Peter Godfrey‐Smith
Peter Godfrey-Smith is an Australian philosopher of science and writer, who is currently Professor of History and Philosophy of Science… more
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Reposted by: Peter Godfrey‐Smith
"Living on Earth: Life, Consciousness and the Making of the Natural World" by @petergs.bsky.social (published by William Collins) has been shortlisted for the 2025 Nayef Al-Rodhan International Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy.
Learn more: royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/shortli...
Learn more: royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/shortli...
I will do a thread here soon with a few highlights, or at least ideas that stayed with me, from the Virginia conference.
Here is one passage, which contributed the title of Fesmire's talk:
Here is one passage, which contributed the title of Fesmire's talk:
From @cherylmisak.bsky.social's paper for the Dewey event, in a letter from Dewey to Ratner:
"I’m glad an American didn’t write Ayer's Language Truth and
Logic—if one had, the English would have thought it a peculiarly crass Philistine American production."
"I’m glad an American didn’t write Ayer's Language Truth and
Logic—if one had, the English would have thought it a peculiarly crass Philistine American production."
I'll be talking about Dewey's treatment of "idealism." (Mainly objective idealism.)
Will be a commentary by Ram Neta.
Will be a commentary by Ram Neta.
by Peter Godfrey‐Smith — Reposted by: Veli‐Matti Karhulahti
A century in the making - this week's University of Virginia conference on John Dewey's "Experience and Nature" (1925). A majestic, frustrating, (endless) book.
Event organized by @cbarzun.bsky.social www.law.virginia.edu/event/sympos... 1/
Event organized by @cbarzun.bsky.social www.law.virginia.edu/event/sympos... 1/
Reposted by: Peter Godfrey‐Smith, Brian Weatherson
Come to Melbourne for the 2025 Conference of the Australasian Society for Philosophy and Psychology
Check out the great keynotes - submit your abstract
Come join this exciting community of researchers
Nov 24-25 - Register now!
#philosophy #neuroskyence #philsky
sites.google.com/monash.edu/a...
Check out the great keynotes - submit your abstract
Come join this exciting community of researchers
Nov 24-25 - Register now!
#philosophy #neuroskyence #philsky
sites.google.com/monash.edu/a...
ASPP 2025 Melbourne
Australasian Society for Philosophy and Psychology 2025 Conference
Melbourne, November 24th - 25th, 2025
sites.google.com
... On the philosophical side: to what extent is subjective experience (or consciousness) "a thing" – a single phenomenon, despite its many varieties – across very different animals? 2/
www.eventbrite.com/e/uc-berkele...
www.eventbrite.com/e/uc-berkele...
UC Berkeley Howison Lecture with Peter Godfrey-Smith
Join Peter Godfrey-Smith, History and Philosophy of Science Professor at USYD, for a Howison Lecture on Evolution and Animal Minds.
www.eventbrite.com
Later this month I am giving the 2025 Howison Lecture at UC Berkeley.
"Evolution and Animal Minds."
It will have quite a lot on recent work looking at play and dreams in nonhumans. 1/
"Evolution and Animal Minds."
It will have quite a lot on recent work looking at play and dreams in nonhumans. 1/
One of a quartet of gang-gang cockatoos that came to visit last week. Very uncommon visitors, very welcome.
As a professor dealing with this right now, I am squarely in the 3rd category below. The destruction of the college essay as a format for thinking, learning, & assessing is awful to see. 2/
A good AI piece by James Gleick at @nybooks.com
Aghast, for good reason, at what's happening.
My only objection: a title unfair to parrots.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Aghast, for good reason, at what's happening.
My only objection: a title unfair to parrots.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
The Parrot in the Machine | James Gleick
The artificial intelligence industry depends on plagiarism, mimicry, and exploited labor, not intelligence.
www.nybooks.com
A Giant Cuttlefish at Cabbage Tree Bay (the "Bower" dive site, Australia) last month. Perfect conditions that day.
I wrote a blog post about the encounters: metazoan.net/124-bower-cu...
One very relaxed cuttlefish, one very wild one.
I wrote a blog post about the encounters: metazoan.net/124-bower-cu...
One very relaxed cuttlefish, one very wild one.
Summer reading from the radio station KQED (@kqedarts.bsky.social) – *all* of the 'Other Minds' trilogy.
www.kqed.org/forum/201010...
www.kqed.org/forum/201010...
I saw the movie "DJ Ahmet" the other day (part of Sydney Film Festival).
An absolute delight.
Made by Georgi Unkovski. About a world combining TikTok and techno with arranged marriage [what a blight that practice is], and the call to prayer.
Highly recommended if you get the chance.
An absolute delight.
Made by Georgi Unkovski. About a world combining TikTok and techno with arranged marriage [what a blight that practice is], and the call to prayer.
Highly recommended if you get the chance.
Reposted by: Peter Godfrey‐Smith
🧵 I see my book Becoming Earth as one part of a larger emerging movement: a resurgence of holistic, planetary-scale thinking; an evolving Gaia as a modern coevolutionary framework for understanding Earth; and a renewed recognition of the animacy, agency, and rights of more-than-human living systems
Reposted by: Peter Godfrey‐Smith
📽️ The recording of the Sir Karl Popper Memorial Lecture 2025 by @petergs.bsky.social on freedom and tolerance is now available online!
