Karl Schafer
@karlschafer.bsky.social
Philosophy professor (UT Austin) and occasional philosopher | Kant's Reason (OUP): https://tinyurl.com/kantreason | https://philpeople.org/profiles/karl-schafer
I would go further. Hume's *actual influence* on postmodernism (and existentialism, etc) is radically underestimated by the standard narrative. The often subterranean impact of Hume's philosophy is a secret thread running through much of (so called) "continental philosophy".
Possibly a hot take: had the social conditions been different in 1770, Hume could easily have been the fountainhead of postmodernism instead of Nietszche. They are extremely similar thinkers in exactly the way necessary to produce anti-foundational undermining of everything from the self outward.
February 14, 2026 at 7:11 PM
I would go further. Hume's *actual influence* on postmodernism (and existentialism, etc) is radically underestimated by the standard narrative. The often subterranean impact of Hume's philosophy is a secret thread running through much of (so called) "continental philosophy".
happy comically small royalty statement from academic publisher season to all who celebrate
February 9, 2026 at 7:38 PM
happy comically small royalty statement from academic publisher season to all who celebrate
Reposted by Karl Schafer
Powerful new statement on MN from GOP Vermont Governor Phil Scott (1/3):
“Enough…it’s not acceptable for American citizens to be killed by federal agents for exercising their God-given and constitutional rights to protest their government. At best, these federal immigration operations ...
“Enough…it’s not acceptable for American citizens to be killed by federal agents for exercising their God-given and constitutional rights to protest their government. At best, these federal immigration operations ...
January 25, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Powerful new statement on MN from GOP Vermont Governor Phil Scott (1/3):
“Enough…it’s not acceptable for American citizens to be killed by federal agents for exercising their God-given and constitutional rights to protest their government. At best, these federal immigration operations ...
“Enough…it’s not acceptable for American citizens to be killed by federal agents for exercising their God-given and constitutional rights to protest their government. At best, these federal immigration operations ...
Here I argue that Smith's conception of sympathy was ideally suited to bridge the gap between reason and sentiment in Kant's moral psychology.
In a slogan: Smithian sympathy gave Kant the key for "schematizing" the moral law on the level of feeling and imagination.
philpapers.org/rec/SCHRRI-7
In a slogan: Smithian sympathy gave Kant the key for "schematizing" the moral law on the level of feeling and imagination.
philpapers.org/rec/SCHRRI-7
Karl Schafer, Realizing Reason in Feeling: Smithian Sympathy as the Schema of the Kantian Moral Law - PhilPapers
Smith’s influence on Kant’s philosophy was once viewed as marginal, but it is now well-established that central aspects of Kant’s moral and political philosophy were significantly influenced by his ex...
philpapers.org
January 22, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Here I argue that Smith's conception of sympathy was ideally suited to bridge the gap between reason and sentiment in Kant's moral psychology.
In a slogan: Smithian sympathy gave Kant the key for "schematizing" the moral law on the level of feeling and imagination.
philpapers.org/rec/SCHRRI-7
In a slogan: Smithian sympathy gave Kant the key for "schematizing" the moral law on the level of feeling and imagination.
philpapers.org/rec/SCHRRI-7
"Since the future of modern history opens itself as the unknown, it becomes plannable–indeed it must be planned. And with each new plan a fresh degree of uncertainty is introduced, since it presupposes a lack of experience. The self-proclaimed authority of 'history' grows with its constructibility."
January 20, 2026 at 3:48 PM
"Since the future of modern history opens itself as the unknown, it becomes plannable–indeed it must be planned. And with each new plan a fresh degree of uncertainty is introduced, since it presupposes a lack of experience. The self-proclaimed authority of 'history' grows with its constructibility."
It feels so good to have a couple hazy IPAs, make a few dumb posts, and then quickly delete every last one.
January 16, 2026 at 2:02 AM
It feels so good to have a couple hazy IPAs, make a few dumb posts, and then quickly delete every last one.
Simply an amazing way to end an essay in defense (?) of virtual conferences:
January 13, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Simply an amazing way to end an essay in defense (?) of virtual conferences:
Reposted by Karl Schafer
It’s book release day! I’m back on social media! I feel slightly awkward about it because part of the book is about how social media transforms your motivations for communication!
But honestly writing a book is lonely, weird basement-work, and now I want to talk to people about this weird jank.
But honestly writing a book is lonely, weird basement-work, and now I want to talk to people about this weird jank.
January 13, 2026 at 4:09 PM
It’s book release day! I’m back on social media! I feel slightly awkward about it because part of the book is about how social media transforms your motivations for communication!
But honestly writing a book is lonely, weird basement-work, and now I want to talk to people about this weird jank.
But honestly writing a book is lonely, weird basement-work, and now I want to talk to people about this weird jank.
Could an AI misremember their own class time, screwing up their schedule for the whole first day of the semester?
It could? In fact, that's the kind of thing LLMs do best?
Academia might really be cooked here, people.
It could? In fact, that's the kind of thing LLMs do best?
Academia might really be cooked here, people.
January 12, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Could an AI misremember their own class time, screwing up their schedule for the whole first day of the semester?
It could? In fact, that's the kind of thing LLMs do best?
Academia might really be cooked here, people.
