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srdfrench.bsky.social
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@srdfrench.bsky.social

Philosopher of science in a previous life, short story writer in this one and comics and music lover in both.

Steven Richard Douglas French is an emeritus professor of philosophy at University of Leeds.

Source: Wikipedia
Philosophy 36%
Physics 21%

Reposted by Steven French

I suddenly realized the cover art to my new all science fiction short story collection 101 Things to Do Before You're downloaded shares a theme with my last purely SF collection, 2010's What We Still Talk About, a completely unplanned connection. Time to blast off! pspublishing.co.uk/101-things-t...

This was the story that was originally accepted by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Who then failed to respond to any of my emails, leading me to withdraw it. And then lo and behold, 10 months later, after TPP accepted the piece, EQMM sent me the contract! As I said in reply, “Well, this is awkward “

Ditto!

Reposted by Steven French

Two weeks until the Philosophy of Science Association’s next office hours! @michelamassimi.bsky.social and Mazviita Chirimuuta on “New approaches to realism.”
Sign up and more information:
PSA Office Hour - Philosophy of Science Association
The PSA Office Hour aims to facilitate interactions between our graduate student membership and prominent philosophers of science, and in a more controlled, accessible, and carbon-conscious setting…
buff.ly
The online journal Philosophy and the Mind Sciences is doing a symposium on my book, Deflating Mental Representation, based on my Jean Nicod lectures. See the Call for Papers here:
philosophymindscience.org/index.php/ph...
and a précis of the book here:
philpapers.org/rec/EGAPOD
Call for Papers: Book Symposium on "Deflating Mental Representation" by Frances Egan | Philosophy and the Mind Sciences
Philosophy and the Mind Sciences (PhiMiSci) focuses on the interface between philosophy of mind, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. PhiMiSci is a peer-reviewed, not-for-profit open-access journal...
philosophymindscience.org

Reposted by Steven French

New on the Archive:

De Haro, Sebastian (2025) The Geometric View of Theories. [Preprint]

https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27183/
Happy There Is A Circulatory System Walking Through The Kitchen Day to all who celebrate.

Reposted by Steven French

🚨New paper alert!🚨🤩

🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳

The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A regurgitalite reveals a new filter-feeding pterosaur from the Santana Group - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - A regurgitalite reveals a new filter-feeding pterosaur from the Santana Group
www.nature.com

Reposted by Steven French

I wrote a paper arguing that we should replace authorship with contributors, spokespeople, writers, and guarantors. One of the contributors to that paper (Mikkel Gerken) has written a response paper arguing that the view defended in that paper is implausible www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Scientific Contributions and Scientific Authorship | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science: Vol 0, No ja
www.journals.uchicago.edu

Reposted by Steven French

Right-wing vigilante violence against the left (including assassinations of trade-unionists and environmental activists) has long been a feature of Latin American politics. I sometimes fear that this is in our future in Europe too.
In Sweden, online hate and anti-immigrant extremism are driving women out of public life | Martin Gelin
A leading liberal politician has quit in fear of her physical safety. It is a crushing setback for democracy in one of the world’s most open societies, says journalist Martin Gelin
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Steven French

The second in Sander Verhaegh's two part institutional history of American analytic philosophy appearing in the 15th volume of #HOPOS.

"The Analytic Turn in American Philosophy: An Institutional Perspective—Part 2"

Read it here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....

Reposted by Steven French

Today the Sun produced an X1.8-class #SolarFlare (the highest category). The event also triggered an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection, although we are still yet-uncertain of the likely strength or timings of the impact at Earth. #spaceweather

Reposted by Steven French

This morning, Sunday, Radio 4's religiously inclined cousin to the Today programme casually revealed the 1970s post boy charged with handling the rats in formaldehyde that the Boomtown Rats wanted to distribute across the US as a publicity stunt is now Pope Leo XIV. I'm sure I didn't dream this.
Note from my notebook (2018). Still relevant.

Reposted by Steven French

Dallas is out still this week so, naturally, Anne keeps forgetting to post these! 😅

But we are taking questions for SQUIRE by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas! Get those sent in to us at thecomicscollective@gmail.com! ⚔️

Reposted by Steven French

Here is a bit of a puzzle: Why are there so many different Logic textbooks?

Formal Logic (TFL + FOL, nothing meta) seems like one of those things that we should be able to standardize and success in teaching is more clearly measurable compared to other philosophical subjects. Yet…

Reposted by Steven French

Reading House Of Leaves and my family probably thinks I’ve gone nuts; holding pages up to a mirror, translating pages in French to English, holding the book upside down at times, and just plain babbling to myself in my reading corner. *See footnote 289
Somewhere, Mark Danielewski is laughing. 🤪😱

Reposted by Steven French

New on the Archive:

Massimi, Michela (2025) The right to participate in science. Navigating cooperation among epistemic jurisdictions. [Preprint]

https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27155/
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com

Reposted by Steven French

Heck yeah, comics party in the park!

(At Ulsan's Taehwagan National Garden)

Reposted by Steven French

I woke up at 3 a.m., and it's now 5 a.m. here in Tokyo. I'm drinking decaf coffee, looking through the curtains at the still pitch-black outside, gently lit by the orange light inside the room. Recently, I've been enjoying Maya Delilah's guitar tone. Her tone feels warm, like a fireplace. I love it.
Maya Delilah - Begin Again (Live From Middle Farm Studios / 2023)
YouTube video by MayaDelilahVEVO
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Steven French

Good day to remember Rosalind Franklin like any other day. 🧬🔬

Reposted by Steven French

Happy Women in Physics Day to all of the amazing women and gender minorities in physics!! We are still greatly under-represented at all levels, so we need to continue encouraging girls and young women to consider studying physics and make systemic changes to the climate in the field. ⚛️ 🎢 👩‍🔬 🧪
New job:

Professor of History

University of Wisconsin - Madison

jobs.h-net.org/jobs/69456

Reposted by Steven French

"The government begins excavating the bones in late February"

The Squatters, by Shawna Yang Ryan

Narrator: Rebecca Wei Hsieh
Host: Kat Day
Audio: Chelsea Davis

pseudopod.org/2025/11/07/p...

This story originally appeared in the 2025 Anthology, Silk and Sinew
PseudoPod 1002: The Squatters
The government begins excavating the bones in late February to coincide with the events planned to commemorate the massacre. It is meant to gesture that they truly do intend to follow through on their...
pseudopod.org

Reposted by Steven French

With a return to the Pliocene locked-in, the only meaningful question is, will we stop there or maintain BAU until a return to the Middle Miocene becomes inevitable or - ultimately - the early Eocene?

If the latter, this is what the UK will eventually look like

Reposted by Steven French

New on the Archive:

Mason, Lucy (2025) Perspectives on the Quantum State. Foundations of Physics, 55 (68).

https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27144/

Reposted by Steven French

New on the Archive:

Antoniou, Antonis and Lorenzetti, Lorenzo (2025) Limiting Reduction and Modified Gravity. [Preprint]

https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27152/

Reposted by Steven French

Online workshop: Methodologies for use of History in Philosophy, hosted by Instituto de Investigatciones Filosoficas–UNAM, organised by María Martínez-Ordaz @mmartinezordaz.bsky.social & Teresa Rodriguez. Registration free. Complete form to receive zoom link forms.gle/qJRncUDEc254...
#HPS #Philsky