Hi everyone. Daily Nous is still down, but work on it continues and it should be back up and running later this week.
Justin Weinberg
@dailynous.com
• philosophy professor • editor of Daily Nous, philosophy news site • person
The fallacy that University leaders pushing AI are falling into is thinking that the point of undergraduate research is to find things out. It isn't. What students find out is typically already generally known. The point of undergraduate research is to learn how to find things out.
“If we find ourselves imminently facing an AI threat, what we may have to do to save our lives is what many have argued we should do anyway to save our souls: disconnect.” If the calls for moratoriums or pacing don’t work, we should be prepared.
An Open Letter from Academics about AI Risk / Life Without the Internet & the Case for Non-Network Redundancy - Daily Nous
There has been an increase in concern over AI destroying humanity, most recently spurred by tweets from former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon about how dangerous AI is, and a follow-up tweet from curr...
dailynous.com
A letter from academics calling for international cooperation to slow or pause AI development is open for signatories. Perhaps, though, what we should be doing is preparing for life without the internet.
An Open Letter from Academics about AI Risk / Life Without the Internet & the Case for Non-Network Redundancy - Daily Nous
There has been an increase in concern over AI destroying humanity, most recently spurred by tweets from former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon about how dangerous AI is, and a follow-up tweet from curr...
dailynous.com
“Do philosophers really think differently than non-philosophers?” A team of researchers focusing on neurodivergent traits and responses to thought experiments offers a partial answer...
How Different Are Philosophers? (guest post) - Daily Nous
"Do philosophers really think differently than non-philosophers?" That's the question taken up by a team of researchers in a recent study published in Philosophical Psychology. Focusing on differences...
dailynous.com
The astounding techno-bureaucratic bloat of higher ed. Unjust but legitimate laws. Animal altruism. When what rightly matters doesn’t really matter. 50 things AIs working w/ humans should know. Stupid critiques of academia. Interview w/ Bertrand Russell.
Mini-Heap - Daily Nous
New links... “50 Things Every AI Working with Humans Should Know” -- a short story by Ken Liu “We need a moratorium on new rules and new software purchases until we’ve pruned what does not serve the f...
dailynous.com
Though there has been a tiny recent increase in philosophy BAs earned in the US, overall, the number of students graduating with BAs in the humanities continues to decline.
Fewer and Fewer Students Earn Degrees in the Humanities - Daily Nous
20 years ago, nearly 15% of the undergraduate degrees conferred in the United States were in the humanities. As of 2025, that percentage is down to 8.1%. These figures are from a recent report by Huma...
dailynous.com
Which areas of specialization in philosophy have tended to correlate with higher job placement rates?
Placement & AOS - Daily Nous
Which areas of specialization have been correlated with higher placement into "permanent" (typically tenure-track or tenured) positions over the past few years? "The broad finding is that those in Val...
dailynous.com
Thanks to @dailynous.com putting my little philosophy swipe game Philotypes in the heap of links, Ia lot more people have been playing it, and someone ("Knowledge Cartel") has finally unseated me as top of the leaderboard www.ux-phi.com/philotypes/
What will it take for experimental philosophers to stop being asked, “But is this actually philosophy?”
Free to Be Experimental Philosophy - Daily Nous
"But is this actually philosophy?" Ethan Landes (Eindhoven University of Technology) is tired of experimental philosophers being asked The Question. And he's tired of experimental philosophers "appeas...
dailynous.com
When consent isn't enough. From gravedigger to philosopher. Soundle, a new argument game. Getting students to rethink their devices. Mark Schroeder on "Why Philosophy?". A simple way to improve your teaching. How a philosopher uses AI in his work...
Mini-Heap - Daily Nous
New links in the Heap... “There are just so many other things you could be doing” -- Daniel Groll wrote something for his students about the role of phones in their lives. (Perhaps it would work bette...
dailynous.com
“Philosophical work would be better with adversaries collaborating to keep each other honest.” @victorkumar.bsky.social and others on adversarial collaboration in philosophy.
Adversarial Collaboration in Philosophy (guest post) - Daily Nous
"Philosophical work would be better with adversaries collaborating to keep each other honest." Why is that? What would it look like? In the following guest post, members of the Mind and Morality Lab a...
dailynous.com
A competition to “gauge the philosophical capabilities of AI in a way transparent to the philosophical community”...
