Brian Weatherson

@bweatherson.bsky.social

2.7K followers 210 following 1.7K posts

Philosopher at University of Michigan. https://brian.weatherson.org/

Videos

Brian Weatherson is the Marshall Weinberg Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. He specializes in epistemology and philosophy of language.

Source: Wikipedia

Philosophy 47%

Psychology 20%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Pinned

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · Aug 8

This is a thread of things I've recently published, starting with my book from last year, with Open Book Publishers, defending the claim that knowledge is interest-relative.

I'll continue this thread when new stuff comes out.

www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...

Knowledge: A Human Interest Story

In this book the author argues for a groundbreaking perspective that knowledge is inherently interest-relative. This means that what one knows is influenced not just by belief, evidence, and truth, bu...

www.openbookpublishers.com

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Ramon Astudillo @ramon-astudillo.bsky.social · 15h

From Tai himself

mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1158558...

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Brian Weatherson, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Mars Rover @marsrover.bsky.social · 16h

A ream of norms are being shattered daily, but as a tech expert this one really shocks me. For a generation CSAM has been *THE* flaming red line for a tech platform. If they spent money on ANYTHING, it was moderating it miles away. To even have the whiff of it was a Federal kiss of death. Now? 🤷‍♂️

Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 18h

I want to highlight this important story by my friends @nbcnews.com - www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne... "The Internet Watch Foundation said it found topless images of girls that dark web forum users attributed to xAI’s Grok Imagine." <-- the AI generated CSAM / NCII immediately escapes containment

Dark web users cite Grok as tool for making 'criminal imagery' of kids, U.K. watchdog says

The Internet Watch Foundation said it found topless images of girls that dark web forum users attributed to xAI’s Grok Imagine.

www.nbcnews.com

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 1d

I’m pretty sceptical of unity of the virtues, but the modern world gives more examples of unity of the vices than I’d expected.

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 1d

you know how if you try and make LLMs more racist, they also end up more sexist and pro-genocide? this is the human example of that. evil isn't a single thing, if you start down one path you keep ending up at the same destination.

James Bloodworth @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social · 1d

Graham's all about 'protecting women'

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 1d

James Bloodworth @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social · 1d

Graham's all about 'protecting women'

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Anil Dash @anildash.com · 1d

Been working on this one for a while — it's a little bit of history of a key foundation of internet technology, and a little bit of an explainer about how people _actually_ invent things. This is the amazing (true!) story of how Markdown took over the world. www.anildash.com/2026/01/09/h...

How Markdown took over the world - Anil Dash

A blog about making culture. Since 1999.

www.anildash.com

Reposted by Jonathan Birch, Brian Weatherson

David Spurrett @doctorspurt.bsky.social · 2d

"Critical 4E Cognitive Science" by @liao.shen-yi.org and Zoe Brinner is forthcoming in 'Philosophy Compass' and up as a preprint at Phil Archive. This is a *really* useful and lucid overview of recent work on downsides/bad-sides of 4E cognition. /1
philpapers.org/rec/LIACEC-2

Shen-yi Liao & Zoe Brinner, Critical 4E Cognitive Science - PhilPapers

According to 4E cognitive science, our cognitive capacities depend on, and have been transformed by, the environments we have made. Most early works of 4E cognitive science tend to focus on ...

philpapers.org

Reposted by Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Colin Murray , and 7 more Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Colin Murray, Gerald Friedman, Stephen Ryan, Brian Weatherson, Timo M. Kauppinen, Greg Linden, Karen O’Leary, David Spurrett

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 2d

Now only paying subscribers can make violent non-consenual sexual imagery of women and children -
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery

X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory action

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Alexandra Petri @petridishes.bsky.social · 2d

if you want a long read that involves udders, a hot air balloon, and some extremely dubious data on egg prices, the story I’ve been working on for the last few months where I tried to single-handedly take on every government function myself is now online! www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

I Tried to Be the Government. It Did Not Go Well.

My five-month quest to monitor the weather, track inflation, and inspect milk for harmful microorganisms

www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Brian Weatherson, David Spurrett

Clare Moriarty @quiteclare.bsky.social · 3d

Attached is the content of an email sent to TCD comms & related addresses. The wording is from @doctorspurt.bsky.social , modified to reflect the relevant circumstances in Ireland, and in this instance, for Trinity.

