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Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (BAdW) @badw.de · Sep 10

Can AI systems have free will? - das fragt unser Mitglied
@clist.bsky.social im folgenden #OpenAccess - Artikel:

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#KI #AI #KuenstlicheIntelligenz #ArtificialIntelligence #FreierWille #FreeWill #Philosophy #Philosophie

Can AI systems have free will? - Synthese

While there has been much discussion of whether AI systems could function as moral agents or acquire sentience, there has been very little discussion of whether AI systems could have free will. I sket...

link.springer.com

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Christian List @clist.bsky.social · Sep 8

Here is a broader discussion of the parallels between corporate agency and AI. Both involve non-human goal-directed agents that affect the social world, often in high-stakes settings, and so they raise similar moral and regulatory challenges, which we must address for the sake of protecting humans.

Group Agency and Artificial Intelligence - Philosophy & Technology

The aim of this exploratory paper is to review an under-appreciated parallel between group agency and artificial intelligence. As both phenomena involve non-human goal-directed agents that can make a ...

link.springer.com

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Christian List @clist.bsky.social · Sep 5

The criteria for free will in AI systems are similar to those for free will in corporate agents. The key question is whether the kinds of non-biological entities that increasingly play decision-making roles in society (whether corporate or AI) should be viewed as intentional agents with free will.

Do group agents have free will?

It is common to ascribe agency to some organized collectives, such as corporations, courts, and states, and to treat them as loci of responsibility, over and above their individual members. But sin...

www.tandfonline.com

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Christian List @clist.bsky.social · Sep 4

Here is a repost of a talk on the picture of free will that lies in the background. Free will, I argue, requires intentional agency, alternative possibilities, and causal control. Free will is a multiply realizable capacity, which can occur not only in biological agents but also in artificial ones.

Does free will exist? | Christian List | TEDxTUM

YouTube video by TEDx Talks

www.youtube.com

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Christian List @clist.bsky.social · Sep 2

To determine whether an AI system has free will, we shouldn't look for any mysterious property, ask if the system is unpredictable, or expect its algorithms to be indeterministic. We should ask: are there explanatory reasons to view the system as a choice-making agent with alternative possibilities?

Can AI systems have free will? - Synthese

While there has been much discussion of whether AI systems could function as moral agents or acquire sentience, there has been very little discussion of whether AI systems could have free will. I sket...

link.springer.com

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Christian List @clist.bsky.social · Aug 24

Here is now the published version: doi.org/10.1007/s112...

Can AI systems have free will? - Synthese

While there has been much discussion of whether AI systems could function as moral agents or acquire sentience, there has been very little discussion of whether AI systems could have free will. I sket...

doi.org

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Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social · Aug 22

Newly published: "Can AI systems have free will?", by Christian List, Synthese, 2025, link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Can AI systems have free will? - Synthese

While there has been much discussion of whether AI systems could function as moral agents or acquire sentience, there has been very little discussion of whether AI systems could have free will. I sket...

link.springer.com

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Christian List @clist.bsky.social · Aug 8

Now forthcoming in Synthese: "Can AI systems have free will?", preprint available at: philsci-archive.pitt.edu/26166/3/Free...

Can AI systems have free will? - PhilSci-Archive

philsci-archive.pitt.edu

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Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social · Aug 4

From why-why-why to global justice: LMU philosopher Laura Valentini asks fundamental questions about human coexistence. www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...

From why-why-why to global justice

Political philosopher Laura Valentini asks fundamental questions about human coexistence. Now she is receiving the Princess Therese of Bavaria Prize.

www.lmu.de

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Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social · Aug 4

Feeling what others feel: In a world battered by crises, what does empathy really mean? An interview with philosopher Monika Betzler on empathy and morality.
www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...

Feeling what others feel

In a world battered by crises, what does empathy really mean? An interview with philosopher Monika Betzler on empathy and morality.

www.lmu.de

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Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social · Aug 4

LMU philosophers Prof. Monika Betzler and Prof. Laura Valentini have each been awarded a Princess Therese of Bavaria Prize 2025. www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...

