Tom O'Shea
@tomoshea.org
Reposted by Tom O'Shea
CFP: 5th Venice Multidisciplinary World Conference on Republics and Republicanism. June 26-28, 2026. Venice International University.
The conference is open to all work on republicanism, but with special focus on 'Power, Freedom and Oligarchy'.
Deadline: December 30
www.univiu.org/campus-servi...
The conference is open to all work on republicanism, but with special focus on 'Power, Freedom and Oligarchy'.
Deadline: December 30
www.univiu.org/campus-servi...
November 24, 2025 at 5:05 PM
CFP: 5th Venice Multidisciplinary World Conference on Republics and Republicanism. June 26-28, 2026. Venice International University.
The conference is open to all work on republicanism, but with special focus on 'Power, Freedom and Oligarchy'.
Deadline: December 30
www.univiu.org/campus-servi...
The conference is open to all work on republicanism, but with special focus on 'Power, Freedom and Oligarchy'.
Deadline: December 30
www.univiu.org/campus-servi...
Reposted by Tom O'Shea
Lively picket with great music outside Old College
November 19, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Lively picket with great music outside Old College
Reposted by Tom O'Shea
It’s publication day! Spread the word. The perfect Christmas gift for the pessimist in your life.
November 18, 2025 at 9:24 AM
It’s publication day! Spread the word. The perfect Christmas gift for the pessimist in your life.
Two requests to review within 17 minutes. This is cruel and unusual punishment.
November 14, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Two requests to review within 17 minutes. This is cruel and unusual punishment.
Delighted that Mamdani has won and moreover opened his victory speech by quoting Eugene Debs. aeon.co/essays/for-s...
For socialism and freedom: the life of Eugene Debs | Aeon Essays
How Eugene V Debs turned American republicanism against the chiefs of capitalism – and became a true crusader for freedom
aeon.co
November 5, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Delighted that Mamdani has won and moreover opened his victory speech by quoting Eugene Debs. aeon.co/essays/for-s...
If someone tries to make me wear a lanyard, I am always at risk of going full freeman-on-the-land.
November 4, 2025 at 2:54 PM
If someone tries to make me wear a lanyard, I am always at risk of going full freeman-on-the-land.
The biggest clue for students using AI isn’t words like "delve" but variants on the phrase “not only X but also Y”. Marking those essays is not only infuriating but also exhausting.
November 4, 2025 at 2:36 PM
The biggest clue for students using AI isn’t words like "delve" but variants on the phrase “not only X but also Y”. Marking those essays is not only infuriating but also exhausting.
One of the reasons I find the tone of ChatGPT so repellent is that it combines sycophancy with absolute confidence in the face of error — which is a mixture that will be familiar to anyone who has taught in a self-consciously ‘elite’ university.
October 31, 2025 at 11:18 AM
One of the reasons I find the tone of ChatGPT so repellent is that it combines sycophancy with absolute confidence in the face of error — which is a mixture that will be familiar to anyone who has taught in a self-consciously ‘elite’ university.
No person with the name of a food should be more famous than that food.
October 30, 2025 at 11:33 AM
No person with the name of a food should be more famous than that food.
I’ve been marking essays today, and in unrelated news will be launching a Butlerian jihad to wipe thinking machines from every corner of the galaxy.
October 29, 2025 at 10:54 AM
I’ve been marking essays today, and in unrelated news will be launching a Butlerian jihad to wipe thinking machines from every corner of the galaxy.
New cat names just dropped: Perkin Warbeck; Milky Toner; Tacolobo.
October 29, 2025 at 8:02 AM
New cat names just dropped: Perkin Warbeck; Milky Toner; Tacolobo.
Not sure I would have gone with this particular name in the current climate...
October 25, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Not sure I would have gone with this particular name in the current climate...
Reposted by Tom O'Shea
PhD scholarship in Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh registryservices.ed.ac.uk/scholarships...
