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Michael Fuerstein

@michaelfuerstein.bsky.social

880 followers 780 following 36 posts

Social and political philosopher at Saint Olaf College. Lapsed jazz musician. Author of *Experiments in Living Together: How Democracy Drives Social Progress*, OUP 2024 (https://shorturl.at/knxWf)

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Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Nov 19

It took 1000 years, but my first book finally arrived in the world. Out now with OUP, just in time for the apocalyptic irrationality of American democracy to roar: *Experiments in Living Together: How Democracy Drives Social Progress* (shorturl.at/knxWf)

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Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · 7d

Saint Olaf College is making a tenure track hire in feminist philosophy. We have great students, a lively, collegial department, and are near the vibrant twin cities metro area. Great job! Drop me a line with any questions. philjobs.org/job/show/29582

Assistant Professor, St. Olaf College - PhilJobs:JFP Assistant Professor, St. Olaf College

An international database of jobs for philosophers

philjobs.org

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Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · 14d

Democracy does occasionally work! My take on how and why, via the fascinating case of same sex marriage: aeon.co/essays/same-...

Same-sex marriage: propelled by democracy despite public ignorance | Aeon Essays

Same-sex marriage is an astonishing case of progress propelled by democracy, in the face of public spite and misinformation

aeon.co

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Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Apr 26

Really nice conversation with Jeffrey Church about democracy and social progress on The Political Theory Review podcast. Thanks to Jeffrey for making it happen! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Michael Fuerstein - Experiments in Living Together

Podcast Episode · The Political Theory Review · 04/25/2025 · 1h 1m

podcasts.apple.com

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Reposted by Michael Fuerstein

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · Jan 9

Some observations about France from Yascha Mounk

13 Observations about France

Reflections on an extended visit to Paris.

yaschamounk.substack.com

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Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Jan 7

4/ By contrast, the norm of "remove unreliable and/or harmful speech" is constantly vulnerable to the charge that it is being unfairly enforced, because the concepts of "unreliable/harmful" are inherently tied to the very ideological claims being contested in the speech forum itself.

/end

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Jan 7

3/ The most plausible value of a "no-gatekeepers" norm is not that a free marketplace of ideas is rational but, rather, that violations of the norm are relatively easy to define and identify in an objective way. "Do not interfere with speech at all" has a pretty clear, hard-to-contest meaning.

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Jan 7

2/ So the more fundamental problem at present is the concentration of power over the public forum, which makes gatekeeping inherently unreliable - at least in the long run - as a practice which promotes truth.

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Jan 7

A 🧵 Re Meta's elimination of fact-checkers:

1/ A strict "no-gatekeepers" norm is worse for truth, so long as the gatekeepers are trustworthy. But if the gatekeepers are appointed based on the financial interests/ideological whims of two oligarchs, the cost/benefit for society is unclear at best.

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Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Jan 4

Had a delightful conversation with @roberttalisse.bsky.social on the New Books in Philosophy podcast. We talked about my *Experiments in Living Together: How Democracy Drives Social Progress (OUP 2024)*. Thank you, Robert!

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Michael Fuerstein,

Podcast Episode · New Books in Philosophy · 01/01/2025 · 1h 10m

podcasts.apple.com

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Reposted by Michael Fuerstein

Hane @hane.bsky.social · Dec 19

a short thread of Nicolas Cage resembling various philosophers

1. Spinoza

left: Nicolas Cage with long black hair and a moustache in a black top
right: Spinoza with long black hair and a moustache in a black top

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Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Dec 11

Political theorists: What are your favorite (in the sense of most interesting to engage with) conservative and left/Marxist critiques of democracy? I'm looking for stuff I can assign to undergraduates. Refreshing my "Democracy: Rule of the Ignorant?" syllabus. Thanks!

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Dec 4

Oh whoops - the AI has branded this as "adult content"! Partial upper body nudity on the cover image...

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Dec 4

My working music for the day: "A Winged Victory for the Sullen" (eponymous).

The best "ambient," between acoustic and electronic. Sustained strings, piano chords, ambiguous wind instruments, but also meticulously chosen synth sounds. Calming but not new-agey.

open.spotify.com/album/6vygse...

A Winged Victory for the Sullen

A Winged Victory for the Sullen · Album · 2011 · 7 songs

open.spotify.com

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Dec 4

The idea that presidents would refrain from pardoning family members or political allies seem like a naive, nutty vestige of an era when the principle of "be ethical" was a plausible constraint on political actors.

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Dec 2

3) Which is not to say that Biden is a bad guy for pardoning his son. I mean, maybe he is. But the problem is a system that creates the discretionary power to do this - and all of the Trumpian abuses of this power we are about to witness - in the first place.

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Dec 2

2) There is no system that can completely avoid relying on the principle of "be ethical" (or at least "care about your ethical reputation") as a supplement to formal rules. But in this case the ratio of ethical expectations/formal procedural constraints seems badly calibrated to the times.

Reposted by Michael Fuerstein

Alex Guerrero @alexgphilosophy.bsky.social · Nov 19

In all the post-election analysis, I feel like this is the picture that we most need to understand.

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Reposted by Michael Fuerstein

Alex Guerrero @alexgphilosophy.bsky.social · Nov 24

Rutgers political philosophy representing with two new OUP books, and two of the only Cuban-American political philosophers also representing with those same two books…

Check out Lottocracy and Boxed In!

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Reposted by Michael Fuerstein

Norbert Wiener Kreis @carlsachs.bsky.social · Nov 18

I've started an American philosophy/pragmatism starter pack. Let me know if you want to be added, and spread the word!
go.bsky.app/5FHqkJM

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Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Dec 2

Thanks for doing this. Please add me.

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Dec 2

Thank you. And you as well!

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Nov 27

Please add me if there is room. Thank you!

Reposted by Michael Fuerstein

Gabriele Contessa @gabecontessa.bsky.social · Nov 27

Social Epistemologists: I was trying to populate a starter pack for us manually but got lazy and thought it would be much more fun to turn this into a game!

Post a link to your favourite paper you wrote on the topic below with a post-length abstract and I’ll add you to it!

#PhilSky #SocEpis

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Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Nov 27

Liberalism helps sustain epistemic trust by forcing people to articulate the reasons behind their beliefs, thereby enabling widespread credibility monitoring.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Epistemic Trust and Liberal Justification*

Click on the article title to read more.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michael Fuerstein @michaelfuerstein.bsky.social · Nov 25

My working music for today:

A seamless two-hour, genre-spanning, cross-fading narrative masterpiece of musical delights. No lyrics (except for a tiny bit of sampled talking at the outset). Mellow enough to simmer in the background, but will reward attention if given.

soundcloud.com/otherpeopler...

OP 𓅛 mix 6 - Nicolas Jaar - (BBC Essential Mix 2012)

Other People is a record label started in New York City in 2013 by Nicolás Jaar. In its 10 years of existence, it has featured the sonic work of over 70 music releases, highlights include Terepa (2015

soundcloud.com