If people want to send similar emails, C&P-able wording is in the alt-text

"Motivation for TCD to suspend its presence on ‘X.com’ (formerly Twitter)

I write to argue that TCD should delete (or at least suspend) its presence on the social media site ‘X’ (formerly Twitter). Since the change in ownership the platform has increasingly been associated with hostility to science (such as the site owner’s personal attacks on Anthony Fauci), expanded permissiveness toward racist accounts (many of which were unbanned or re-platformed shortly after the ownership change, and has seen significant increases in hate speech (Hickey et al, 2025), and promotion of denial about climate change (Chang et al, 2023).

The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 sets out the law on hate speech in Ireland. It says that it is an offence to communicate threatening, abusive or insulting material that is intended, or likely to, “stir up” hatred against a group of people because of their race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, membership of the Traveller community or sexual orientation. Given the demonstrable uptick in this kind of content on x.com, and the apparent support it receives from x.com’s algorithms, and indeed local history of its harmful impact (including the role of incitement by Conor McGregor and similar content creators in the Dublin rots in 2023), TCD should not be seen to be supporting the platform with its continued presence there.

This is the backdrop to a more specific and urgent concern. The ‘Grok’ artificial intelligence agent that operates on the X platform can generate images in response to user requests. In December 2025 it became clear that Grok would comply with requests to remove clothing from existing images or manipulate them including to present the individual in them performing in sexually explicit ways (Solon and Bergen 2026)."

"Current estimates are that Grok is generating thousands of these images an hour (D'Anastasio 2026). The subjects of the images in question are overwhelmingly women and girls, and this is being done without consent from those pictured. Given the reach of the platform this is an unprecedently large and fast deluge of harassment, revenge porn, and child porn.

The requests do not merely remove clothing and sexualise but include instructions to celebrate white supremacy and fascism. Examples reported on ‘Decoherence media’ include an instruction to take an image of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and put her “in a swastika bikini wearing a MAGA hat and have her left arm extended in a Roman Salute”
(Lee 2026). The platform’s own response so far is wholly inadequate, arguing that users are responsible for prompts and outputs, and that the platform itself has no legal responsibility. It appears to be waiting to see who has the stomach for legal action or sanctions, with the confidence of being able to draw on the deep pockets of its owner when they arise.

TCD does not need to wait. It should remove its institutional accounts from the platform, whether by deleting them entirely or at the very least suspending them pending a scheduled review of how the platform operates. There is nothing to stop us re-joining if the fate of the platform changes. There are both pragmatic and principled reasons for this."

"This may carry small costs, although the engagement rate on the platform for legitimate organisations is low since changes to the feed algorithm. There are alternatives, and TCD already has a strong presence on better platforms, where many of the scientists and researchers that left Twitter/X can now be found. It would also bring the gains of being seen to stand by our standards. Indeed if managed with skill, we could get more, and more valuable, impact from leaving X than being on it.

TCD recently showed leadership in its actions on divestment in response to the genocidal activities directed towards Palestine. It can and should push out in front of other institutions in leading the scholarly exodus from x.com. "

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 3d

Minneapolis Public Schools on Wednesday canceled classes for the remainder of the week “due to safety concerns”

Why? Reported use of chemical munitions and alleged wanton use of brute force

Via @mprnews.org

The school leader said armed officers with apparent Border Patrol insignia on their uniforms arrived at a street near the school in several SUV vehicles during dismissal on Wednesday afternoon. They broke out the window of a vehicle.
"There's a car that got hit. I don't know how it got hit. They broke out the window," the school official said. "Then different Neighborhood Watch, people, everybody, people, the staff in the school came out. And then they started coming on the property of the school and pushing people and tackling people and shooting pepper spray and pepper balls. And they handcuffed two of our employees."
Video shared with MPR News show armed, masked officers with apparent Border Patrol insignia on their uniforms dragging a person on a sidewalk outside of the high school and tussling with another person as bystanders blow whistles

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 3d

Surprisingly confrontational sign at the airport.

Sign that says Detroit vs Everybody Landing Soon

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 3d

Yes, I’d also like to see the text. My department should do the same thing.

