Jonathan Birch
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birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch
@birchlse.bsky.social
6K followers 310 following 750 posts

Professor, LSE. Philosophy of science, animal consciousness, animal ethics. Director of The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience.

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Jonathan Birch is a British philosopher and professor of philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His work addresses the philosophy of biology and behavioural sciences, especially questions concerning sentience, bioethics, animal welfare, and the evolution of social behaviour and social norms. .. more

Neuroscience 26%
Psychology 15%
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birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · Mar 25
An emotional day - I can announce I'll be the first director of The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience at the LSE, supported by a £4m grant from the Jeremy Coller Foundation. Our mission: to develop better policies, laws and ways of caring for animals. (1/2)
www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-...
LSE announces new centre to study animal sentience
The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience at LSE will develop new approaches to studying the feelings of other animals scientifically.
www.lse.ac.uk

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 5h
I was dropping hints for months by singing (to the tune of Mariah Carey) "All I want for Christmas is Edwin Arnold's 1879 biography of the Buddha and 1885 translation of the Bhagavad Gita in a single volume."
Cover of the book described in the post.

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 8h
I presume van Eyck is still on X (obvious tech bro).

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

theguardian.com
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d
King Charles calls for reconciliation and unity in Christmas message
King Charles calls for reconciliation and unity in Christmas message
Monarch urges people to draw strength from community diversity after a year marked by division and violence King Charles has called for reconciliation after a year of deepening division, saying in his Christmas address that people must find strength in the diversity of their communities to ensure right defeats wrong. The monarch cited the spirit of the second world war generation, which he said came together to take on the challenge that faced them; displaying qualities he said have shaped both the UK and the Commonwealth. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 1d
I think my favourite artists are Kandinsky and van Eyck. 500yrs apart but with essentially the same goal: to use colour to wake something within.
Composition VII, Kandinsky Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele, van Eyck.

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 2d
90% of ethicists would make pretty bad judges imo (this is a lower bound).

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 2d
I read the judgement here www.scotcourts.gov.uk/judgments/#/ (3 in the list) and thought the judge did a solid job. The child conveyed that "she expects her wishes to be respected insofar as they can be and that a transfusion should be a last resort", making it an easier call than it at first seems.
Judgments | Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
www.scotcourts.gov.uk

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

epicciuto.bsky.social
Elizabeth Picciuto @epicciuto.bsky.social · 3d
Me: ugh, Bluesky, so annoying 🙄
*glances at X*
X user: ugh, Bluesky, so annoying 🙄
Me: DON’T YOU DARE INSULT MY FAMILY

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 3d
And if you'd like to read the essay by Pope, it's en.wikisource.org/wiki/Against...
Quotation from Pope, 'Against barbarity to animals'

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 3d
The guidance will list acceptable and unacceptable methods. Restaurants can buy electrical stunners like the one below. www.peachman.co.uk/product/crus...
Crustastun 12749-01 Humane Crustacean Stunning Machine | Peachman
External Dimensions: 500mm W x 470mm D x 270mm H Stun Tank Dimensions: 440mm x 360mm D Capacity: 14 Litres 1 Year Warranty (Back to Base) DEMONSTRATIONS AVAILABLE - PLEASE CONTACT US FOR DETAILS
www.peachman.co.uk

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 3d
There will also be humane slaughter regs for farmed fish. This is likely to stop people paying to come in and club the fish. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Trout farm in Cotswolds tourist hotspot accused of welfare abuses
Exclusive: Charity says footage shows fish being struck repeatedly and at least one child taking part in killing fish
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

essj.bsky.social
jackie ess @essj.bsky.social · 3d
Possibly it wasn’t Pope but Beckett’s “Dante and the Lobster” that convinced them evergreenreview.com/read/dante-a...

Reposted by Steven French, Samantha Brennan, Anthony Burke , and 1 more

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 3d
Alexander Pope decried the cruelty of cooking lobsters alive in 1713. 313 years later the practice will finally be banned. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
Boiling lobsters alive to be banned in UK animal cruelty crackdown
Move is part of a long-awaited Labour strategy including outlawing hen cages and ending puppy farming
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 4d
This is what the prize *is*.

Reposted by Steven Heydemann, Richard S.J. Tol, Brendan Nyhan , and 38 more

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d
JD Vance: "In the United States of America you don't have to apologize for being white anymore"

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 5d
Turkeys don't really vote for Christmas... but some people really do support an industry that incubates new flu strains with massive pandemic potential. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
UK supermarkets turn to European turkeys as avian flu hits supply
Asda, Lidl and Morrisons understood to be stocking imported branded turkeys to meet Christmas demand
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

jessefuchs.bsky.social
Buddy Toledo @jessefuchs.bsky.social · 6d
I am okay with academics using LLMs to “conduct research”, in the same way I am fine with academics waking up from a nap and being inspired to pursue some avenue of query due to a half-recalled dream they had. The question is whether we want this level of citation to become an accepted standard.
the famous “1. This was once revealed to me in a dream.” footnote, from Nikolai Berdyaev “The Divine and the Human”

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 7d
That's egregiously terrible because the manuscript is sent in confidence - the reviewer has no consent to share it with OpenAI, Google, etc.

Reposted by Jonathan Birch, Hisham Zerriffi

tuomaspernu.bsky.social
Tuomas Pernu @tuomaspernu.bsky.social · 8d
I find this very alarming. AI is being used in explicitly prohibited ways. No doubt this will soon be the norm. The consequences of this will be dramatic. Over the holidays, the publishers and the whole of academic community are doing nothing else but working on a solution to this, right? RIGHT?!
More than half of researchers now use AI for peer review — often against guidance
A survey of 1,600 academics found that more than 50% have used artificial-intelligence tools while peer reviewing manuscripts.
www.nature.com