Just under a month until the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice Conference, hosted at our institution. Anyone interested in the practical application of philosophy of science is welcome. Accommodation is available at the university. Go to this link to register: spspcambridge2026.com

The Met Office is now forecasting 39°C for Cambridge on Tuesday. weather.metoffice.gov.uk/forecast/u12...

"Were there one uniform scientific community, realising an ideal of openness might be achievable by simple remedies. But there is no such entity. Scientific communities can be demarcated via discipline or via nationality/region." Helen Longino on open science.

In memory of the great David Hockney here’s his 1971 drawing of the anthropologist Edmund Leach of @kingscollege.bsky.social I love the focus on the frames of his glasses

In memory of the great David Hockney here’s his 1971 drawing of the anthropologist Edmund Leach of @kingscollege.bsky.social I love the focus on the frames of his glasses

An example of this with Perplexity. I asked it to remind me of an article abt relation b/w history of science and history of knowledge and it says yes it’s called ‘The History of Science and the History of Knowledge’ 2017 by Simon Schaffer. It is in fact by Lorraine Daston.

I guess I think social media is different to alcohol and cigarettes

Guy at the pyramids called after me “sir!” No response “maam!” No response, after a few seconds he tries again “cousin!” I think we’ve cracked it. There is a gender neutral honorific.

My aunt reporting on her morning in Zaporizhzhia: ‘made my coffee just as the air raid sirens started blaring and explosions began. Went to stand in the corridor as recommended for safety. But the coffee was getting cold, so I thought eff it and went back to the kitchen.’ Ukrainian resilience

a Russian classicist headed a translation project of complete works of Aristotle using a state grant. The project stalled and she is now under house arrest. I get it, defending her won’t seem like a priority. But not everyone can emigrate and by all accounts she is innocent. I signed the petition

New issue of the BJPS is out now, for your quarterly allowance of philosophy of science, as recommended by doctors*. *Not that sort of doctor. Read it here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/bjps/current #philsci #philsky

It’s the season for the only issue of the Reporter I look forward to reading. Warm congratulations to all the promoted colleagues! www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/202...

Should scientists make moral judgements during their research? PhD student Monte Cairns tackles this question in their new research paper. Cairns argues that these concerns, while genuine, do not stop scientists taking moral responsibility for their research. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I'll be presenting this work at PSA (San Diego, Nov 2026). The question is how to think about "formative" (aggregate) constructs and their empirical measurements in the social sciences (e.g., socio-economic status). The standard view (e.g., Borsboom 2005) requires constructs to be causes of...

I hate to repeat myself but summaries of texts are summaries for a purpose. A summary of Carnap’s Aufbau is different if the summary is for (a) what it says about epistemology, (b) its account of philosophy per se, (c) its place in the history of analytic philosophy, etc. THE summary doesn’t exist.

I finally got round to reading properly @alondra.bsky.social's outstanding essay on implications of AI for social science: www.amacad.org/sites/defaul... - highly recommended

⏳ There's still time to book your free place at the Association of Philosophy Teachers Annual Conference. Taking place at the UCL Institute of Education on 19 June, the conference is free of charge for #philosophy educators. 🔗 Get more info and book: associationphilosophyteachers.org/1044-2/

This is so familiar. Scientists go out of their way to separate the scientist in them from the ethical agent in them. And then hand over the latter to someone else

Released on Navalny's 50th birthday, a free audiobook of his memoir "Patriot" (the Russian-lang version) features readings by his wife Yulia, daughter Daria, & son Zakhar, alongside anti-war Russian artists, journalists, & opposition figures now in exile. www.onebookpublishing.org/products/pat...

Alexey Navalny would have turned 50 today.

Q for Soc, Econ, etc.: I'm looking for a short piece (article or the like) on ethical issues connected to administrative data. Anything jump to mind?

one for your block finger (it's a chatGPT bot that autoreplies to posts with google search related text).