It could? In fact, that's the kind of thing LLMs do best?
Academia might really be cooked here, people.
Reposted by Karl Schafer
Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).
January 8, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).
Austin doesn’t have a real winter. But we do have days when the bare oak branches against a gray sky look like like set dressing for The Road.
January 8, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Austin doesn’t have a real winter. But we do have days when the bare oak branches against a gray sky look like like set dressing for The Road.
AMC on Kant's Reason, with comments from Sasha Newton and a reply by me, in the SGIR Review:
www.sgirreview.com/publications...
www.sgirreview.com/publications...
Volume 8 (2025) — Review for the Society of German Idealism and Romanticisism
www.sgirreview.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:32 PM
AMC on Kant's Reason, with comments from Sasha Newton and a reply by me, in the SGIR Review:
www.sgirreview.com/publications...
www.sgirreview.com/publications...
"The object of Anschauung is the need of a content announcing itself in the senses as pure to become perceptible.
The perception of this need is called Anschauung."
- Scholem, recalling Benjamin's definition of Anschauung (intuition) in The Story of a Friendship
The perception of this need is called Anschauung."
- Scholem, recalling Benjamin's definition of Anschauung (intuition) in The Story of a Friendship
December 22, 2025 at 4:11 PM
"The object of Anschauung is the need of a content announcing itself in the senses as pure to become perceptible.
The perception of this need is called Anschauung."
- Scholem, recalling Benjamin's definition of Anschauung (intuition) in The Story of a Friendship
The perception of this need is called Anschauung."
- Scholem, recalling Benjamin's definition of Anschauung (intuition) in The Story of a Friendship
Ok, I didn't see this one coming...
December 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Ok, I didn't see this one coming...
Reposted by Karl Schafer
I love integrating ideas and methods from continental philosophy into my work in analytic philosophy (ends a non-interrogative sentence with a question mark)
December 7, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I love integrating ideas and methods from continental philosophy into my work in analytic philosophy (ends a non-interrogative sentence with a question mark)
Never before seen levels of "Kant's dumb mistakes are actually expressions of his genius"
Martin Walter, Quellen Kants zur „Luftelectricität“ und zum „Katzentod“ - PhilPapers
This article investigates a puzzling episode in Immanuel Kant’s later life: his repeated references to „air electricity“ and the mysterious mass death of cats (‚Katzentod‘) as potential causes of his ...
philpapers.org
September 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Never before seen levels of "Kant's dumb mistakes are actually expressions of his genius"
Just got page proofs and had to read a bit of my prose.
September 17, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Just got page proofs and had to read a bit of my prose.
Woke up to a paper rejection with a pretty negative referee report, and you know what, the referee really nailed it this time
September 7, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Woke up to a paper rejection with a pretty negative referee report, and you know what, the referee really nailed it this time
Plato attacks poetry because it disorders the soul through lying, impersonation, and deception. Seen from that perspective, the problem with LLMs is not that they *can't* produce poetry – it's that they produce *nothing but*?
August 29, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Plato attacks poetry because it disorders the soul through lying, impersonation, and deception. Seen from that perspective, the problem with LLMs is not that they *can't* produce poetry – it's that they produce *nothing but*?
Why is ChatGPT so addicted to gaslighting me about Kant?
Even in the face of being called out repeatedly, it returns to the same hallucinated passage and offers it to me as real.
Does it think it's funny to lie to Kantians?
Is there some magic in that fake passage that attracts its attention?
Even in the face of being called out repeatedly, it returns to the same hallucinated passage and offers it to me as real.
Does it think it's funny to lie to Kantians?
Is there some magic in that fake passage that attracts its attention?
August 18, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Why is ChatGPT so addicted to gaslighting me about Kant?
Even in the face of being called out repeatedly, it returns to the same hallucinated passage and offers it to me as real.
Does it think it's funny to lie to Kantians?
Is there some magic in that fake passage that attracts its attention?
Even in the face of being called out repeatedly, it returns to the same hallucinated passage and offers it to me as real.
Does it think it's funny to lie to Kantians?
Is there some magic in that fake passage that attracts its attention?
When you ask whether Hegel's philosophy is truly "presuppositionless", remember that "presupposition" itself only acquire a determinate meaning for Hegel through the self-development of the logic. So, Hegel's logic gets to define for itself what it would mean for it to be presuppositionless.
August 18, 2025 at 2:19 PM
When you ask whether Hegel's philosophy is truly "presuppositionless", remember that "presupposition" itself only acquire a determinate meaning for Hegel through the self-development of the logic. So, Hegel's logic gets to define for itself what it would mean for it to be presuppositionless.
Honored to have my paper, "The PSR as a Practical Principle in Kantian Ethics" appear in this special issue of the BPA for Kant's 300th birthday with some *very* distinguished scholars.
scindeks.ceon.rs/issue.aspx?i...
scindeks.ceon.rs/issue.aspx?i...
SCIndeks - Sveska
scindeks.ceon.rs
August 5, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Honored to have my paper, "The PSR as a Practical Principle in Kantian Ethics" appear in this special issue of the BPA for Kant's 300th birthday with some *very* distinguished scholars.
scindeks.ceon.rs/issue.aspx?i...
scindeks.ceon.rs/issue.aspx?i...