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elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi
@elisafreschi.bsky.social
3.2K followers 880 following 2.4K posts

Sanskrit (and) philosophy. Permanently in beta phase. Blogging at http://elisafreschi.com and http://indianphilosophyblog.org. Articles at PhilPapers Here to learn & share

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Philosophy 47%
History 21%
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elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 8h
For me, numbers tell me nothing (I have no way to know whether it's true and it costs you nothing to say it, since I do not have access to the letters you wrote for each other candidate in the last 20ys!).
Thoughts?
2/2

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 8h
From a guidebook about #RecommendationLetters for law school: " "I recommend Jane with enthusiasm" tells us nothing. But, "in my twenty years here, I would place Jane in the top 3%" shines like a neon sign.”"

This is so much AGAINST my own experience with letters!
1/

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Elisa Freschi

oldjerryfodor.bsky.social
Brett Karlan @oldjerryfodor.bsky.social · 10h
"Unlike continental nonsense, analytic philosophy is clear and intelligible"
Cian Dorr giving us some grues and bleens in "To be F is to be G" (2016)

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 11h
the changes in the light are really fascinating.

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 12h
This is the kind of review that would cost me an enormous amount of time just correcting stupid mistakes, & I would end up feeling angry at myself for accepting it. I would still want to help a jr colleague or a recent post Doc, but it seems to me that a sr colleague should have higher standards
2/2

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 12h
My latest rejection of a peer review:
I had a look at the article and I find a lot to disagree with even just in the bibliography (the primary texts are not even in alphabetical order; the list of secondary texts focuses mainly on the author himself, apart from quoting the same text by X twice).
1/

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 1d
It's impressive to watch through your photos how Toronto decided to become uglier while not necessarily gaining new affordable flats.

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 1d
Conference on Indology in Canada, May 2026:

sites.google.com/ualberta.ca/...
Conference: Indology in Canada
Conference May 4–5, 2026 Join leading and emerging scholars from across Canada for a dynamic exploration of premodern India’s historical, literary, scientific, and philosophical traditions. This two-d...
sites.google.com

Reposted by Peter Adamson, Martin Lenz

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 1d
A dictionary of Sanskrit philosophical terms (Sanskrit-French-English)
Jean-Marie Verpoorten, Répertoire des termes sanskrits des Ecoles philosophiques indiennes, Strasbourg, 2025, 751 p.

histoire.unistra.fr/websites/his...

#SanskritPhilosophy #philsky #philosophy
histoire.unistra.fr

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 1d
I just read that Boris Oguibénine passed away in Strasbourg on November 12th—just days after celebrating his 85th birthday on November 6th.
He wrote on Vedic, Indo-European, Buddhist Sanskrit.

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 1d
Hence, if these people behave in a certain manner and they see it as dharma and they are competent in dharma matters because of being well versed in the Veda, we can infer that their behaviour is based on the Veda. If not on the extant one, on some lost branches of it.
3/

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 1d
Hence, if they do something in a given occasion which is not normed in the Veda, their action must be based on some Vedic text *we* have no access to. A Vedic text is inferred based on their behaviour.
2/

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 1d
#Kumārila on sadācāra 'behaviour of good people' as a deontic source: The idea is that these people are well versed in the Veda and that the Veda is the only source for dharma.
1/

Reposted by Mark Rice, Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Aviel Roshwald , and 1 more

sonjadrimmer.bsky.social
Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 1d
I will add the following: our students lack the research skills required to audit an LLM essay for errors. They don’t arrive on campus with these skills; we teach it to them over four long years. So throwing freshmen in the deep end and saying “swim your way to a shore of rectitude” is folly.

Reposted by Elisa Freschi

epiphenomenal.bsky.social
Kristina Šekrst @epiphenomenal.bsky.social · 2d
November, oil on canvas, 2025

#academia #academicsky #science #cogsci #philosophy #philsky #philosophysky #science

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 2d
Reading #TheDarkForest and #TheDeathsEnd by Liu Cixin seems a long illustration of "timeo Danaos et dona ferentes" from Vergil's Aeneid.
#books

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 3d
For Kumārila, we need both positive (reward if performed) and negative motivation (sanction if not performed) in the case of fixed/conditional duties (e.g., "Do X every single day, bc you're Y"). For elective duties, positive motivation is enough (perhaps because the reward is temporally close).

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 3d
In Kumārila's ṬṬ, the metaphysical causality seems to be different. Elective rituals produce their result, like baking with flour, sugar and butter produces a cake. Fixed rituals, otoh, produce an apūrva, which —united to a varying number of other apūrvas— will lead to the result.

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 3d
3)Any alternative explanation would need to be much more complicated (since it would need to explain why sth looks like it's the case although it isn't)
4)Therefore any alternative explanation would need to be justified, bc we (Mīmāṃsakas) don't accept complicated solutions unless they're needed
2/

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 3d
According to #Kumārila:
1) We have cognitions of universals
2) This can be clearly explained through the fact that there are universals "out there" (=mind independently)
1/

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 3d
Done. Really annoying that #Gmail does not allow one to keep basic settings unless one also accepts AI. Basically bullying everyone into accepting AI.

Reposted by Aaron Gerow, Elisa Freschi

stardustbluepr.com
Stardust 🌏🎬 @stardustbluepr.com · 3d
Here’s how to opt out.
“Google seems to be opting you in to these features without your permission. Second, the company doesn't seem to have notified its users about this. As a Gmail user, I don't recall seeing any notifications about this change.”
Google's AI is now snooping on your emails - here's how to opt out
A new change quietly rolling out allows Google to access your private messages and attachments to train its AI models - likely without your knowledge. Opting out takes just moments.
www.zdnet.com

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 4d
I usually fill my empty hours w either reading Sanskrit or doing something teaching-related (prepping, reading assignments…). Today I spent the whole afternoon doing no research at all but only answering emails/organising workshops and the like. But, unsurprisingly, I am far from done:-( #academia

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 4d
At UofT_Religion, you will be expected to have a developed research project. At UofT_Philosophy, this is not expected, because students will have to take one-two years coursework before settling for a specific topic.
16/

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 4d
The problem is: Students don't know what they don't know! And AI pollutes the wells, so that they would go to an AI-source to check!

2/2

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 4d
"Recently, the American Historical Association […] asserts that “banning generative AI is not a long-term solution; cultivating AI literacy is.” One of their suggestions is to assign students an AI-generated essay & have them assess what it got right, got wrong or if it even understood the text"
1/
keithwilson.eu Keith Wischmann Wilson @keithwilson.eu · 4d
“We live in an era where personal expression is saturated by digital filters, hivemind thinking is promoted through endless algorithms and academic freedom itself is under assault by the weakest minds among us. #AI has only made this worse. It is a crisis.” #HigherEd www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking.
"Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffpost.com

Reposted by Elisa Freschi

keithwilson.eu
Keith Wischmann Wilson @keithwilson.eu · 4d
“We live in an era where personal expression is saturated by digital filters, hivemind thinking is promoted through endless algorithms and academic freedom itself is under assault by the weakest minds among us. #AI has only made this worse. It is a crisis.” #HigherEd www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking.
"Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffpost.com

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 5d
Sounds interesting! What are the merits of distraction you discussed about?

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 5d
Institute of Virology

elisafreschi.bsky.social
elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 5d
Let's add ChatGPT being allowed to this mess, what could possibly go wrong?