PSA newsletters are so fun to read when Craig Callender writes them. It made me super nostalgic about San Diego. Whoever is going in November, please enjoy some tacos at El Zarape for me x

Nice of Greg to review me in the latest LRB:

A stand-up routine on mercantilism and Adam Smith, for edutainment purposes only. youtu.be/XPtw1SUZXP0

Fyodor is clearly not operating with a revealed preference conception of preferences

Fascinating snippet on @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social’s translation of the Odyssey. The Siren’s are not physically alluring - they seduce with the promise of knowledge www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...

Fyodor is clearly not operating with a revealed preference conception of preferences

What is the most haunting song I've heard in ages and why is the version of "Rocky Road to Dublin" from Sinners?? That 9/8 time is just incredible. (Yes yes, the Kid is on the Rocky Road to Dublin, but still) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iapw...

Yep, pretty much newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...

This is good on the conflict between validity of a measure of wellbeing (which favours a dashboard of many indicators) and usability (dashboards are expensive for poor countries and hard to use in budgeting). I used to think the former was the preferable horn of the dilemma. Now not so sure

Almost can’t believe that Byzantium and Friends is still going, but I love so much that it is. Very few podcasts are so strict/consistent in only interviewing true subject matter experts on their areas of expertise. Latest episode on the many paradoxes of Julian. podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b...

We may be in the final days of #summer half-term, but it's always a good time to immerse yourself in our #free learning resources. 💭⛱️🌞 Head to royalinstitutephilosophy.org/education to watch #Philosophy Briefings, our series of 15-minute masterclasses for all ages and abilities. 💻▶️

The Pope has done a rather lovely critique of technological instrumentalism for AI www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

This week Issa Kohler-Hausmann of Yale is visiting for a workshop/ talk at the @hpscambridge.bsky.social Department Seminar series. I admire her research into how dominant econometric methods for detecting discrimination misunderstand the nature of ‘equal standing’. Scroll down for her abstract 👇🏻

Early bird registration open for one more week till May 31st. Hope to see you in Cambridge!

Gil Scott- At the spot 🪶

There is a simple formula for delivering evaluation findings in time to inform policymaking: T=S+R+D+I+A. Read all about it: andifugard.info/bending-eval...

Have genuinely never, not once, felt uncomfortable around trans people. Whereas I’ve been at public events and in personal conversations where gender critical ppl have made me exceptionally uncomfortable and even afraid. Looking forward to their exclusion from my spaces becoming mandated in policy.

I love that Harry Maguire had his mum and brother moan on the internet on his behalf for not being picked for the England World Cup squad

Thank you. I would also like guidance on most effective malicious noncompliance for cis people with the bathroom guidelines.

Indeed a major problems for all perfectionists theories of wellbeing

The hands remember how

We’re hiring! We are recruiting for a Lectureship in Global History of Science to join our Department from September 2026. For more info and to apply, please visit: https://bit.ly/3R94V58 Closing Date: 9th June 2026 #WeAreSTS #Science #Historyofscience #Globalscience

Just under two months until the 2026 Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice Conference. All who want to discuss the practical use of philosophy of science are welcome. Register before 31 May to get a £50 discount on your booking. Cambridge colleges have accommodation. spspcambridge2026.com

Recommending this important work by @olesyabondarenko.bsky.social #philsci

🚨 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS 🚨 1/ We invite proposals for posters and symposia for the New Directions in Social Media Research conference at St John’s College, University of Cambridge (7–8 Dec 2026). We especially welcome future-facing research on how the social world is changing in the digital age.

me every time the americans start up british food discourse again

It's hard to imagine futures beyond the contemporary crisis of academic neoliberalism, especially while institutions are committed to drastic redundancies and the dismantling of academic careers. What is lost? What modes of thought or ideas have we lost while in survival mode? Join us next week👇

If people are looking for a citation to use but they don’t want to read the work, my 2024 Cambridge UP monograph, Logical Empiricism as Scientific Philosophy, is FOR YOU!!!