Brian Weatherson

@bweatherson.bsky.social

2.6K followers 200 following 1.5K posts

Philosopher at University of Michigan. https://brian.weatherson.org/

Videos

Brian Weatherson is the Marshall Weinberg Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. He specializes in epistemology and philosophy of language.

Source: Wikipedia

Philosophy 47%

Psychology 20%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Pinned

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · Aug 8

This is a thread of things I've recently published, starting with my book from last year, with Open Book Publishers, defending the claim that knowledge is interest-relative.

I'll continue this thread when new stuff comes out.

www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...

Knowledge: A Human Interest Story

In this book the author argues for a groundbreaking perspective that knowledge is inherently interest-relative. This means that what one knows is influenced not just by belief, evidence, and truth, bu...

www.openbookpublishers.com

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Philip Ebert @philipaebert.bsky.social · 11h

Looking forward to be participating at a workshop entitled “Forecasting Rare and Severe Events: Behaviour, Verification, and Judgment” at St Andrews organised by Ian Durbach from the Stats Department—wildly interdisciplinary event. This will be fun

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 14h

I think the one round means you have to get rid of major revisions. Otherwise this happens way too often

Round 1 reviews: Major revisions - good idea but needs *lots* of work.
R2 reviews: Minor revisions - lots of improvement but still here's a dealbreaker.

What do you do with those R2 reviews?

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 15h

If I was better with R one question I'd be getting from the data is what ultimately happened with the major revisions.

Outside of Phil Review, I thought they had a pretty high publication rate at most journals, though often after several torturous rounds.

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 15h

On this model you might expect capital owners who are powerful but not maximally so, and threatened by even larger capital owners, to be a bit more willing to take some risks to decarbonize.

And I think that's what we do see, e.g., younger Elon Musk, or Andrew Forrest.

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Greg Restall @consequently.hcommons.social.ap.brid.gy · 16h

Katherine Hawley is indeed sorely missed here in Philosophy and St Andrews, and it’s good to see her clear and wise reflections on trust and trustworthiness gain a fresh audience.

https://mastodon.social/@kjhealy/115525767271021313

Kieran Healy (@kjhealy@mastodon.social)

A little more about trustworthy data visualization and the work of the philosopher Katherine Hawley. https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2025/11/10/trustworthy-data-visualization/

mastodon.social

Reposted by Steven French, Brian Weatherson

Frances Egan @francesegan.bsky.social · 17h

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

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 1d

Some people are doing some level of this, though mostly to select winners from longlists, so you still need rec letters for determining who gets on longlists.

blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

How randomisation has changed the British Academy’s approach to research funding - Impact of Social Sciences

As more research funders adopt randomisation, the British Academy explains why it has used partial randomisation to allocate its Small Research Grants scheme.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · 1d

The I.R.S. is shutting down its free online system for filing tax returns, a program that the Biden administration introduced last year and that users gave high marks.

via @tarasiegelbernard.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...

I.R.S. Halts Free Online Offering for Filing Taxes Directly

www.nytimes.com

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 1d

It's only a short term fix though. A submission generated by a modern LLM with the web search features turned up to maximum should generate an objection letter in 15 minutes that's at most going to have the errors a careful human might make.

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, carelessness with respect to whether it is deceptive should be strong enough, especially if paired with a clear statement that cutting-and-pasting from a chatbot is careless.

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Shen-yi Liao 廖顯禕 @liao.shen-yi.org · 2d

FWIW my textbook of choice has been for all x Calgary paired with Carnap.io.

I’m super appreciative of the work that the Open Logic Project people have been doing! openlogicproject.org

Welcome To Carnap!

Carnap.io

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 2d

Are there philosophy classes on the ethics on insurance underwriting and pricing ? Seems like you could get a solid semester out of it.

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Scott L. Greer, David S. Cohen , and 7 more Marc Lynch, Scott L. Greer, David S. Cohen, Laura Huenneke, Adrian Daub, Nazita Lajevardi, Brian Weatherson, Meredith Farkas, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Virginia Sapiro

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 3d

BREAKING: Cornell caved.

Here is the settlement agreement, signed today by the university's president, Michael Kotlikoff: statements.cornell.edu/2025/documen...

SIGNATURES
For Cornell University:
Michael I. Kotlikoff
President of Cornell University
Office of the President
300 Day Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Ben the Winited States (including but not limited to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Servives and the U.S, Department of Education):
/N
istant Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
For the Department of Health and Human Services:
Paula Matana S
Paula M. Stannard
Director, Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Effective Date:
14/7/2025.

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Lizzie O'Leary @lizzieohreally.bsky.social · 3d

The timeline in so many of these cases tracks the gpt4o rollout www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/t...

Lawsuits Blame ChatGPT for Suicides and Harmful Delusions

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 3d

Why is the Associated Press letting a White House official speak anonymously about why Trump pardoned a corrupt Tennessee Republican politician? And for 3 whole paragraphs, providing the defense that he only got $5,000 from his illegal scheme, which makes it OK In Trumpworld.

A White House official said Thursday night that Trump approved the pardons for Casada and Cothren because the Department of Justice under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, “significantly over-prosecuted these individuals for a minor issue.”

The official spoke on background to discuss a pardon that had not yet been publicly released, but said the case against Casada and Cothren involved constituent mailers, which were billed at competitive prices, and that the case was brought despite prosecutors not having received a complaint from legislators.

