Michael Garnett
@michaelgarnett.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at King’s College London, interested in personal, social and political freedom.
Leytonstone, London, 14th September 2025
September 14, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Leytonstone, London, 14th September 2025
Reposted by Michael Garnett
Reposted by Michael Garnett
The cross cultural conversations happening on RedNote are something to see. For example:
January 15, 2025 at 6:37 AM
The cross cultural conversations happening on RedNote are something to see. For example:
So the Pettitian republican can maintain the view’s distinctness by insisting on (and trying to defend) these ‘implausible’ parts, which is generally what I think they do
December 17, 2024 at 1:33 PM
So the Pettitian republican can maintain the view’s distinctness by insisting on (and trying to defend) these ‘implausible’ parts, which is generally what I think they do
I thought the remaining parts were more narrowly to do with the ‘mere capacity’ condition (i.e. non-interfering masters, rather than interfering non-masters). But the overall structure of C/K’s argument is definitely that RL collapses into NL *once stripped of the implausible(-to-them) bits*
December 17, 2024 at 1:31 PM
I thought the remaining parts were more narrowly to do with the ‘mere capacity’ condition (i.e. non-interfering masters, rather than interfering non-masters). But the overall structure of C/K’s argument is definitely that RL collapses into NL *once stripped of the implausible(-to-them) bits*
That’s not my recollection: I thought they dismissed arbitrariness as implausible/moralised (for them, the justly imprisoned criminal is obviously unfree), then argued that any remaining seemingly-plausible parts of the republican account can be handled by probabilities of interference.
December 17, 2024 at 1:04 PM
That’s not my recollection: I thought they dismissed arbitrariness as implausible/moralised (for them, the justly imprisoned criminal is obviously unfree), then argued that any remaining seemingly-plausible parts of the republican account can be handled by probabilities of interference.
Pettit has an arbitrariness condition, which C/K reject; and he denies that probabilities matter, whereas C/K think they do. One might side with C/K on both issues, but the problem isn’t a lack of distinctness!
December 17, 2024 at 12:18 PM
Pettit has an arbitrariness condition, which C/K reject; and he denies that probabilities matter, whereas C/K think they do. One might side with C/K on both issues, but the problem isn’t a lack of distinctness!
Reposted by Michael Garnett
"I used GenAI to research this topic"
The research:
The research:
December 15, 2024 at 10:48 AM
"I used GenAI to research this topic"
The research:
The research:
Reposted by Michael Garnett
I can only conclude that this will wash an infinite amount of dishes
"Washes up to 2x more than expected"—philosophers, I need your counsel on this serious matter!
Is this a self-defeating promise? By promising to exceed expectations, does this detergent raise those expectations to a level it cannot beat due to its very promise of beating them? 🤔
#PhilSky
Is this a self-defeating promise? By promising to exceed expectations, does this detergent raise those expectations to a level it cannot beat due to its very promise of beating them? 🤔
#PhilSky
December 9, 2024 at 1:36 PM
I can only conclude that this will wash an infinite amount of dishes
Reposted by Michael Garnett
“We can tell whether we are happy by the sound of the wind. It warns the unhappy man of the fragility of his house, hounding him from shallow sleep and violent dreams. To the happy man it is the song of his protectedness: its furious howling concedes that it has power over him no longer.” Adorno
December 8, 2024 at 7:06 AM
“We can tell whether we are happy by the sound of the wind. It warns the unhappy man of the fragility of his house, hounding him from shallow sleep and violent dreams. To the happy man it is the song of his protectedness: its furious howling concedes that it has power over him no longer.” Adorno
“Women are educated—who knows how?—as it were by breathing in ideas.” (Hegel, Philosophy of Right, s. 166)
The sheer scale of the self-own in that aside has killed me. I am dead.
The sheer scale of the self-own in that aside has killed me. I am dead.
December 3, 2024 at 2:40 PM
“Women are educated—who knows how?—as it were by breathing in ideas.” (Hegel, Philosophy of Right, s. 166)
The sheer scale of the self-own in that aside has killed me. I am dead.
The sheer scale of the self-own in that aside has killed me. I am dead.
“The difference between men and women is like that between animals and plants.”
— Hegel, who for some reason I am still reading
— Hegel, who for some reason I am still reading
December 3, 2024 at 2:30 PM
“The difference between men and women is like that between animals and plants.”
— Hegel, who for some reason I am still reading
— Hegel, who for some reason I am still reading
Today I get to teach one of my favourite philosophical arguments: G.A. Cohen on ‘freedom tickets’
December 3, 2024 at 8:11 AM
Today I get to teach one of my favourite philosophical arguments: G.A. Cohen on ‘freedom tickets’
To be clear: this isn’t a side-effect of current government policy, but one of its central aims.
Eighty-three universities are now making redundancies. That number will rise to 90 and then 100+ during 2025. qmucu.org/qmul-transfo...