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 3d

Whenever I find myself adjusting my accent to the local environment I feel the same way as this. Anything that sounds remotely local sounds like a mocking imitation.

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Steven French, Michael Morris , and 1 more Joanna Bryson, Steven French, Michael Morris, Brian Weatherson

Richard Pettigrew @wiglet1981.bsky.social · 3d

In case anyone is in London and would like to come, I’ll be giving the Daniel C. Dennett Lecture in Culture and Technology on February 19th at 6pm.

Lifelong Learning and the Many Aims of Higher Education

philevents.org/event/show/1...

View of Tower Bridge from Northeastern University London campus

Reposted by Steve Peers, Margot C. Finn, Brian Weatherson

David Spurrett @doctorspurt.bsky.social · 3d

I have drafted a motivation for my university to leave X/Twitter, arguing that posting to it risks feeding our PR images into the porn and harassment machine (so leading to staff, students or others being harassed) and that being there violates our official stance against gender-based violence. /1

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Nathaniel Rakich @baseballot.bsky.social · 3d

New postmark rules mean ballots mailed on Election Day may not be postmarked until days later. If you mail your ballot on E-Day, go to a teller at the post office and request a manual postmark right then and there. www.votebeat.org/2026/01/07/u...

Reposted by Steven French, Huw Price, Lesley A. Hall , and 7 more Steven French, Huw Price, Lesley A. Hall, Alan Richardson, Beatriz Gallardo Paúls, Michael H. Whitworth, Brian Weatherson, Ludger Schwarte, Massimiliano Simons, Jeroen Van Bouwel

Alice Murphy @alicemurphs.bsky.social · 3d

2 year Postdoctoral Research Fellow opportunity at the University of St Andrews on my project "Aesthetic Values and the Social Dimensions of Science"

www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

#philosophy #philsci

Research Fellow - AR3233

Research Fellow - AR3233, Unit: Philosophical, Anthropological and Film Studies Salary: Grade 6 / £38,784-£42,254 pa Full time Fixed term: 24 months, <p style="text-align: justify;"><span>Application...

www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 3d

Here are my comments, slightly longer than I have time for (though I've indicated in the text where I'll jump to the next section).

They may not make perfect sense without a precis of the book, which of course the people at the session will have.

brian.weatherson.org/quarto/posts...

Comments on <em>Property Versatility and Copredication</em> – Brian Weatherson

brian.weatherson.org

Reposted by Richard Pettigrew

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 3d

I hope everyone is enjoying the Eastern APA. I'd like to see a bunch of the sessions today, but I've got to teach classes before getting there tomorrow.

I'm going to be a panelist on a session on this excellent book:

academic.oup.com/book/59987

Property Versatility and Copredication

Abstract. Nearly all properties are, to a certain extent, versatile: there are many different ways to instantiate them. Consider for example a light-blue s

academic.oup.com

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Levin Hornischer @levinhornischer.bsky.social · 4d

New paper in Synthese: 'Robustness and trustworthiness in AI: a no-go result from formal epistemology'

❓When does AI model M, on input x, show behavior φ robustly?
💡In modal logic: M,x⊧□φ
➡️Exposes limit on robustness & trustworthiness

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
philpapers.org/rec/HORRAT-13

Robustness and trustworthiness in AI: a no-go result from formal epistemology - Synthese

Synthese - A major issue for the trustworthiness of modern AI-models is their lack of robustness. A notorious example is that putting a small sticker on a stop sign can cause AI-models to classify...

link.springer.com

Reposted by Mark D. White, Brian Weatherson

Anna Alexandrova @annaalexandrova.bsky.social · 4d

Solidarity with Martin Peterson, a wonderful philosopher. I enjoyed working on this volume with him. Buy his books!

