Steve Esser
@steveesser.bsky.social
350 followers 390 following 160 posts
Philosopher (Philsci, Metaphysics). Other interests: effective philanthropy, finance/economics, Philly sports. stephenesser.com
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Reposted by Steve Esser
givinggreen.earth
We’re flying the nest! 🦋 Giving Green is now an independent nonprofit, with a fresh brand & site to match. Huge thanks to
IDinsight for supporting our growth since we were a side project 💚

Learn more: tinyurl.com/yc5eyvx6
steveesser.bsky.social
And on the back end rookies, as good as they are, will make mistakes.
steveesser.bsky.social
Thoughtful essay grounded in understanding of history of Christianity and Judaism from Adam.
adammarc.bsky.social
Early Christians were persecuted because they resisted empire. MAGA calls itself persecuted while wielding power.

That’s not Christianity under attack. That’s Empire in red hats. New essay: A check on Christian Nationalism from a Jewish POV.

open.substack.com/pub/adammarc...
MAGA Is the New Empire
Christian nationalism forgets its Jewish beginnings—and why they still matter
open.substack.com
steveesser.bsky.social
This is the way.
osartenaer.bsky.social
Call for paper - Conference on Diachronic Emergence - May 12-13, 2025, UNamur (Belgium)

Invited speakers:
- Karen Crowther
- Samuel Fletcher
- Timothy O’Connor
- Erica Onnis
- Jessica Wilson
- John Heil

More detail on how to submit a proposal:

philevents.org/event/show/1...

#philsci
Diachronic Emergence
This conference will bring together researchers in metaphysics and philosophy of science to discuss the foundations, viability, and prospects of a distinctively diachronic account of emergence—n...
philevents.org
Reposted by Steve Esser
thegppc.bsky.social
Sept. 19-20: Retirement conference in honor of Gary Hatfield at UPenn. Speakers include Aleksandra Igdalova, Rolf-Peter Horstmann, Ben Baker, Peter Schwartz, Louise Daoust, and Uljana Feest. For those interested in attending, RSVP here:
upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
#philsky
steveesser.bsky.social
Not teaching is no defense against being spammed by Canvas/infrastructure as a new semester begins. #philsky
steveesser.bsky.social
Starting reading the new Emily Adlam monograph on QM. Very pumped up about it. #philsci
global.oup.com
steveesser.bsky.social
No but will investigate!
steveesser.bsky.social
For number 5, I’ll go with Destroy Boys, who also have put out their best album. A greater mix of more tuneful pop-like songs with a sprinkle of great punk tracks.
Honorable mention would include SPRINTS, Panic Shack, Die Spitz. Who do you like these days? 6/6
Funeral Soundtrack #4, by Destroy Boys
11 track album
destroyboys.bandcamp.com
steveesser.bsky.social
The Lambrini Girls are quintessential UK punk. Politics are often in the forefront, but their work is also full of bangers. 5/6
Who Let The Dogs Out, by Lambrini Girls
11 track album
lambrinigirlsband.bandcamp.com
steveesser.bsky.social
Out of Australia and conquering the world is Amyl and the Sniffers. Great, cathartic rock and roll. Amy Taylor, who fronts the group, is a phenomenon. 4/6
Cartoon Darkness, by Amyl and the Sniffers
13 track album
amylandthesniffers.bandcamp.com
steveesser.bsky.social
I live in the greater Philly region, so I must stan Mannequin Pussy. They have been around for a few years, but are peaking artistically now – a combination of punk, pop and just incredible performance art. 3/6
I Got Heaven, by MANNEQUIN PUSSY
10 track album
mannequinpussy.bandcamp.com
steveesser.bsky.social
Scowl is up first. They began in a hard-core punk scene in Santa Cruz but have grown incredibly – culminating in a recent album that gave me a Green Day 1994 type-electric shock. 2/6
Are We All Angels, by Scowl
11 track album
scowl831.bandcamp.com
steveesser.bsky.social
A positive for me right now is that I haven't been as excited about new music in a long time. For me, this is punk(ish) and harder guitar-driven rock. Most bands I love now are led by women - this is their time it seems. Here’s a thread of bands w/recent outstanding albums. 1/6 #rockmusic #punkrock
steveesser.bsky.social
Happy one year anniversary of me submitting a paper to a philosophy journal. A couple weeks later it was sent out to reviewers. *The reviews have not been returned*