UK HE shrinking
This is a live page of all the redundancies, restructures, reorganisations, and closures taking place across the sector at the moment. Solidarity to all. This sector is vital to the country’s…
qmucu.org
November 30, 2024 at 12:36 PM
To be clear: this isn’t a side-effect of current government policy, but one of its central aims.
Reposted by Michael Garnett
Eighty-three universities are now making redundancies. That number will rise to 90 and then 100+ during 2025. qmucu.org/qmul-transfo...
UK HE shrinking
This is a live page of all the redundancies, restructures, reorganisations, and closures taking place across the sector at the moment. Solidarity to all. This sector is vital to the country’s…
qmucu.org
November 27, 2024 at 8:40 AM
Eighty-three universities are now making redundancies. That number will rise to 90 and then 100+ during 2025. qmucu.org/qmul-transfo...
Update: Moana 2 is a solid B- Disney movie, lots of thrills, spills, songs and a few decent visual gags. But it’s entirely lacking in the wit and emotional depth that made the first one so wonderful. Overall, disappointing.
November 30, 2024 at 10:34 AM
Update: Moana 2 is a solid B- Disney movie, lots of thrills, spills, songs and a few decent visual gags. But it’s entirely lacking in the wit and emotional depth that made the first one so wonderful. Overall, disappointing.
Reposted by Michael Garnett
Educators are rightly worried about AI threatening student writing. But there’s also dangers to reading with a new generation of AI summary tools, with students relying on abridgements rather than working through the details of difficult texts.
November 29, 2024 at 3:42 PM
Educators are rightly worried about AI threatening student writing. But there’s also dangers to reading with a new generation of AI summary tools, with students relying on abridgements rather than working through the details of difficult texts.
Gonna get just a medium popcorn and see how far it goes
(This dad joke is for my fellow Moana fans: you’re welcome)
(This dad joke is for my fellow Moana fans: you’re welcome)
November 29, 2024 at 2:26 PM
Gonna get just a medium popcorn and see how far it goes
(This dad joke is for my fellow Moana fans: you’re welcome)
(This dad joke is for my fellow Moana fans: you’re welcome)
Family ticket booked for Moana 2 tonight and I can report that the excitement levels here are extremely high. My kids also seem to be looking forward to it.
November 29, 2024 at 2:21 PM
Family ticket booked for Moana 2 tonight and I can report that the excitement levels here are extremely high. My kids also seem to be looking forward to it.
“I tweeted [x] on Bluesky”
November 28, 2024 at 7:09 AM
“I tweeted [x] on Bluesky”
Reposted by Michael Garnett
This is important. It's no big deal to me that Bluesky totally ripped off everything Twitter is because that place now sucks so bad. But we don't need a new word for a micro-post of a nature we all understand to be a thing. Like podcast started from iPod, tweet is now just a generic. This is a tweet
When I say tweet here I mean it like I would say Kleenex for any tissue or chapstick for any lip balm
November 27, 2024 at 6:38 PM
This is important. It's no big deal to me that Bluesky totally ripped off everything Twitter is because that place now sucks so bad. But we don't need a new word for a micro-post of a nature we all understand to be a thing. Like podcast started from iPod, tweet is now just a generic. This is a tweet
Rousseau by a mile.
Round 2! Which philosopher is the worst human being?
Only philosophers that aren’t right wing polemicists allowed.
Only philosophers that aren’t right wing polemicists allowed.
November 24, 2024 at 8:19 AM
Rousseau by a mile.
Reposted by Michael Garnett
my two cents on the echo chamber discourse (with a very outdated title)
1) echo chambers are only a risk for dominant groups, when they don't hear marginalised voices
2) most people instead need *epistemic respite*: space away from alternative viewpoints to build communities
1) echo chambers are only a risk for dominant groups, when they don't hear marginalised voices
2) most people instead need *epistemic respite*: space away from alternative viewpoints to build communities
Why Twitter is (Epistemically) Better Than Facebook
Online Environments Social media has the potential to expand our epistemic horizons, connecting us with a wider range of people and more information and analysis than ever before. But it comes with…
blogs.cardiff.ac.uk
November 16, 2024 at 8:01 PM
my two cents on the echo chamber discourse (with a very outdated title)
1) echo chambers are only a risk for dominant groups, when they don't hear marginalised voices
2) most people instead need *epistemic respite*: space away from alternative viewpoints to build communities
1) echo chambers are only a risk for dominant groups, when they don't hear marginalised voices
2) most people instead need *epistemic respite*: space away from alternative viewpoints to build communities
For an intellectually serious analysis of what’s going on with the far-right, I’m not going to look to the far-right! I’m going to look for scholars I can trust.
November 22, 2024 at 4:10 PM
For an intellectually serious analysis of what’s going on with the far-right, I’m not going to look to the far-right! I’m going to look for scholars I can trust.