Watch it here: www.youtube.com/live/1TWy0xa...
Watch it here: www.youtube.com/live/1TWy0xa...
Later today (London) is my Karl Popper Memorial Lecture at the LSE. (Also zoomable.)
www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
Tolerance and freedom of expression
6.30pm Mon 2 June | Peter Godfrey-Smith | Registration Required | Free public event at LSE
www.lse.ac.uk
The condensation of the (very enjoyable) conversation is fine except on one detail. I come across as treating all squid as aggressive as well as mysterious.
Some, for sure (the Humboldt Squid).
Others: just mysterious. 2/
Some, for sure (the Humboldt Squid).
Others: just mysterious. 2/
The @newyorker.com's "Book Currents" has a conversation with me about three cephalopod-centered novels, in different styles: Ray Naylor's "The Mountain in the Sea," @aptshadow.bsky.social's "Children of Ruin," and China Mieville's "Kraken." 1/
www.newyorker.com/books/book-c...
www.newyorker.com/books/book-c...
Peter Godfrey-Smith on Alien Intelligences in Our Midst
The philosopher discusses three novels about cephalopods’ mysterious forms of consciousness.
www.newyorker.com
This event (London and hybrid, Wednesday) now has a suitable image.
(Nudibranchs of the Armina genus, waltzing.)
Good topic, very good line-up.
www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/e...
(Nudibranchs of the Armina genus, waltzing.)
Good topic, very good line-up.
www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/e...
Grades of Mind: Agency, Memory, Sentience
“In attempting to understand the elements out of which mental phenomena are compounded, it is of the greatest importance to remember that from the protozoa to man there is nowhere a very wide…
www.lse.ac.uk
The problem of the destruction of ocean life is not like the problem of climate, where local action has very limited effect (only as a contribution to the whole, & perhaps as inspiration). With marine life, every reserve is significant in its own right, and even small reserves can achieve a lot. 4/
I am all for those agreements, but local reserves can have great effects whether or not the rest of the world goes along. 30% is difficult anywhere - what chance is there of global agreement?
The most important message is: protect locally, everywhere you can, whether or not others join in. 3/
The most important message is: protect locally, everywhere you can, whether or not others join in. 3/
.. And a point of disagreement: After showing the efficacy of local reserves, the film puts much emphasis on global agreements, like the 2025 Ocean Conference in France, which will seek 30% protection of coastal waters.
ocean-climate.org/en/unoc2025/ 2/
ocean-climate.org/en/unoc2025/ 2/
About the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference
Participate in a global online consultation of the ocean community in preparation of the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference.
ocean-climate.org
I saw the new David Attenborough film "Ocean" yesterday. Very good, as always.
A major point of agreement: the emphasis on marine reserves. Even small reserves can have dramatic effects..🧵 1/
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ma...
A major point of agreement: the emphasis on marine reserves. Even small reserves can have dramatic effects..🧵 1/
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ma...
Ocean with David Attenborough review – a passionate case against the ruination of the seas
Released on his 99th birthday and presented in the context of his remarkable career, Sir David’s authority is matched only by nature’s grandeur in this visually stunning film
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by: Peter Godfrey‐Smith
Join us for the Sir Karl Popper Memorial Lecture 2025!
Peter Godfrey-Smith @petergs.bsky.social will talk about tolerance and the freedom of expression.
📅 2 June 2025 - 6:30pm (London time)
Hybrid and open to all!
More about the event and link to the live stream: www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
Peter Godfrey-Smith @petergs.bsky.social will talk about tolerance and the freedom of expression.
📅 2 June 2025 - 6:30pm (London time)
Hybrid and open to all!
More about the event and link to the live stream: www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
Tolerance and freedom of expression
6.30pm Mon 2 June | Peter Godfrey-Smith | Registration Required | Free public event at LSE
www.lse.ac.uk
Online direct link for the endnotes to "Living On Earth":
petergodfreysmith.com/philosophy/l...
The animal experimentation discussion is in chapter 7. 4/
petergodfreysmith.com/philosophy/l...
The animal experimentation discussion is in chapter 7. 4/
Living On Earth – Online Notes – Peter Godfrey-Smith
petergodfreysmith.com
For more on how beagles have been treated in US labs, this article - mainly about commercial labs - is shocking.
theintercept.com/2018/05/17/i...
And also from my book's notes, below is more on those confinement/exercise rules.
Plus the first bit of the next (literally) nightmarish example. 3/
theintercept.com/2018/05/17/i...
And also from my book's notes, below is more on those confinement/exercise rules.
Plus the first bit of the next (literally) nightmarish example. 3/
The beagle lab has just been shut down by Jay Bhattacharya.
The lab should never have been there and it's a stain on the NIH's legacy.
Credit (and blame) where it's due. 2/
The lab should never have been there and it's a stain on the NIH's legacy.
Credit (and blame) where it's due. 2/
