Alan Colquhoun
@alancolquhoun.bsky.social
Pianist, philosopher, author, ethicist, metaphysician, moralist, aesthete...🇺🇦
What does it mean @mrjamesob.bsky.social ? The tragedy is not merely that Trump dances to Putin’s tune but that American democracy, with all its vaunted constitutional safeguards, has become a theatre in which the audience mistakes the collapse of the scenery for the triumph of the play
You’ve been given free access to this story from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire. Elon Musk's foundation is opaque, miserly and self-serving... www.economist.com/business/202...
Elon Musk's foundation is opaque, miserly and self-serving
The world’s richest man disdains charity. His money is where his mouth is
economist.com
@matthew-wright.bsky.social a sane democracy would impeach and convict Trump for consistent and persistent antidemocratic behaviour
If you’re thinking that *this time* they will have to admit Trump’s depravity & their hideous folly in supporting him. Then I’m afraid you’re in for another nasty surprise…
@matthew-wright.bsky.social Any putative justification for executing someone cannot automatically justify exhibiting their execution These are distinct acts requiring distinct moral arguments
@mrjamesob.bsky.social Today seems like as good a day as any other to wheel out this old essay of mine... substack.com/@alancolquho...
The State That Murders Cannot Believe in Itself
A philosophical argument against capital punishment’s moral incoherence...
substack.com
You’ve been given free access to this story from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire. This is quite frightening... Mirror life is dangerous. Regulators must act before it becomes real www.economist.com/leaders/2026...
Mirror life is dangerous. Regulators must act before it becomes real
Playing catch-up with the technology is not an option
economist.com
My view, from North Bridge, Edinburgh, about 10 minutes ago...
You’ve been given free access to this story from The Economist as a gift You can open the link five times within seven days After that it will expire OpenAI claims to have solved hundreds of longstanding maths problems Most provocative article I've read recently www.economist.com/science-and-...
OpenAI claims to have solved hundreds of long-standing maths problems
It is judgment day for mathematics
economist.com
ETHICAL VALUE is a sui generis, irreducible normative property, independent of psychological attitudes & preferences (akin in its non-psychological status to necessity & possibility). This matters because it makes moral truth independent of what we feel, desire, approve of, or collectively accept.
@mrjamesob.bsky.social ethical value (ie the ought entailing property of moral goodness which may be judged, correctly or incorrectly, to apply to states of affairs) is not constituted by feelings, attitudes or preferences It is a sui generis logical property (akin to necessity and possibility)
This is a perfect example of the multitude of articles demanding ”better strategy” and ”more action” against Russia’s escalating hybrid war, yet fails to suggest anything new (or even any of the already explored slightly more creative options)
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 3w agoRussia’s escalating hybrid campaign against Europe ft.trib.al/whznzyj | opinion
You’ve been given free access to this story from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire. Ireland is helping supply Russia’s war machine www.economist.com/europe/2026/...
Ireland is helping supply Russia’s war machine
The EU considers putting an Irish alumina refiner on its sanctions list
economist.com
Brazen (cultish) dishonesty, writ large
Boehlert Media Busters@mediabusters6.bsky.social · 3w agoShe is a loyal member of the #TrumpCult which makes her 100% UNQUALIFIED & INCOMPETENT for any job especially at the FDA She is a clear & present danger who will suck Trump's mushroom & kiss his fat ass #RejectHeidiOverton
Zelenskyy: "For first time in Russia’s history, we now hear that its oil industry is running on fumes. Our target is Russia’s ability to finance this war, to drag it out, to make it more brutal & destructive. Russia’s finances & Russia’s production are what must be stopped if Putin is to be stopped”
my brilliant colleague @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the threat from Elon Musk’s X platform www.ft.com/content/f270...
We'll permit this selfie to go public Tonight's hedonistic encounter was quite energetic and absolutely magnificent!
Edible mushrooms growing in the garden (another symptom of autumn) I would pick them except we also have destroying angel growing in the same patch...
Suppose that after prolonged indulgence, what one most desires is neither another excellent meal, nor more sex, nor intoxication, nor entertainment but simply to be left experientially alone — to wake rested, feel physically ordinary, want nothing urgently and have nothing hurting...
Alan Colquhoun@alancolquhoun.bsky.social · last mo.@mrjamesob.bsky.social The 'trolley problem' asks what you ought to do The driverless car problem asks what you ought, in advance, to cause an artificial agent to do every time the relevant circumstances obtain
You’ve been given free access to this story from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire. Could AIs become conscious? (Again, I ask, how could we tell, except by fallible inference from behaviour?) www.economist.com/insider/insi...
Could AIs become conscious? | The Economist Insider
The question has preoccupied philosophers, neuroscientists and science-fiction writers for decades. Machines haven’t yet become self-aware or developed real feelings. But could they? As AI models get ...
economist.com