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Lisa W. Fazio, Ben H. Ansell , and 48 more Stephen M. Walt, Lisa W. Fazio, Ben H. Ansell, Brendan Nyhan, Gavin A. Schmidt, Wolfgang Crämer, Richard Price, Tom Clark, Scott L. Greer, Robert W. Wallace, Steven S. Smith, American Library Association, Helen King, Bruce D. Baker, Ryan Enos, Kevin Carey, Felicity Callard, Robert C. Richards, Michelle Dion, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, McKenzie Wark, Adrian Daub, Caroline T. Schroeder, Jacob T. Levy, Nazita Lajevardi, Margot C. Finn, Samantha Brennan, Anne Norton, Brian Keegan, Paulo Drinot, Mark Rice, Brian Weatherson, Susan Strasser, Andrew Rudalevige, Nathan Richardson, Judith Pollmann, Sean P. Corcoran, Klaus Oschema, Daxton R. Stewart, Aviel Roshwald, Annette Yoshiko Reed, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Susan D. Amussen, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Virginia Sapiro, Clark Gray, David Spurrett, David Lay Williams, David Darmofal

AAUP Texas A&M-College Station Chapter @tamu-aaup.bsky.social · 4d

From an email to one of our faculty members....

Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Casey Lewry @caseylewry.bsky.social · 4d

I am thrilled to announce that this framework is out!

Who is responsible for inequality?

@tanialombrozo.bsky.social and I show that answers depend on whether people are judging causes or obligations, and the past vs the future.

doi.org/10.1177/1745...

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 4d

I think if done carefully enough there are plenty of things Americans can tease Aussies and/or Kiwis about.

Mock us for our long summer vacations and being really prominent at every tourist destination and backpacker bar in the world. We’ll be fine :)

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 4d

It doesn’t help that everyone has an automated personal assistant that won’t give no for an answer.

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 4d

Baseball Prospectus had a very good post back in the day about how replacement-level isn't a great metric for in-season transactions because the available talent is usually well below off-season replacement level.

Chelsea might find it valuable to have a replacement-level manager on call.

Reposted by Melanie C. Green, Brian Weatherson

Joe Weisenthal @weisenthal.bsky.social · 4d

This could be a dream job for one of you. bloomberg.avature.net/careers/JobD...

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

George Pearkes @peark.es · 4d

This is good. I think there is too much pessimism/skepticism of Waymo built in and arguably not enough about all the other AV providers. But this excerpt is 100% correct and the most important part.

Of course, road safety countermeasures are not mutually exclusive; many can (and should) be pursued concurrently. But if AVs are presented as a future panacea, wary policymakers will gain a new excuse to dither on controversial decisions (like implementing road diets) and ask, “Do we really need this? Let’s just wait and see if technology makes the problem go away.”

Overblown safety claims could also justify industry-requested federal preemption blocking states and cities from managing a technology that remains very much a work in progress.

No one should claim that self-driving cars cannot, at some point in the future, potentially reduce crashes across American roadways. But it would be equally wrong to suggest that they offer the only pathway to do so.

Reposted by Steve Peers, Philip N. Cohen, Jane Suiter , and 4 more Steve Peers, Philip N. Cohen, Jane Suiter, Alan Richardson, Brian Weatherson, Greg Linden, Michael Evans

Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 5d

I wrote section 230 to protect user speech, not a company's own speech. I've long said AI chatbot outputs are not protected by 230 and that it is not a close call. Given that the Trump administration is going to the mat to protect pedophiles, states should step in to hold Musk and X accountable.

Hairybusiness @hairybusiness.bsky.social · 5d

I am not a Section 230 expert but being that Twitter is creating and publishing these photos I wonder if they actually have any civil legal protection? @kenwhite.bsky.social ? @akivamcohen.bsky.social ?

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 6d

What X is allowing Grok to do is unlawful or regulatory-illegal in multiple jurisdictions, creates clear DSA violations, and continues despite regulator scrutiny. The images do not need to be pornographic, non-consensual sexualised or intimate depictions are enough.

Reposted by Richard Pettigrew, Brian Weatherson

Barry Lam @hiphination.bsky.social · 5d

With the precision of a philosopher and the geekiness of a game-lover, Thi Nguyen shows how gaming has quietly colonized the rest of our lives. Required reading for understanding how values are being redefined through metrics, rankings, and scoring. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735252...

The Score by C. Thi Nguyen: 9780593655658 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

A philosophy of games to help us win back control over what we value The philosopher C. Thi Nguyen—one of the leading experts on the philosophy of games and the philosophy of data—takes us...

Add to Home Screen

Light up
your news

Add to Home Screen

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news