Winners of Princess Therese of Bavaria Prize 2025

This year, the Princess Therese of Bavaria Foundation has recognized outstanding female researchers from the spheres of culture and the humanities at LMU.

www.lmu.de

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Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social · Aug 1

At this year's MCMP Summer School, we had wonderful lectures by Professors Francesca Boccuni (San Raffaele), Hilary Greaves (Oxford), and Alyssa Ney (LMU). Many thanks to our speakers and especially to the fabulous participants from all over the world! www.mathsummer.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de

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Christian List @clist.bsky.social · Jun 7

Any theory of consciousness can satisfy at most three of the following but not all four: (1) first-person realism ("there are 1st-person facts"), (2) non-solipsism ("there are other conscious minds"), (3) non-fragmentation ("the world is coherent") and (4) one world ("there is one world, not many").

A quadrilemma for theories of consciousness

Abstract. In this paper, I argue that no theory of consciousness can simultaneously respect four initially plausible metaphysical claims—namely ‘first-pers

academic.oup.com

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Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social · Jan 23

Job-opening at LMU Munich: Assistant Professor in Metaphysics (fixed-term). Please help us spread the word. Further details at: job-portal.lmu.de/jobposting/b...

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Center for Advanced Studies @caslmu.bsky.social · May 8

Is Life Fine Tuned to Physics or Is Physics Fine Tuned to Life? Don't miss the online panel discussion with Philip Goff @philipgoff.bsky.social @durham-university.bsky.social and Helen Meskhidze @bhi-harvard.bsky.social in our lecture series ‘The Fine-Tuned Universe’ on Tuesday, 13 May at 7pm (CET).

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Christian List @clist.bsky.social · Jul 17

This is a significant development.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Jul 17

Voting age to be lowered to 16 in England and Northern Ireland by next general election

16- and 17-year-olds will be given right, already introduced in Scotland and Wales, as part of changes including easier voter registration The voting age will be lowered to 16 in England and Northern Ireland by the next general election in a major change of the democratic system. The government said it was a reform to bring in more fairness for 16- and 17-year-olds, many of whom already work and are able to serve in the military. It brings the whole of the UK voting age to 16, as Scotland and Wales have already made the change. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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The Guardian @theguardian.com · Jul 17

Voting age to be lowered to 16 in England and Northern Ireland by next general election

16- and 17-year-olds will be given right, already introduced in Scotland and Wales, as part of changes including easier voter registration The voting age will be lowered to 16 in England and Northern Ireland by the next general election in a major change of the democratic system. The government said it was a reform to bring in more fairness for 16- and 17-year-olds, many of whom already work and are able to serve in the military. It brings the whole of the UK voting age to 16, as Scotland and Wales have already made the change. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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British Journal for the Philosophy of Science @thebjps.bsky.social · Jul 17

Just accepted:

‘The Impossibility of Non-manipulable Probability Aggregation’
– Franz Dietrich & Christian List

Abstract in alt text or read the full paper here:
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

#philsci #philsky

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The Dissenter @thedissenteryt.bsky.social · Jul 12

In episode 419, I talk with Dr. Christian List about his book, Why Free Will Is Real. #Philosophy

youtu.be/XHmdhDjLGwA

#419 Christian List: Why Free Will Is Real

YouTube video by The Dissenter

youtu.be

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Stephan Hartmann @stephanhartmann.bsky.social · Jul 8

Thrilled to announce that Sebastian Bender is joining LMU Munich as Professor of Early Modern Philosophy. His expertise in 17th-18th c. metaphysics & epistemology (Leibniz, Spinoza, Kant) will boost our History of Philosophy section. Welcome, Sebastian! sebastianbender.net

Sebastian Bender

I am an Assistant Professor (a tenure track "Juniorprofessor") at the Philosophy Department of University of Göttingen. Before coming to Göttingen, I held positions at Humboldt University in Berlin (w...

