Jo Wolff
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jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff
@jowolff.bsky.social
27K followers 3.5K following 17K posts

Jonathan Wolff,
Political Philosopher.
Fellow British Academy
Emeritus Professor Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford
Wolfson College
President The Royal Institute of Philosophy
THFC supporter in 'early season false hope’ mode.

#academic .. more

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Jonathan Wolff is a British philosopher. He is a Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy and Public Policy and Governing Body Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford. He was formerly the Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. Prior to his joining the Blavatnik School in 2016, Wolff's academic career had been spent at University College London (UCL), where he was, latterly, Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. .. more

Political science 51%
Philosophy 14%
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jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · Nov 21
I’ve changed my header photo to this one. It shows my father Herbert and his sister Lotte with their parents Fritz and Marta in their Frankfurt apartment before Herbert and Lotte were sent to England on the Kindertransport, and later Fritz and Marta transported to Lodz Ghetto, final fate unknown.

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 5h
“By liberty I mean the eager maintenance of that atmosphere in which men have the opportunity to be their best selves.”

I’d assumed that ‘best selves’ talk originated with the self-help airport book, but this is political theorist Harold Laski in a book first published in 1926.

Reposted by Steven French, Mary Margaret McCabe

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 5h
Every world leader should be condemning Trump. We’ll see who steps up.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5...
Trump orders strikes on Caracas, officials tell CBS, as Venezuela declares national emergency - latest
Venezuela's government says it rejects
www.bbc.co.uk

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 16h
Isn’t one of the questions ‘who’s the current President of the USA?’
craigbrittain.com Craig R. Brittain @craigbrittain.com · 1d
Trump exam result: He has once again tested negative for cognitive.

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 21h
I realise it’s a yet another gap in my knowledge. Will at least buy something of his.

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 23h
Sounds like I should too ...

Reposted by Jonathan Wolff, John Foot

craigbrittain.com
Craig R. Brittain @craigbrittain.com · 1d
Trump exam result: He has once again tested negative for cognitive.

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d
Just don’t understand this. I thought Trump and his billionaires loved space. Or is there something incriminating in the files?

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/c...
NASA’s Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts
www.nytimes.com

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d
Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origins of Inequality

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d
If this claim is true he could certainly benefit from the publicity. I don’t recall hearing of him before.
prospectmagazine.co.uk Prospect Magazine @prospectmagazine.co.uk · 1d
“It’s hard to think of a more important English philosopher or cultural thinker this century than Mark Fisher.” Sukhdev Sandhu on the man who’s the subject of a new documentary:
The permanent influence of Mark Fisher
A new film grapples with one of the finest—and broadest—minds of the 21st century
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

Reposted by Jonathan Wolff

prospectmagazine.co.uk
Prospect Magazine @prospectmagazine.co.uk · 1d
“It’s hard to think of a more important English philosopher or cultural thinker this century than Mark Fisher.” Sukhdev Sandhu on the man who’s the subject of a new documentary:
The permanent influence of Mark Fisher
A new film grapples with one of the finest—and broadest—minds of the 21st century
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d
Seeing posts on other sites claiming Hitler was a genius. And Musk is often called a genius. From which I can only conclude that being a genius is sorely overrated.

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d
These boots were made for walking …
miasato.bsky.social Mia Sato @miasato.bsky.social · 1d
lol I just came across this post by Zoharn’s wife Rama Duwaji’s stylist and the boots were…. on loan

open.substack.com/pub/brainmat...

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d
I cannot believe it’s January 2nd already! (Checks calendar just to make sure.)

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d
Maybe it’s about Trump cutting out the middle man so there’s no representative of the US for other countries to complain to, and if he wants to another country yelled at he can do it himself on Truth Social.
mulliganstew.bsky.social Adam @mulliganstew.bsky.social · 1d
Occurring just before Christmas, maybe has not really registered: Admin continues to decimate diplomatic service.

