Within this culture, physicalism often functions not as a contested ontological thesis, but as a default assumption, one barely needing defence. As a result, arguments in favour of physicalism are typically held to a far lower standard of scrutiny than those opposing it.“ @finnthwaite.bsky.social

New journal: Experimental Philosophy

My friend @disagreeableme.bsky.social did not formally study philosophy. We made friends arguing on X when he was living on the other side of the world in New Zealand. We disagree about everything but it was constructive. Then his partner got a job at Durham.. philpapers.org/rec/OBRTCO-6

Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.

@disagreeableme.bsky.social wrote a detailed review of my paper and raised some really important questions! They also explained parts of my theory in a very clear manner, even better than I did! I’ll think about this and write up a response soon. Thanks so much for this! 🙏🏻

My thoughts on this here: open.substack.com/pub/disagree...

I'm trying to make a list of all the PhD programs in philosophy with (TT/tenured) faculty seriously working in AI ethics. (Think about prospective graduate students looking for supervisors in AI ethics.) What's missing? Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Florida, Georgia, Purdue? (plz share)