Testing AI’s Philosophical Writing with a Contest - Daily Nous
A pair of philosophers have launched a contest in which participants submit essays that are "primarily AI-generated". The aim of the competition is to "gauge the philosophical capabilities of AI in a ...
dailynous.com
The philosophy of good sex. AI agents are emailing philosophers. Arguments against "viewpoint diversity". Dolly Parton & Aristotle. A philosophy game based on the PhilPapers survey. Saving science. New trolley problem solution...
Mini-Heap - Daily Nous
Latest links... “A.I. agents have started reaching out to the philosophers and researchers exploring deep questions about them” -- “I’m in an unusual position relative to these questions,” said one of...
dailynous.com
New reviews of philosophy books, new philosophy podcast episodes, new and revised entries at online philosophy resources, and more...
Online Philosophy Resources Monthly Update - Daily Nous
Here’s the report on new and revised entries at online philosophy resources, new reviews of philosophy books, and new podcast episodes. It's the last of our summer monthly updates. The updates return ...
dailynous.com
The Philosopher’s Annual for 2025 has been released. It aims to “select the ten best articles published in philosophy each year—an attempt as simple to state as it is admittedly impossible to fulfill.”
Philosopher’s Annual for 2025 - Daily Nous
The articles that made it into the latest edition of Philosophers Annual have been announced. The list aims to “select the ten best articles published in philosophy each year—an attempt as simple to s...
dailynous.com
AI-written research is causing chaos in academia. Into this chaos steps forward the vigilantes, newly armed and emboldened…
Careful with those Accusations - Daily Nous
Academia is in turmoil regarding partially or wholly AI-written research. AI-written work is being submitted to journals, but it isn't clear how much. Publisher, journal, university, and department po...
dailynous.com
The University of Ghent has told Nathan Cofnas he must work remotely for the next three months while they "determine if further disciplinary action is warranted." See Update 4 on this post.
Cofnas Suspended by Ghent University (several updates) - Daily Nous
Nathan Cofnas has been suspended from his postdoctoral philosophy position at Ghent University. In a July 21st post on his newsletter, Cofnas accused Jason Arday, professor of sociology of education a...
dailynous.com
Does the public think that philosophy is "essential" at a typical university? And how does its opinion about philosophy compare to its opinion of other disciplines?
The Public’s Opinion about Philosophy in Universities - Daily Nous
"How important is it for a typical university to maintain a department in each of the following fields?" 15 fields were listed, and respondents were given four options: Essential --- a university shou...
dailynous.com
The Lebowitz prize is awarded to two philosophers with contrasting views on a topic. This year's winners are...
De Brigard and Robins Win 2026 Lebowitz Prize - Daily Nous
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the winners of its 2026 Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize. They are: Felipe De Brigard, Professor of Philosophy and Psyc...
dailynous.com
Philosopher Gabriele Taylor of St. Anne's College at the University of Oxford, has died.
Gabriele Taylor (1927-2026) - Daily Nous
Gabriele Taylor, emeritus fellow in philosophy at St. Anne's College, University of Oxford, has died. Gabriele Taylor was known for her work in moral philosophy, especially moral psychology. She is th...
dailynous.com
The ethics of *culture* war. Questions about inner speech. Awe at today's "commonplace". The ethics of belief. Interviews with Briana Toole, Agnes Callard, and 160 or so other philosophers...
Mini-Heap - Daily Nous
New links in the Heap... “The ethics of war in the context of a culture war means that you accept that action you take in fighting such a war has harmful effects on your enemies, and that those harmfu...
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A wonderful interview of Paul Gooch by Nathan Ballantyne. Gooch says: "the teacher must be open to interrogation as well as the student. I want the conversation to be interrogative in both directions, between teacher and student." What do you do to help foster that?
“Proper education arouses intellectual curiosity” - Daily Nous
Nathan Ballantyne (ASU) continues his wonderful series of thoughtful, in-depth interviews of philosophers, The Workbench, with a conversation with Paul Gooch (Toronto). . The conversation is wide-rang...
dailynous.com
I initially put up a pretty minimalist post about the Cofnas suspension. Some readers told me they thought I should have said more, particularly regarding the academic freedom issue. So now I have added some of my thoughts to the post (in the update). dailynous.com/2026/08/24/c...