sebastianbender.net

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Paulina Sliwa @pasliwa.bsky.social · Jul 1

The University of Vienna is hiring a full Professor in Philosophy of Mind! Spread the word! philjobs.org/job/show/29293

Full Professor of Philosophy of Mind, University of Vienna - PhilJobs:JFP Full Professor of Philosophy of Mind, University of Vienna

An international database of jobs for philosophers

philjobs.org

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Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · Jun 27

Ocean health is moving into a danger zone, with rampant human-caused carbon dioxide emissions having already pushed ocean acidification levels beyond safe limits in large swaths of the marine environment. 🌊
news.mongabay.com/2025/06/as-o...

As ocean acidification ramps up, experts call for speedy ocean protection

Ocean health is moving into a danger zone, with rampant human-caused carbon dioxide emissions having already pushed ocean acidification levels beyond safe limits in large swaths of the marine environm...

news.mongabay.com

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Christian List @clist.bsky.social · Jun 23

On the 9th anniversary of the 2016 Brexit referendum, it's worth reposting a 2019 blog post with some social-choice-theoretically inspired comments on the referendum. blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2019/...

Is Brexit the will of the people? The answer is not quite that simple

Christian List looks at majoritarianism, Condorcet’s paradox and the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

www.lse.ac.uk

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Michael Bench-Cauldron @mikebenchcapon.bsky.social · Jun 17

I'm sympathetic to first-personal facts so I was interested to read this paper by Christian List about them academic.oup.com/pq/article/7...; at first I was leaning towards rejecting "one world", as does he, but now I've realized that gets you things interacting with their non-worldmates so idk

A quadrilemma for theories of consciousness

Abstract. In this paper, I argue that no theory of consciousness can simultaneously respect four initially plausible metaphysical claims—namely ‘first-pers

academic.oup.com

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Peter Adamson @histphilosophy.bsky.social · Jun 16

Congratulations to my brilliant colleague Alyssa Ney (now here on Bluesky @alyssaney.bsky.social) for winning the Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy of Science!

www.amphilsoc.org/news/aps-awa...

APS Awards 2025 Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy of Science, largest book prize in Philosophy, to Dr. Alyssa Ney | American Philosophical Society

The American Philosophical Society has awarded the 2025 Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy to Dr. Alyssa Ney for her book The World in the Wave Function: A Metaphysics for Quantum Physics (Oxford Univ...

www.amphilsoc.org

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Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social · Jun 15

Newly published: "Do our observations make reality happen?", by Alyssa Ney, Nature, 2025, www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Do our observations make reality happen?

Finally answering the most-vexed question in quantum theory might mean redefining what is real.

www.nature.com

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Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social · Jun 13

Recently published: "A quadrilemma for theories of consciousness", by Christian List, Philosophical Quarterly, 2025, academic.oup.com/pq/article/7...

A quadrilemma for theories of consciousness

Abstract. In this paper, I argue that no theory of consciousness can simultaneously respect four initially plausible metaphysical claims—namely ‘first-pers

academic.oup.com

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Maija Tervola @maijatervola.bsky.social · Jun 7

Christian List explains it nicely. There is no contradiction between the idea of free will and the fact that our choices are part of the causal chains of natural laws. What we call conscious choice is indeed our choice, but it doesn't mean it's detached from the microphysical processes of our brain.

Does free will exist? | Christian List | TEDxTUM

YouTube video by TEDx Talks

www.youtube.com

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Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (BAdW) @badw.de · Jun 6

Gibt es einen freien Willen?

Dieser Frage widmet sich BAdW-Mitglied @clist.bsky.social in seiner Forschung - und auch hier im TED talk!

Damit ein wunderschönes langes Wochenende allen! Mit vielen freien Willensentscheidungen!
☕️🍰🛌🚴‍♀️🕺🎳🆓

Does free will exist? | Christian List | TEDxTUM

YouTube video by TEDx Talks

m.youtube.com

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Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (BAdW) @badw.de · Jun 5

👀

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