The scheme also resulted in a net profit loss of less than $5,000, said the official, who noted that the case featured an armed raid, perp walk and the potential for lengthy prison terms — things often more appropriate for federal cases involving frauds worth multiple millions of dollars.

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Huw Price @huwprice.bsky.social · 4d

I’m not going to delete mine. I like the web page they made for me too much.

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

Unbreaking @unbreaking.org · 4d

Our Immigration and Data Security teams worked together this week to understand how immigration-linked data grabs and shoddy facial recognition apps are laying the groundwork for a surveillance state.

unbreaking.org/blog/this-we...

This week at Unbreaking, November 6 — Unbreaking

Unbreaking is built to be an antidote to information overload. Since we launched, we have been meticulously documenting lawsuits, executive orders, court rulings, countermoves, and other key events.

unbreaking.org

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 4d

He ran to unseat her last time and lost by 30 points. Shouldn't the focus be on people who have a chance to win?

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 4d

Yep. A lot of these theories of how to win seem to forget that the other side gets to move.

E.g., If you think the other side is winning on X, so you downplay X, all that happens is that you stay losing on X, and the other side floods the airwaves with ads about X just before the election.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Brian Weatherson

Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 4d

I expand on a rant about the unseriousness of serious politics backofmind.substack.com/p/the-genera...

the generalised problem factory

taking opps research seriously

backofmind.substack.com

Reposted by Brian Weatherson

AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 4d

AltNPS's post is full of the same lurid details and breathless dramatization as their previous attempt at ICE raid erotica from a few weeks ago.

Things that AltNPS could not possibly have witnessed, and which aren't reported anywhere else.

Alt National Park Service: It was just after sunrise in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood when parents began arriving at Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center, a cheerful brick preschool known for its bilingual songs and bright murals. Toddlers shuffled in with backpacks half their size, clutching their parents’ hands, the smell of coffee drifting through the cool November air.

Then, the calm routine of drop-off broke apart. Two unmarked SUVs rolled to a stop on the narrow side street. Federal agents stepped out (vests marked ICE) and moved quickly toward a small blue sedan idling near the curb. A teacher everyone knew as Miss Diana had just parked and was gathering her things for class.

Witnesses say the agents called her name, their voices sharp. She looked startled, frozen for a moment, then hurried toward the daycare entrance. Parents thought at first it was some kind of mistake, maybe an accident or a misunderstanding. But within seconds, the scene turned chaotic.

The agents followed her up the short steps and through the glass vestibule. Inside, children could be heard laughing down the hall, unaware. Staff members rushed forward, shouting for the agents to stop. One mother cried out, “The kids are right there!” But the sound of the struggle a door opening, a command barked in English, and then the teacher’s voice, trembling: “Yo tengo papeles! I have papers!" echoed down the hallway."

Reposted by Paolo Crosetto, Brian Weatherson

Experimental Philosophy @xphilosopher.bsky.social · 4d

There’s growing evidence that something was going seriously wrong in the classic early work on cognitive dissonance

Latest revelation: The story in When Prophecy Fails seems to have been fabricated in the most egregious way

But this is not the only one…

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

Debunking “When Prophecy Fails”

In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted an apocalyptic flood and promised her followers rescue by flying saucers. When neither arrived, she recanted, her group dissolved, and efforts to proselytize ceased....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 5d

Is the goat meat stands a promise?!

Stacey Gotsulias 🦃 🍁 @stacegotsbaseball.com · 5d

This guy

An X post from John Rocker:

Taxis will be replaced by camels.
Women will be forced to cover themselves head to toe.
NYPD will be replaced with religious police.
All hot dog stands will be replaced with goat meat stands.
THIS IS WHAT YOU VOTED FOR.

Reposted by Steve Peers, Juan Moreno‐Cruz, Brian Weatherson , and 1 more Steve Peers, Juan Moreno‐Cruz, Brian Weatherson, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

Stacey Gotsulias 🦃 🍁 @stacegotsbaseball.com · 5d

This guy

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 5d

I didn't realise @leaypi.bsky.social is doing the Tanner lecture at Michigan this year.

lsa.umich.edu/philosophy/n...

All Events | U-M LSA Philosophy

lsa.umich.edu

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 5d

The short answer is, someone who resents paying so much in taxes, doesn't like labor regulations (probably because they own a small business), and doesn't want their kid's house to burn down if we keep having once-a-century fires every five years.

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 5d

Just looking at this map, I'd try candidates like that in CA-22 and 41 (though Prop 50 might take care of those), AZ-8, CO-5, WI-1, MI-7 and 10, maybe PA-7, NY-17, NJ-7.

A pretty good chunk of GOP's closest seats are still suburban.

https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2024:_Congressional_margin_of_victory_analysis#5%_or_less

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 5d

The richest parts of Melbourne and Sydney, where conservative party leaders used to hold seats, are now dominated by this kind of candidate. No reason it couldn't work in suburban American too.

You'll lose a few rural votes this way, but mostly in places that you've lost long ago.

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 5d

Even ignoring what's right and wrong, I think this is just bad electoral strategy. There have got to be parts of America where the winning strategy is to be like the Australian teals.

That is, run as the most moderate candidate ever on every issue except environment, where you're radical.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias.bsky.social · 6d

What Democrats need to do is neither embrace the ideas of the Bernie / AOC / Mamdani faction nor obsessively freeze Bernie / AOC / Mamdani out.

What they have to do is be tougher on crime and illegal immigration and prioritize broad-based prosperity over emissions reductions and identity politics.

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · 5d

He bowled, but I haven't seen whether fast or slow.

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news