“number of vacant U.S. ambassadorial posts will now climb to well over 100 — about half of all such positions in the world. Before the recall, around 80 of these positions were vacant.”
ANALYSIS | Trump's 'unprecedented' diplomat recall sparks concerns over politicization of foreign service | CBC News
The Trump administration’s recent recall of 30 career diplomats from around the world as part of its "America First" priority push is unprecedented, according to experts who say it may serve to politi...
www.cbc.ca

Reposted by Jonathan Wolff

mulliganstew.bsky.social
Adam @mulliganstew.bsky.social · 1d
Occurring just before Christmas, maybe has not really registered: Admin continues to decimate diplomatic service.

“number of vacant U.S. ambassadorial posts will now climb to well over 100 — about half of all such positions in the world. Before the recall, around 80 of these positions were vacant.”
ANALYSIS | Trump's 'unprecedented' diplomat recall sparks concerns over politicization of foreign service | CBC News
The Trump administration’s recent recall of 30 career diplomats from around the world as part of its "America First" priority push is unprecedented, according to experts who say it may serve to politi...
www.cbc.ca

Reposted by Jonathan Wolff

tanyadiona.bsky.social
Tanya Diona @tanyadiona.bsky.social · 1d
My husband just told me about this 🤣
Did you all know that the domain name has been purchased and spoofed before the orange one could get it?

share.google/dR79EMHsvNWx...
HOME | Trump Kennedy Center
share.google

Reposted by Jonathan Wolff, Anders Nilsson

miasato.bsky.social
Mia Sato @miasato.bsky.social · 1d
lol I just came across this post by Zoharn’s wife Rama Duwaji’s stylist and the boots were…. on loan

open.substack.com/pub/brainmat...

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d
Free Neuralink with every Robotaxi?
techmeme.com Techmeme @techmeme.com · 2d
Elon Musk says Neuralink plans to start "high-volume production" of brain-computer interface devices and move to a fully automated surgical procedure in 2026 (Reuters)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d
“I warn you not to be ordinary, I warn you not to be young, I warn you not to fall ill, and I warn you not to grow old.”

Neil Kinnock speech ‘borrowed’ by Joe Biden
chicagotribune.com Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 1d
Enhanced tax credits that have helped reduce the cost of health insurance for the vast majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees expired overnight, cementing higher health costs for millions of Americans at the start of the new year.
Health subsidies expire, launching millions of Americans into 2026 with steep insurance hikes
The arrival of the New Year’s Day deadline with no fix from Congress cemented higher health costs for millions of Americans, including many self-employed workers, small business owners, farme…
trib.al

Reposted by Jonathan Wolff

chicagotribune.com
Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 1d
Enhanced tax credits that have helped reduce the cost of health insurance for the vast majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees expired overnight, cementing higher health costs for millions of Americans at the start of the new year.
Health subsidies expire, launching millions of Americans into 2026 with steep insurance hikes
The arrival of the New Year’s Day deadline with no fix from Congress cemented higher health costs for millions of Americans, including many self-employed workers, small business owners, farme…
trib.al

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d
Happy New Year from the Premier League.
Crystal Palace 1-1 Fulham Liverpool 0-0 Leeds Brentford 0-0 Spurs Sunderland 0-0 Man City

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 2d
Helibore to see in the new year.
Close up of intense purple flower.

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 2d
Reform can give me hope by indulging in a few more rounds of fatal self-attack.

Reposted by Jonathan Wolff

sundersays.bsky.social
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d
Farage's new year message is strikingly bullish
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 2d
He was indeed born Harry Heine. Named after a velveteen trader from Liverpool if my hazy memory hasn’t failed me.

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 2d
Thanks! I was going to go back to this. I think it was a translation from perhaps 100 years ago.

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 2d
I think I was reading the two volumes of his letters and memoirs at that time. Annoyed with myself I didn’t make proper notes. Though when I do I can never find them again.

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 2d
Looking over my post where I quote Heine. There appear to be an uncountable number of them. This one seems particularly apposite.
jowolff.bsky.social Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · Dec 28
“Strange! It is always religion, always morality, always patriotism, with which these mauvais sujet justify their attacks. They attack us not from a private interest, not from literary envy, not from native slavishness, but to save God, good morals, and the Fatherland.” Heinrich Heine.

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 2d
I think even Grok could correct Trump on this. Wikipedia certainly can:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...

Reposted by Steven French, Lisa Tompson

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 2d
May your year be blessed with accepts subject to minor corrections.