James Forrester PhD Scholarship in Moral Philosophy | Scholarships and Student Funding | Student Administration
This scholarship has been created through the generous bequest of James Forrester to the Philosophy Department of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences. The scholarship aims to nu...
registryservices.ed.ac.uk
October 23, 2025 at 4:57 PM
PhD scholarship in Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh registryservices.ed.ac.uk/scholarships...
Whenever I speak to someone about Moishe Postone, there always comes a point where we have to admit that we often have absolutely no idea what he is talking about.
October 22, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Whenever I speak to someone about Moishe Postone, there always comes a point where we have to admit that we often have absolutely no idea what he is talking about.
On the train to Manchester to give a talk about structural domination in the economy. I'll be recompensed in curry afterwards.
October 22, 2025 at 10:00 AM
On the train to Manchester to give a talk about structural domination in the economy. I'll be recompensed in curry afterwards.
Reposted by Tom O'Shea
We're going to have a big beautiful dark age, perhaps darker than ever before. And I think you'll be very happy
August 28, 2025 at 3:35 PM
We're going to have a big beautiful dark age, perhaps darker than ever before. And I think you'll be very happy
Reposted by Tom O'Shea
me: ugh god you know how you make plans for friday night but then friday night gets there and you don't want to do it and it feels sooooooo good to cancel?
my liege lord Daimyō Nobunaga (unsheathing katana): even a dog understands loyalty. She whose word is not bond does not deserve to live
my liege lord Daimyō Nobunaga (unsheathing katana): even a dog understands loyalty. She whose word is not bond does not deserve to live
October 19, 2025 at 7:02 PM
me: ugh god you know how you make plans for friday night but then friday night gets there and you don't want to do it and it feels sooooooo good to cancel?
my liege lord Daimyō Nobunaga (unsheathing katana): even a dog understands loyalty. She whose word is not bond does not deserve to live
my liege lord Daimyō Nobunaga (unsheathing katana): even a dog understands loyalty. She whose word is not bond does not deserve to live
After slicing a Quorn picnic egg in half to feed to a toddler, I have discovered this is the superior dining experience.
October 19, 2025 at 11:36 AM
After slicing a Quorn picnic egg in half to feed to a toddler, I have discovered this is the superior dining experience.
Couldn't have gone to a worthier winner.
I'm somewhat bowled over by this - my book, Deprivation of Liberty in the Shadows of the Institution, won the British Academy Peter Townsend Prize for outstanding work with social policy relevance www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/prizes-medal...
The British Academy Peter Townsend Prize
The Peter Townsend Prize, worth £1,000, is awarded biennially for outstanding work with policy relevance on a topic to which Townsend made a major contribution.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
October 17, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Couldn't have gone to a worthier winner.
Going for the world record today for the number of failed attempts to spell ‘Montesquieu’.
October 17, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Going for the world record today for the number of failed attempts to spell ‘Montesquieu’.
Reposted by Tom O'Shea
Are there any messages anyone needs passed on to The eternal worm before I go to sleep?
October 14, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Are there any messages anyone needs passed on to The eternal worm before I go to sleep?
Reposted by Tom O'Shea
Avoiding gendering our baby by referring to them as "comrade".
October 14, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Avoiding gendering our baby by referring to them as "comrade".
Personally, I don’t think those with the broadest shoulders should pay the most tax. That ought to be the wealthy.
October 16, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Personally, I don’t think those with the broadest shoulders should pay the most tax. That ought to be the wealthy.
Somewhat taken by Mark Goldie’s claim that Hobbes is “the Clapham Junction of the history of political thought”.
October 16, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Somewhat taken by Mark Goldie’s claim that Hobbes is “the Clapham Junction of the history of political thought”.
The university:
We care about the quality, not the quantity, of your publications
Also the university:
Whether you lose your job depends on how much you published
We care about the quality, not the quantity, of your publications
Also the university:
Whether you lose your job depends on how much you published
October 15, 2025 at 4:15 PM
The university:
We care about the quality, not the quantity, of your publications
Also the university:
Whether you lose your job depends on how much you published
We care about the quality, not the quantity, of your publications
Also the university:
Whether you lose your job depends on how much you published