PS: I am fortunate: this isn’t doing me harm since I’m not working in academia. OTOH I’m getting old!
#philsci #philsky
steveesser.bsky.social
What is frustrating is that if we could get enough folks to come over to bsky it would also solve the perceived shortcomings of this site.
steveesser.bsky.social
This is a fresh (to me) and apt perspective on this topic. Great work!
marielgoddu.bsky.social
Now out in @aimagazine.bsky.social -

Against "AI Welfare": Care Practices Should Prioritize Living Beings Over AI
philpapers.org/archive/DORA...
led by @johndorsch.bsky.social !

We propose a novel guideline, the “Precarity Guideline,” to sidestep protracted debates about AI consciousness. We

1/11
Left: an endangered biosystem (the Amazon rainforest), a child holding up a cardboard sign that says "I'm hungry", and 10 endangered species;
Center: a "greater than" sign;
Right: the supercomputer used to power ChatGPT
steveesser.bsky.social
Great series of posts! #philsci
qruy.bsky.social
Part 4/4 of my blog series on the semantic conception: I argue that its emphasis on models is right because representation is piecemeal, but this calls for a pragmatic conception that gives autonomy to models, not a semantic one.

pragmatictheories.blogspot.com/2025/07/refl...

#philsci #philsky
Reflections (4): Scientific representation is piecemeal
Here are our conclusions so far: what the semantic conception of theories claims is that a theory provides us with a certain family of repr...
pragmatictheories.blogspot.com
steveesser.bsky.social
Great work! #philsky
Reposted by Steve Esser
mprinzing.bsky.social
A popular and very old argument for the value of philosophy claims that studying philosophy cultivates important intellectual abilities and dispositions. But empirical evidence for that claim has been hard to come by. Until now!
1/4
Studying Philosophy Does Make People Better Thinkers | Journal of the American Philosophical Association | Cambridge Core
Studying Philosophy Does Make People Better Thinkers
doi.org
steveesser.bsky.social
Amazing story from @amandagefter.bsky.social
amandagefter.bsky.social
He modeled the logic of induction; traced the contours of the embodied mind; hung out with Einstein, Wheeler, and Bohr; gave away millions for art and conservation; fought for civil and gay rights; and lived as a janitor. My new story in @nautil.us

nautil.us/finding-pete...
Finding Peter Putnam
The forgotten janitor who discovered the logic of the mind
nautil.us
Reposted by Steve Esser
voxdev.bsky.social
"We use our estimates on the impact of Gavi funding on child mortality to calculate the number of lives saved by Gavi support, which is approximately 1.5 million lives."

Kartini Shastry & Daniel Tortorice's research highlights the importance of Gavi ⤵️ voxdev.org/topic/health...
Effective health aid: Evidence from Gavi’s vaccine programme
Coordinated health aid for vaccination has increased coverage rates and saved the lives of children around the world.
voxdev.org
steveesser.bsky.social
I enjoyed this: Dana Tulodziecki on how we can make sense of the role of virtues if we 1) set aside the old debate about their supposed relation to realism/truth and focus on other epistemic work they can do and 2) acknowledge that this work is a process and isn't captured in a snapshot. #philsci
thebjps.bsky.social
Get it while it's hot: BJPS Associate Editor Dana Tulodziecki's (@193.bsky.social) addition to the Cambridge Elements series, Underdetermination and Theoretical Virtues, is out now and free

#philsci #philsky #hps
Underdetermination and Theoretical Virtues
Cambridge Core - Philosophy of Science - Underdetermination and Theoretical Virtues
www.cambridge.org