Mere Civility on X

Sometimes the "wrong" train can take us to the right place.

— Paulo Coelho

Epstein, health care and a shutdown fight: Here’s what the House faces in January The Hill

The Australian government is spending millions supporting Elon Musk’s deepfake porn factory, X

A spokesperson for the prime minister says the government is committed to protecting Australians from online harms. Tell that to the Australian victims of X-produced image-based abuse.

NYC Wegmans is storing biometric data on shoppers’ eyes, voices and faces

Gothamist: “Wegmans in New York City has begun collecting biometric data from anyone who enters its supermarkets, according to new signage posted at the chain’s Manhattan and Brooklyn locations earlier this month. Anyone entering the store could have data on their face, eyes and voices collected and stored by the Rochester-headquartered supermarket chain. The information is used to “protect the safety and security of our patrons and employees,” according to the signage. The new scanning policy is an expansion of a 2024 pilot. The chain had initially said that the scanning system was only for a small group of employees and promised to delete any biometric data it collected from shoppers during the pilot rollout. The new notice makes no such assurances. Wegmans representatives did not reply to questions about how the data would be stored, why it changed its policy or if it would share the data with law enforcement…”

Gothamist: “Wegmans in New York City has begun collecting biometric data from anyone who enters its supermarkets, according to new signage posted at the chain’s Manhattan and Brooklyn locations earlier this month. Anyone entering the store could have data on their face, eyes and voices collected and stored by the Rochester-headquartered supermarket chain. 

The information is used to “protect the safety and security of our patrons and employees,” according to the signage. The new scanning policy is an expansion of a 2024 pilot. The chain had initially said that the scanning system was only for a small group of employees and promised to delete any biometric data it collected from shoppers during the pilot rollout. 

The new notice makes no such assurances. Wegmans representatives did not reply to questions about how the data would be stored, why it changed its policy or if it would share the data with law enforcement…”

1. In defense of “mere civility” as a governing strategy for campus conflict — because, says Marie Newhouse, “No set of shared values specific enough to be action-guiding will be endorsed by all students, faculty, and staff, no matter how carefully those values are selected”
2. Would an AI have moral status if it were conscious? Only if it was also sentient. — so agnosticism about AI consciousness shouldn’t get in the way of developing AI, argues Tom McClelland; just make sure it’s not sentient
3. “‘I think, therefore I am’ isn’t the best translation of Descartes’s famous pronouncement ‘cogito, ergo sum’” — Galen Strawson on misunderstanding Descartes
4. “A night at the Museum of Philosophy” — a World Philosophy Day event at Université Laval might be a preview of a more permanent institution in Quebec
5. We still don’t know why ice is slippery, people — there are some theories, but no consensus
6. “Elite distortion dramatically affects what those in political power are likely to know, what they care about, what problems they will be attentive to…” — with the random selection of legislators, says Alex Guerrero, those in power “would be a genuine microcosm of the broader community”
7. “Chuck Norris knows how many grains of sand make a heap” — philosophy-themed Chuck Norris jokes from Avram Hiller
8. 
   

1. In defense of “mere civility” as a governing strategy for campus conflict — because, says Marie Newhouse, “No set of shared values specific enough to be action-guiding will be endorsed by all students, faculty, and staff, no matter how carefully those values are selected”
2. Would an AI have moral status if it were conscious? Only if it was also sentient. — so agnosticism about AI consciousness shouldn’t get in the way of developing AI, argues Tom McClelland; just make sure it’s not sentient
3. “‘I think, therefore I am’ isn’t the best translation of Descartes’s famous pronouncement ‘cogito, ergo sum’” — Galen Strawson on misunderstanding Descartes
4. “A night at the Museum of Philosophy” — a World Philosophy Day event at Université Laval might be a preview of a more permanent institution in Quebec
5. We still don’t know why ice is slippery, people — there are some theories, but no consensus
6. “Elite distortion dramatically affects what those in political power are likely to know, what they care about, what problems they will be attentive to…” — with the random selection of legislators, says Alex Guerrero, those in power “would be a genuine microcosm of the broader community”
7. “Chuck Norris knows how many grains of sand make a heap” — philosophy-themed Chuck Norris jokes from Avram Hiller
8. 
   

1. 20th Century Theories of Scientific Explanation by James Woodward and Lauren Ross.

Revised:

1. Korean Buddhism by Lucy Hyekyung Jee.
2. Mathematical Style by Paolo Mancosu.

IEP

1. Being in Structural-Systematic Philosophy by Alan White.

1000-Word Philosophy

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BJPS Short Reads

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Recently Published Open Access Philosophy Books

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Book Reviews

1. Early German Positivism by Frederick C. Beiser is reviewed by Mark Textor at Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
2. Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy by Gábor Betegh and Voula Tsouna (eds.) is reviewed by Christoph Helmig at Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
3. Psychoanalysis and Ethics: The Necessity of Perspective by David M. Black is reviewed by Maria Balaska at Philosophical Psychology.
4. Who’s Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler is reviewed by Lorna Finlayson at Boston Review.
5. The Complete Notebooks by Albert Camus translated by Ryan Bloom is reviewed by Joanna Kavenna at Literary Review.
6. A Theory of Subjective Wellbeing by Mark Fabian is reviewed by Jessica Sutherland at Philosophical Psychology.
7. The Developmental Psychology of Personal Identity: A Philosophical Perspective by Massimo Marraffa and Cristina Meini (eds.) is reviewed by Mahmud Nasrul Habibi, Monicha Ana Billa, Ida Umaria Hentihu, Arvan Setiawan & Kristina Serenem at  Philosophical Psychology.
8. Open Minded: Searching for Truth about the Unconscious Mind by Ben R. Newell & David R. Shanks is reviewed by Aliya Rumana at Philosophical Psychology.
9. It’s Only Human: The Evolution of Distinctively Human Cognition by Armin W. Schulz is reviewed by Olivier Morin at The British Society for Philosophy of Science.
10. The Oxford Handbook of Moral Psychology by Manuel Vargas and John Doris (eds.) is reviewed by Anneli Jefferson at Philosophical Psychology. 
11. Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy’s Greatest Pessimist by David Bather Woods is reviewed by Terry Eagleton at London Review of Books.

Philosophy Podcasts – Recent Episodes(via Jason Chen)

Compiled by Michael Glawson

BONUS: Further moves in the simulation argument game